fau-pa's first saber (erv's petite crouton/ledengin 10w)

[fau-pa ramid]

Sup guys and gals, its been a long time. I got into this hobby back in 07' but I was a kid and didn't have the funds to follow up on any of my designs. Around the time I did have funds for projects I had fallen pretty heavily into motor sports. I spent about four years building cars and practicing my mechanical skills. Responsibility came knocking though and I found myself putting my cars in storage and set out in search of a less...taxing hobby. Soon after I was scouring this forum and was very pleased with how far you all have brought this hobby.

I have been employed as a CNC machinist for four years now and decided i would start focusing more on that skill set, naturally, the best way I could think to do that was to start my first saber project using manual machines. Throughout this thread i will be posting up my build. Hope you enjoy -Pat

I decided to start with one of the more simple designs. I apologize for the picture quality (i was using my cell) and the kinder-gardener sketches. These were all quick doodles in between machine cycles at work. For this design I decided to use a 1-5/8" bar of 6061 aluminum we had lying around. As far as this material machines I think the stuff is the bee's knees.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111109_085942.jpg


http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111109_125851.jpg

Roughed the outer and inner diameter out using the lathe today. I am basing the more critical demensions an old TCSS hilt me and my brother got when I was a kid. Mainly outer diameter and inner diameter. I was afraid I was going to get a lot of tool chatter because how far it was sticking out from the face of the chuck. so I just cut it off after the outer diameter was finished. Thinking back it probably would have been easier if I would have roughed out the ID before parting it off. After most of the material was moved from the inside i flipped it over, skimmed it down, and tapered the back end for threads. there is a small thread relief in the back of the soon to be threads with a shoulder to help the two parts lock together. i am hoping that the gap is enough for me to stop the tool from crashing into the shoulder as i have never cut external threads manually. all in all i think it was a pretty productive lunch period though.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111109_085954.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111109_125952.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111109_130008.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111109_130029.jpg

[Knighthammer]

Looks like a great start.

[fau-pa ramid]

thank you knighthammer. i think i am starting to get the hang of this manual machine. i feel more comfortable on it. still a lil' nervous but i'm sure it will pass.

today i got a lot done and i think it is finally starting to look like a saber. i wish i took more pictures but i was a bit short on time. started work on the bottom section of the main body. i also bored out the inner diameter of both pieces and made a cap to go in the pommel. (sorry i don't have many pictures of the cap by itself i will try and get some more uploaded tomorrow night)

this is the top section bored out.
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111128_144700.jpg

here is the pommel end of the bottom section. i started having problems with chatter due to the fact i had the boring bar hanging out so far.
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111128_144753.jpg

this is the part that is going to get the female threads. there is a shallow shoulder cut out so that the parts will lock together nicely. the inner diameter of this shoulder was a big concern to me. i wanted there to be little to no gap at the point where the bottom and top parts lock together. its something that probably no one else would notice but it would bother me if it was there.
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111128_144733.jpg

the two parts layed out prior to threading.
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111128_144804.jpg

i stayed a bit after work and got the two peices threaded so i could put them together. the pommel section was pretty easy. i did the femal threads first so i could use it as a guage to make sure my threads fit together nice and snug. this was easy all i had to do there was tap it. the male threads were alot more difficult. you have to time it right and be pretty quick to start and stop the feed at the right times or you will scrap the part. stop it to soon and you mess the threads up (you have to start over). stop it to late and you crash the tool into the part (shortly after things can get really ugly plus you still have to start over). it all worked out though and nothing was broken.

this shot is the closest i have to a profile shot. i will get better one tomorrow.
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111129_115323.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111129_115350.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111129_115331.jpg

here is a final shot of the pommel cap fitment.
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111129_115517.jpg

tomorrow i am going to try and get some of the mill work out of the way. if i am lucky i will be able to get the blade holder all sorted out. (i will also try and get some better shots of the saber) -pat

[Boj-Vaati Mau]

I like the design and your machine work is quite clean. I look forward to seeing this one complete.

