Building an MHS padawan-sized lightsaber -- how short can I go?

[Rivenshield]

Just found this site last week, and holy mackerel. A full-service machine shop for Jedi nerds. Wow. Just wow.

/genuflects

Here's my mission: For my first build, I'd like to create a lightsaber for my godson. He'll get more mileage out of it than I will. He's ten years old, and has several busted toy lightsabers strung all over the house. I think the quasi-indestructible machined aluminum one would be a good long term investment. It would also give him a massive nerdgasm, because the little guy is one of the biggest Star Wars freaks I know of.

I was thinking I want something shorter and slimmer than the chunky flashlight-sized variety at Toys R Us. I understand it's possible for ten dollars to get a switch hole bored almost anywhere you please, so I was thinking a three-inch plain vanilla extension, say, with a choke on either end. Add a short pommel and long spikey ornate blade holder in the MHS Saber Builder, and you wind up with a dandy-looking little sci-fi weapon not over ten inches long and with two narrow sections for small hands to get around.

Now here's my question: I've spent several days lurking and reading and soaking up information, and have not yet been able to discern what the minimum length and/or diameter an MHS lightsaber has to be in order to accommodate the sound card, battery pack, etc. How small/short an extension tube can I use and still have everything *fit*? Can this community give me some rough guidelines....?

[Crimsonjedi]

I am actually working on a similar project for my son. I am using style 2 pre-made hilt, pommel, and a blade holder. That is is going to be about 9.5 inches. I know it will have enough room because I and countless others have managed to fit all the electronics into the seven inch hilts in the past. You just need to plan out your electronics ahead of time.

[cannibal869]

I've made a saber (Yoda inspired) for a padawan that was about 8-9 inches overall with sound included.

I think in order to help you better you would need to go to the MHS builder and draw up what you want the saber to look like so we can get and idea of the size and parts. Some of the parts (i.e. the choke) are narrower than others and can't really be used for anything other than crystal chambers or passing wires through. In other words, you can't fit a soundboard in them - well, at least not easily.

-C

[FenderBender]

I have fit, with lots of effort, sound, light, and battery pack in a 6 inch hilt section with the switch. The Blade holder adds another 1 3/4 inches, and the pommel can add 1/4" to 1 1/2" to the hilt length. He's ten, so don't think that you have to go REAL short here. I have made similar sized hilts for my kids.

[Rivenshield]

Some of the parts (i.e. the choke) are narrower than others and can't really be used for anything other than crystal chambers or passing wires through.

That was my concern -- I suspected the 7" main body might be 7" for very good reason....

What I'm after is the shortest 'handle' that is physically possible, with a choke on either end. I *so* want it to be ergonomically correct for him. A lot of toys just aren't made to fit kids' hands. Here's an attached pic of what I first came up with. It uses a 3" extension with a switch hole added, a short choke #1 in front, and a choke #3 behind. It looks nice, but I dunno if all the necessary gizmos will fit.

Another build I've considered is using the new Ribbed/Choke Combo with a 2" or 3" female extension on top. If I used one of the blade holders with a kinda-sorta choke on it, like a #16, that would accomplish the same end -- two narrower sections for little hands to grab onto. (Unfortunately the Ribbed/Choke Combo isn't available as a shape in the MHS Saber Builder yet, but hopefully you mandarins can visualize what I'm talking about).

I'm deeply grateful for any and all advice I can glean here, by the by.

[fawnheart2000]

It depends greatly on wether you want sound or not. Sound boards tend to add length to a saber and complexity. One thing you'll hear from alot of people here is the advice "to read until your eyes bleed, then read some more." It is very true that there is ALOT of information on these boards, but since this is a D.I.Y. forum alot of people have a problem with spoon feeding a noobie. (And some people are not shy about shutting down noobs).

Now to answer a few of your questions.
The standard OD (Outer Diameter) of a MHS part is ~1.45 inches.
The shortest saber I have done was a 7 inch x 1.25 inch OD sink tube saber for my 8 year old daughter.

Remember that you need room for the batteries (at least 2.5 to 3 inches)

An easy suggestion for you would be to convert a yoda FX saber.
It is shorter than most sabers (just under 8 inches) with (at the most) 1.5 inch OD.
Also it already comes with a nice battery pack/ speaker combo and a cradle for the soundboard. You must be careful about the clash sensor removal (or just go ahead and get a replacement clash sensor from the store
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Clash-Sensor-P485.aspx ).

You'd still need to get a yoda FX saber, LED, lens, and lens holder, maybe a thumb screw to use instead of the set screw that comes with it.

Here's the conversion kit
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/MR-or-Hasbro-FX-Yoda-conversion-kit-P428.aspx

And here is the tutorial
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=7940

Sorry, I had taken a long time writing my reply (cooking) so I didn't see the clarification of what you wanted.

[Rivenshield]

It depends greatly on wether you want sound or not.http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=7940

/facepalm

Yes, I would like sound. Should have mentioned. Unfortunately I've been unable to find out what dimensions the UltraSound card is, or find any information on how to mount the bugger. Maybe I should just go gut one of Matthews' old Hasbros, or get a new one and gut *it*, stick a new speaker on it, mount it all inside an MHS hilt/blade/LED, and call it good....

