kaljr82's First Saber

[kaljr82]

Okay, so I am wanting to put together my first lightsaber to use as a costume prop and when not being used for that, to display in my "man cave".

This is pretty basic, and I read Lord Dottore Motto's Basic Build parts list and here is what I have so far.

Screw on LED blade holder style 9 "new style"
8-32 x 1/2" thumb screw
7" Fluted with standard style switch hole
MPS Pommel style 8
MPS Insert style 6
2 Wire quick connector
LED "Corbin style" Show blade 1" OD (34 inches)
Luxeon Collimator Lens 8.7 deg viewing angle
4AAA battery holder
Luxeon Rebel Lens Holder
Luxeon Rebel Star (Green)
BuckPuck 1000mA 6-wire
Push on/push off switch with black button

I am not going to have sound in this yet as it is a little out of my budget right now.
I am also thinking about adding a choke to add a little length and style.

Any suggestions for me?

[Zzan]

Seoul P4's come in white, red, blue and green. The only reason you only see red and blue is that they are the only ones currently in stock. Green and whit will populate when their stock level is > 0.

You could also do a green rebel which is in stock. You would just need a rebel lens holder instead of a Seoul lens holder. You could either drive it with a 700ma buck puck or overdrive it and use the 1000ma buck puck (this is what I would do).
Or you could use the appropriate resistor ( green rebel is 3.4v forward voltage at 700ma) use ohms law to calculate your resistor, or the calculator.

While the kit makes it easy to get everything in a couple drop downs and a click, you can build your own kit with the same items individually. Battery holder, led, lens, lens holder, resistor/buck puck, latching switch. Also the reason you can't add it to your cart is the resistors are out of stock. Buckpucks are available though, so I would go with one of them, they are more efficient than a resistor anyway. You will get better battery life using them than with a resistor. Of course if you have your heart set on a resistor you can run to your local electronics store and purchase one there, they aren't terribly hard to find.

[kaljr82]

Wow. Excellent info.
I guess I should have realized I could have just pieced it out instead of buying the kit.

What would be the advantage of the 1000mA over 700 mA BuckPuck?

[Zzan]

You will increase the brightness a little at the cost of shorter LED life. Though unless your plan is to have it on constantly for 5 or 6 years you will never notice any decrease in LED life, it should easily last multiple decades with normal use.

I run mine (both rebels and P4's) at 1200ma through a Petit Crouton board and have no issues. I would say go for the 1000ma (you will have to get the 6 wire and just not use the middle wires, the 4 wire is out of stock) you could interchange Rebels and P4's of different colors at will depending on your mood (get some quick connects from the wiring section of the store.) -- Always cut power before changing LEDs --
The only thing with the buckpuck is that you will have to have at least 5v of input voltage for it to work (at least 4 1.5v AAA or AA batteries or 1 7.4v 14500 or 18650) I think you already have this covered with the 4AAA battery holder.

You can have up to 32v of batteries but there really isn't any need for just one LED. If you were building a staff you could drive both LED's off one buckpuck as long as you have enough voltage going into the buckpuck.

[kaljr82]

Cool!

That is extremely helpful.
Perhaps I will update my Shopping list and for you to inspect once again.
I do plan to have sound in it one day, but do not have $125 to buy the sounds module at this juncture.

[kaljr82]

The list up top has been edited.

I am thinking about switching up the main body, blade holder and pommel to a little different style, but the ones up top will just be place holders until I actually decide. I was looking through the gallery and found a few that i REALLY like.

[Zzan]

Looks good.

One thing I realized after I built my first one is that the "Main Bodies" are too long for the things that I want to add to my sabers. My first saber (http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?13447-Valoramosa-My-First-Saber&highlight=valoramosa) ended up being over 15" and while I still love it, is longer than I would like. My second saber is already designed and will use 2 extensions instead of a main body, extension, and choke and brings my total build length down to under 11" The other side of that coin is that the less space you have in your hilt the greater your cram-fu skill must be :) I am still a cram-fu padawan. It took me 3 attempts at wiring to figure out the best way to do it and be able to close up the saber when done.

Only other thing I would do differently is instead of 4xAAA (6v) batteries I would probably go with 2x14500 (7.4v)li-ion's instead, if you use the protected ones and the 2xAA battery holder it wouldn't be much different than what you have planned except you would have better battery life and can recharge them (out of the hilt in the Li-Ion charger provided in the store) Plus you would have room next to the battery pack later for your sound card when you add it, instead of trying to get it to fit in front or behind your battery pack. Again you can choose to do that when you go that route. Nothing is really final in your build you can add and remove stuff pretty much at will until you get the combination that you are ultimately happy with.

[kaljr82]

You have been extremely helpful.

I think I will forego the the choke and just do the Main body, pommel and blade holder for my first one!

[kaljr82]

So I have completely redesigned this thing.

And due to some money issues, I think I am only going to be able to buy the actual hilt pieces and will have to wait a bit to buy the blade and LED materials.

59315931

This is the new config.
What do you think?