[fau-pa ramid]

thanks Boj i take that as a very high compliment. i was a bit nervous about posting my stuff up on a forum full of very skilled machinists.

today i got more pics so you guys wouldn't be so in the dark. first things first i knocked out the blade holder. i am getting pretty comfortable with the lathe so its not taking as long to get the parts to size. i was stopping pretty frequently to measure the parts as i was making them. reading the dials is getting easier and i am not having to second guess myself so much. the fun part today was that i got to use the mill for the first time. i think i like it more then the lathe. its more involved and helped the day go by faster.

this is the basic sketch how the blade holder is going to play out.
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_155843.jpg

and here it is done. its pretty simple and strait forward.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_155859.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_155916.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_160115.jpg

i am sure you probably couldn't tell from the sketch but i wanted to integrate an "eye" into the design. sort of throw back to the original trilogy. so i got a scrapped piece of 316 stainless form the back of the shop. you can get a really nice shine from 316 and its a different color then aluminum. kind of a darker shade of shinny if that makes any sense. i want it to thread into the heat sync and run a 5mm led into it. hopefully this will help create the illusion that the blade is traveling through the saber.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_162126.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_162144.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_162214.jpg

the real fun part of today was milling out the top half of the saber to sort of make a shroud over the blade holder. this really turned out a lot better then i thought it was going to. i was afraid the top section was a bit to short and it would look silly once it was all assembled. all in all i am very pleased with how it all turned out.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_162549.jpg

the back part also has a hole for the wires from the switch-box to run through and the threaded holes to hold the box on.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_162616.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_162730.jpg

the last thin i did was tackle the switch-box. its pretty simple and is just roughed out for now. i will do more work on this later once i get the switch placement and everything figured out. i really want to do a bar graph in it to but we will have to see if i can fit it all in there.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120209_115954.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120209_120026.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120209_120104.jpg

here is all the bits assembled.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120209_120307.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120209_120501.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120209_120546.jpg

and here is a picture of the threads that were cut yesterday as promised.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120209_120337.jpg

a final few shots of everything that is done so far all assembled. i tried to get some better lighting this time but they are still a bit blurred. i asked my pops if he would take pictures of it with his fancy camera. so if you will bear with me a bit longer i can get some really detailed shots of the future work.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111208_083957-1.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111208_084104-1.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111208_084136-1.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20111208_084208-1.jpg

[TD-2272]

Lookin sharp!

[Silver Serpent]

Very nice! You're off to a fantastic start here. I'm excited to see how this one looks when it is finished.

[fau-pa ramid]

Thanks TD and silver. I am still in my element though. We will see what happens when we get to the electronic side of things.

I am going to be working on the grips today. Not a big step forward but I'm a bit nervous. This could make or break my build. I took the windshield wipers of of one of the cars I have in storage. I am having trouble getting them all the same. I will probly end up buying some from Tim.

As far as placement i am gonna see if my boss will let me cheat and put it in the cnc mill to get he spacing right. I could probably do it just fine manually but I am feeling a Tad lazy. When you are staring at a math problem and you have a calculator in your pocket its kind of hard not to use it.

[Knighthammer]

Keep up the good work, I'm liking where this is going!

[fau-pa ramid]

got my wish! the boss man let me use the cnc to get the holes for the grips drilled and tapped.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_163644.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120208_163755.jpg

the grips were pretty simple at that point. you just measure them and cut them to size. these were the back side of a single piece flex windshield wiper. i am a bit undecided on them. i would actually like some opinions on whether they look good or if i need to try something else. my dad took these last pics so i would have something more high res. still a ton to do such as weathering but this is basically how its going to look. (i tried weathering the grips a bit)

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/lightsabre1.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/lightsabre4.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/lightsabre5.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/lightsabre6.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/lightsabre7.jpg

all the electronic guts for this saber have been trickling in over the past few weeks. my petite crouton came in yesterday and i have been tinkering with the Hakko fx-888 soldering station i skooped up the other day. i am blown away by it. this thing makes soldering so much easier. i feel much more comfortable about soldering the board now that i have the right tools. prior to this hakko thing i have been practicing soldering with an old 30w radio shack iron we had at the house. i didn't think it was going to be that much of a difference but i wasn't about to try and solder a battery pack together without one of the higher quality irons. it is a night and day difference. i would highly recommend a good iron of some sort.