If nothing else I'm glad to see I'm not the first sabersmith to grapple with the problems of building kid-sized lightsabers. :)

EDIT: As a senior-level technical writer, I always RTFM before bugging people. Hence the weeks' worth of lurking and poring over these forums. There is a fantastic amount of information here, but most of it presumes a very high level of expertise on the part of the target audience... which is a hoity toity way of saying that almost everybody seems to assume everybody else knows what they're talking about. There are a lot of Star Wars geeks out there, but not many of us have picked up a soldering iron since high school.... so just bear with me. Maybe I'll wind up authoring a Building Lightsabers For Dummies sticky. ;)

[cannibal869]

Whoa...
Um, if you can agree to get rid of that rear choke, I think it's doable. Otherwise, the way you have it set up right now would take quite a bit of work. If it's just light and no sound, then it may be possible. You may need to use a different activation switch, cause that one takes up a bit of space in the hilt. If you do want sound I personally think you'll have to get rid of the rear choke...

I think FenderBender's cram-fu skills have put many of us here to shame ;)

[Rivenshield]

Whoa...
Um, if you can agree to get rid of that rear choke, I think it's doable. Otherwise, the way you have it set up right now would take quite a bit of work.

So I am swiftly gathering. Oh well. Form must needs take a back seat to function, as ever. The basic main body *is* seven inches long for a reason. I kind of figured, but wanted to ask. My thanks for the reality check.

/starts happily messing around with the MHS saber builder again

[Cantina Chef]

I've done one just over 7 inches. I used a two AA battery pack with one 3.7 li ion and one dummy cell and mounted a hasbro board on the pack like the set up sold at TCSS. 5 inch extention, pommel, and blade holder...oh and only a 24 inch blade...anything can be accomplished.

[farlander]

I've been trying to come up with two short sabers for dual wielding, 26" like escrima. Your design looks good - have you considered a switch on the bottom of the pommel to keep the hilt "cleaner" for him to grip?

[Alcfalath]

Things you need to consider when making a small saber.

1. All Double female extensions are 1 inch shorter on the inside due to .5 inch threading on either side. Chokes take up all of that room, a pommel will not.

2. 3 Inches = ~2 inches of viable room. Meaning it will be nigh impossible for a 'standard' (either guarded or basic) switch, battery room, and resistor/buckpuck/soundboard.

3. Sound will take up more room in the hilt, with need for locating the speaker/speaker holder, and obviously you will need a kill/recharge port. 5 inches would be the bare minimum for a Double Female for this use.. Feel free to chime in anyone who has enough build knowledge to counter that.

4. If you want (ultra)sound, you will need a recharge port for best use. Meaning in hilt batteries. Trustfires are the way to go, but obviously you need to figure out what LED you want to use. The Lux 3s are fast disappearing, though the P4s are staying for a while. Just remember at the ultrasound doesnt regulate batteries that well with a Lux/P4 red. If you want red, hit the books and find out what is doable. Generally 2 x 14500 Trustfires are best for battery packs, as they are AA sized (enough to fit the battery packs just) and will last a good amount of time for their output.

There are many more things to consider/research when making this saber, but that will be up to you to find on these boards. The information is there (its how I have learned, as well as physical experience) and if you word your searches right (or browse) you will find it.

FYI, ive been working on a double choke saber for almost a year now (my unicorn), and im finding it very hard to put what I want in it with a 5 inch double female. That and trying to turn it into a double sided saber isnt easy either. I can barely do it without sound, and with a Crystal Focus is just going to be that little harder.

Just remember, start big to begin with, then work your way down. Experience will build your cram fu skills.

[Caine Drathul]

Funny you just posted this...I just finished a Padawan style saber (just over 8 inches) and MAN that thing was a pain...I got those wires as short as I possibly could and it was still a PIA. I used a 6" sink tube along with a sink tube adapter (kept about 1/2" out of the sink tube for length) and then BH 5....it had a Hasblow Force Action board wired with a relay and a 4 AA battery pack and I just BARELY got it all in. (would have prolly been easier if I used a different battery solution, but still made it happen)

[Et Kin Evenstar]

...may want to consider the new 2010 Hasbro Obi Wan saber. The card in that is TINY. Note the card in the Vader/Anakin versions is not the same. Still, as a newbie to this myself, I can see how getting the wires and batteries to fit is a challenge. I'm about to start a smaller saber for my daughter and have been thinking about how to do things also.

[cardcollector]

Whoa...
I think FenderBender's cram-fu skills have put many of us here to shame ;)

Amen to that!:(

I think that 8-9 inches is what you want to shoot for...

Unless you think long term, he will grow up ya know.;)

[Darth Biff]

Greetings all,

Rivenshield: The US board is 2" X 1". How you mount it will depend on what kind of battery pack you use. I have used the 4 X AAA pack and have a standard MO for installing the board. See below:

http://s971.photobucket.com/albums/ae198/Darth_Biff/?action=view&current=Electronics-1a.jpg

That's some 1.5" heat shrink, with the wire leads from the battery pack secured with a second piece of heat shrink holding them. This set-up requires only rudimentary Cram-Fu to fit it into the hilt.

[Darth Biff]

Damn! Let me try this again:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae198/Darth_Biff/Electronics-1a.jpg

[Jedi-Loreen]

You could have just edited your post. :rolleyes:


And, you should not have your US board totally covered by heat shrink. :eek:Those board burn off excess voltage as heat, you could cause your board to overheat and actually melt the solder and cause some of the tiny surface mount components to fall off.

I'd like to see what that heat shrink looks like after you've used that saber for a while.

[Darth Biff]

Greetings All,

J-Lo: That was after using it for a while...:confused: I did run it for about an hour when I first wrapped it, and checked the temperature by touch. It didn't seem overly hot. The board is open at either end (not completely encased in shrink tube), but I'll crack it open again, and this time I'll use an IR thermometer, just to be 100% sure I'm not cooking anything. Thanks for the info, I'll let you all know what I find out. :)