Noob from Oz

[Sloda Foade]

Hello I am new to this forum, I have been lurking for a few weeks and have finally designed my first lightsaber on the MHS designer. I went through about 11 versions before settling on this one. I would love to put a Plecter CF v5 or Ultra sound 2.5 board in it, but they aren't around (still, again, as usual from what I can gather from other posts).

I'll make a first start with a BuckPuck and get the metalwork right in the meantime.
I have attached a modified MHS pic of the proposed build and a parts list of what I think I need.

I would appreciate any advice or feedback from experienced saber smiths.

I will be putting Li-ion batteried in with the recharge port if and when I get my hands on a good audio board.

Thanks in advance.

[Rafalema]

You have 2 lens holders, but only 1 lens and LED. What's up with that?

2 blade retention screws? 1 is enough but it is your choice.

Welcome to the forums!

Do you have the right drill bit to drill a hole to the sinktube for the switch?

Also, what will you use to paint that sinktube?


Other than that I think it looks good for me.

[Sloda Foade]

Wow, that was a quick response, thanks for the welcome.
I have 2 screws, 2 blade holders, and 2 LEDs cyan and green with lenses for swapping out for a different look. I also have two pommel inserts, one for use when I eventually (hopefully) have a sound card. This will then have a recharge jack in it and I will change the removable Nmh batteries for a Li-ion rechargable pack. I may get that from the local battery barn as they have a wide range of 7.2V double cell packs. I would have ordered this from TCSS but the 7.4V controller boards aren't available.

I don't have a drill or a tap but I am sure I can get them at my local hardware (unless they are a strange size, We can get imperial as well as metric taps and dies here still. If not, I'll order some from TCSS.

I'm not going to paint the sink tube, I want to remove the chrome as per a vid I saw either or on another board and then laquer it to stop it tarnishing.

Thanks again for your input.

[Shadar Al'Niende]

I think you are set! I like your design as well, planning something similar with the sinktube :D

[Rafalema]

Confirmed about the Blade holders, screws and LEDs.

Myself, I would go with NiMh rather than Li-Ion, but that of course depends of the board you want to use...

Also, if you're getting an US 2.5 (or any UltraSound) You need to have a momentary switch, as with all the cheap hasbro boards.

The Crystal Focus can use both, and the MR/Hfx board works with latching

I also prefer JST Connectors over the 2 wire quick connectors, but that also is your personal choice.

[Sloda Foade]

I must admit that I was inspired by Jay-gon Jin's Chrome saber post on the forum.

As he did, I will probably change the tube design slightly, maybe add a partial cover over the blade holder. I might engrave panels on the tube as well, depends on how well the cutting goes, and how much time I have. It my be a work in progress for some time yet.

[Sloda Foade]

Good call on the JST connectors, don't know how I missed those, they would be smaller and easier to fit in the choke area. Thanks for that Rafalema, I'll ammend my cart to add these.

[Rafalema]

Sounds good, I'll be waiting for it.


Edit: lol we we're typing on the same time :D


Good call with the JST's.

[Sloda Foade]

I think I'll wait until tomorrow (my time as it is 11:20pm here) to see if there are any other usefull bits on info from others before I place the order. It is all sitting in my cart, just have to process it. Pity the site doesn't show me in AUD what the cost is, as the USD price is nearly $300 and that's without any sound, batteries, accent LEDs etc. My wife is going to kill me! ;)

I wish I had access to this board about 6 years ago, as a few friends were really into the saber scene, but since then we have all got married, had kids, and now have no spare time. Ah well that's life.:(

[Sloda Foade]

I have been reading about the anti-tamper switches, the ones you have to hold down to switch off, but haven't found any as yet. Any idea if TCSS will be stocking these, on on how they need to be wired?

I'm really looking forward to getting my parts, can't wait to plug in the dremmel again.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

It is not the switch that you have to hold down for a few seconds before it will turn off. That is part of the programming on certain sound cards. TCSS does carry the anti-vandal switches in latching and momentary. They do protect from accidental switching a little though. Here is the link to one of those. http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/DPDT-Latching-red-illuminated-switch-P407.aspx Make sure you get a bezel http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Bezel-for-illuminated-switches-P448.aspx or an activation box http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Activation-box-style-4-P415.aspx for it or else it will be too long to fit in the hilt.

[Sloda Foade]

Ah yes, I have actually put one switches of those in my cart. I guess I'll just have to wait on a CF or ultrasound board to get that feature.

[Shadar Al'Niende]

So you know, there is an edit button on your post. That will allow you to add to your last post instead of double posting (which is frowned upon here)

[Jedi-Loreen]

Dude, I said to post your list in the Parts List forum, not here. :rolleyes:

Looks like you're not sure if you'll like the 5 or 10 degree lens best. So why not try both, like you're doing? ;)

If you plan to swap out LEDs, you're going to need 1 of the 2 wire quick connectors or JST connectors for each LED, if you wire one end right to the LED, like most people do. I can't think of any instance where you would only need one.

I don't know what a "quick swap LED holder" is, you just need an extra heat sink and thermal tape pad, so don't forget to get that for the P4 LED if you get that.

If you hope to add sound at some point, you might also want to order a Momentary switch, since, as mentioned, some sound boards need that type of switch.

It looks like you're trying to order everything you can think of at once, so you don't have to get small orders, because of the shipping to you, which makes sense.

Also, I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but if you want to get a US 2.5 sound board, you're going to have to watch for someone who's selling theirs, since they are no longer being produced. They are out of stock here forever.

[Sloda Foade]

My humble appologies Jedi Loreen for posting my list in the wrong area and for double posting. My only excuse was that it was very late. I'll remember this for future posts.
The quick swap LED holder is just another blade holder of a different style and a LED/LENS combination, which is in my list of parts.
I have already got JST connectors in my list thanks to the post by Rafalema.
As for the momentary switch, I did have it in the list, then took it out tryting to keep the cost down, but it isn't that much more so I'll put it back in again.
OK will be placing this order shortly.
Thanks to everyone for their advice