[Boj-Vaati Mau]

I'm digging the look of the grips/heat sinks, nice nods to the OT. I say keep them. (Sling Blade voice) That's gonna be a mighty fine piece of saber when you're done, uhhh huh!

[Jenny]

This whole thing is looking pretty fabulous... nice job, and thanks for sharing!

[thejedilestat]

me like

[Ka'getsu]

I do have to say. that saber is coming together rather nicely :)

[fau-pa ramid]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I guess the grips will stay. Last thing I need is a PCB and to mill out wire passageways. I am so ready to light this thing up. I hope will have something to show you all this week.

[Impa]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I guess the grips will stay. Last thing I need is a PCB and to mill out wire passageways. I am so ready to light this thing up. I hope will have something to show you all this week.

The good thing about your grips is you've utilized screws on the top and bottom portion of them. So if you arn't to keen on them nearing the completion of your project you can always change them as they are not permanently attached to the saber. Looking good thus far. They look very low profile and comfortable, seems you have made some nice cuts into them aswell making everything symetrical. if you find the rubber is too flimsy try using the pre notched ESB rubber grips. They are very rigid and i'm sure you could make top notches to fit the bottom ones as you've done on your existing ones. Looking forward to seeing more ;)

[fau-pa ramid]

thank you Impa. they are pretty comfortable and because so much time has been spent on them already i am a bit hesitant to just switch them up. i was looking at the ESB style grips Tim sells in the shop. mine had to be cut to size and while they are very close they are not as uniform as i had hoped they would be. pre made grips seem to be the only way to get them all to be the same.

i just ordered a PLI and a 7.4v PCB from the shop. going to try and get the switch-box squared away this week. i am really hoping that the PLI and two switches will fit in the box. we will just have to see when i get it in the mail. some more updates will be posted up for you guys soon. -Pat

[Jenny]

I understand being a perfectionist, but think about resolution... as in, the resolution of a camera's optics, not your resolution to be perfect. When you have this thing in your hand, your hand is going to be covering the grip strips mostly. When you have it hanging on your belt, your clothes are most often going to cover them. When you're photographed holding it, tiny imperfections will be lost to the camera's resolution.

So the only reason to be upset about the grips not matching perfectly is if it's more imperfection than you, personally, as the owner and operator of this beautiful example of the sabersmith's art, can take.

[fau-pa ramid]

This is a very goond point. I want to minimize he amount of imperfections on the saber as much as possible. They are present and though I will most likely be the only person who notices them. I more or less just want the grips to Match the design. It comes down to the grips looking like they were an afterthought or them actually blending with the saber.

If you were to start carving a statue out of marble and with the intent of puting a necklace on it you would want it to be just as beautifully crafted as the marble. What I am really trying to get at is this: though my statue may not be the most breathtaking it is still marble and i don't want it to look like I placed a macaroni necklace around my statues neck.

Impa's suggestion about getting pre made grips is an excellent one. The only other thing I can think of will be to mold my own. That might be more trouble then its worth though.

[Jenny]

Well, I may be a Philistine, but I think your current grips are fabulous. I am not generally a fan of the rubber grips, but yours made me think about making a rubber-gripped one of my own... for a minute.

[brett]

Great build, a really nice, original design as well as being jolly quick! I like to see the pride you are taking in your work. Re; grips, remember that you may well make changes over the following months, refinements and such. And it looks like you have the tools to do so. Will keep watch on this thread with enthusiasm.

[dustunite]

this is sweet, everything looks so great! machining is awesome!

[fau-pa ramid]

Well, I may be a Philistine, but I think your current grips are fabulous. I am not generally a fan of the rubber grips, but yours made me think about making a rubber-gripped one of my own... for a minute.

ha i will keep them for now. i don't think i want to change them unless i can make a mold to turn out my own.

thank you very much brett and dustunite. wiring this saber up is becoming a pain. i guess that's what i get for picking one of the more complex setups for my first build. i started work on this thing without having any of the electronic bits in my possession. getting everything i want inide this saber is going to take some serious work.

tomorrow is going to be a big day. i will be milling out all the passages for the wires to go through. might even get the heat sync finished. hope to have some pics of the progress posted up for you all this time tomorrow.

