2020-04-14 (Tu) EleKSCoExhibition Sword COMPLETED

I sawed off the tip at an angle to make a tanto-style blade similar to the rubber knives. Straight across was the most straightforward cut with a hand saw. I used a heat gun to soften the end, and that rounded the corners a bit. It also distorted the plastic, so I advise using abrasive paper.
Chopped and smoothed sword tip

I built the same circuit as the stock knives since I know it works. The longer blade should not create a noticeable difference in performance. I had an unknown high-voltage converter on hand, so I put it in this circuit after testing its ability to generate a spark. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the tube slightly wider than the two wires. I knew it would be a tight fit, so I sealed the ends of the conductors in a scrap of heat shrink tubing and used that tail to pull the wires out the hole in the handle.
Wrapped high-voltage wires
Shrink tube passing out a small hole

I cut a piece of aluminum tape the length of the blade and then cut that strip lengthwise down the middle. I put the tape's factory edge to the sword's faux edge and thought I could have cut a wavy pattern in the tape to hide some of my inconsistent lines.

When the tape was on straight, I fastened the high-voltage wires down with scraps of aluminum tape cut into circles, to resist peeling. The testing went well, but the only sparks came off the tip where the aluminum strips were closest. I trimmed some of it away to increase the smallest gap and then repeated that when the spark was right next to the handle. Luckily, I stopped while I still generated a flash, which was near the tip, but sizable.

Just like that, I am the proud owner of an electric sword.
Electrified sword

Hackaday.io EleKSco page.
Thingiverse page for switch adapter.
GitHub EleKSco repo.
The rest of the exhibition weapon posts have been arranged by date.
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3
Completed projects from year 4
Completed projects from year 5
Completed projects from year 6

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2020-04-01

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