[Jenny]

i guess that's what i get for picking one of the more complex setups for my first build. i started work on this thing without having any of the electronic bits in my possession. getting everything i want inide this saber is going to take some serious work.

What an intriguing statement! What are you planning to put in it?

And remember... there's always Mark II. ;)

[DemonBunnyman]

Very nice :)

[fau-pa ramid]

Sorry for not responding sooner I have been pretty busy lately. I plan on putting a petit crouton v1.6, a 2w speaker, a led engin 10w led (RGGB wired up fora a cyan color) , two 14670 li ion cells, and I will be trying to get a tcss PLI in the switch box with the switches. The last part might be a bit tricky we will have to see.

[Jedi Mynock]

very original! i would love to have a unique saber milled just for me. MHS is great, but man that is one-of-a-kind.

ah, switchbox design. thats holding up my MHS #2 right now. how to cram so much into a tiny box, and still figure out how to get it all on the saber once its done!?

cant wait to see electronics installed in your saber!

[fau-pa ramid]

Thanks bud. you are not going to have to wait very much longer. i am making some proggress on getting the guts all wired up and crammed into the hilt.

first things first i have been playing with my soldering iron. i made a battery pack out of two aw 14670 cells. its pretty strait forward and was probably the easiest thing i made so far. all you really do is make sure you understand the tutorials, get a good iron, and Wear Safety Glasses.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_084800.jpg

next i wired up my petite crouton and made a simple pvc sled for it all to sit on. soldering on the PC was one of the more tense moments in this build. i must have read the manual front to back 30 times before i started but after a bit i was like "if i screw up oh well". everything got better after that. the card is wired for flash on clash you can see the Power Xtender™ on top of the bored.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_084930.jpg

here is a shot of the pvc sled with the speaker mounted in it. i am mounting the speaker toward the emitter end of the saber so i had to cut slots around the edges of the speaker so the wires could pass beside it to the top of the saber.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_085002.jpg

and here is everything mocked up. i still need to make sure nothing is going to short out but this is how it will all sit.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_085304.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_085335.jpg


i finally got the heat sync finished. this piece was the corner stone of my design and so far the most complicated piece. all the measurements were way more critical then anything else on the saber. i think it turned out pretty well. its kind of sad no one is ever going to see it because so much work went into getting it right.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_090046.jpg

this is the slots for the wires from the ledengin to pass through.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_090102.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_085904.jpg

and this is a hole for the wires from the led that is going to be in the stainless "eye" to feed back to the board.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_090118.jpg

the eye threaded into the heat sync

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_090208.jpg

everything assembled

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_085748.jpg

last thing i did to the blade holder was mill a slot for the wires from the switch-box to pass through.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_085727.jpg

the last thing about this update is i got my PLI from the shop and all the leds are diffrent colors. it has six green, one orange, and three red. this makes sense but i want them all to be blue so i am going to try and take them all off and replace them with some blue 0805 surface mounting Leds. it might not work with the chip but if that fails then i will just have to figure out how to make my own bar graph.

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_085540.jpg

http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u491/barker328/IMG_20120222_101549.jpg

more posts to come. hope you enjoy -Pat

[boshwan527]

I love the custom machine work. great job on that heat sink!

[Knighthammer]

Nice progress.

[cannibal869]

Late to the party, but very nice work so far!

[fau-pa ramid]

thank you all very much.

i have been trying to get all this wired up. still need to drill holes for the speaker and finish the switchbox. i booted the board up to test it and did'nt have a resistor on my FoC. the board worked great but i accidently bumped the board while it was on. small mistake but it cost me my led. im going to have to order a new one. other then that small update there isnt any news.

[Borax]

I too have been neglecting my TCSS reading lately. You have some mad skills Fau-pa ! I will be watching this thread from now on. I look forward to the progression. well done so far !