Working out a heatsink for my new hilt

[Yoiaholic]

Hi everyone, I just got this hilt:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/eBayEeth2.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/eBayEeth1.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/ki_adi4.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/ki_adi3.jpg


It's a Larbel made EL ready saber. I would like to convert it to LED and keep the 3/4" blade. I've had success with the 3/4" LED blade before. What I want to know is what people have used for a heatsink inside a LARBEL hilt before. I don't have the dimensions yet (but i'm really excited can you tell?) and as soon as it gets here I'll let you know.

Any thoughts? I'd prefer to not have to do any exterior modding to the hilt, instead to perhaps make a heatsink/extended bladeholder that can be secured into the front piece of the saber.
(if it disassembles like this that is, I found this pic online).

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/style_a4.jpg



I'm looking for some suggestions.


_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[xwingband]

Something radially finned or like Tim's should do well since it is metal to metal contact. If you want to do the radially finned one you should still make the top fin just a bit larger like Tim's so it can rest on something.

I think a good bet would be having Tim grind a heatsink down for you.

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[Yoiaholic]

how do you suggest I secure it? I was thinking of getting a custom made one, but I really want to find a way to keep the outside as free from modification as possible, with only an allen head screw for the blade.

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[WeirdoTransvestite]

You could try to get a small CPU heatsink and fasten it to whatever you're using to mount the LED.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
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-Neon Genesis Evangelion

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http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/WeirdoTransvestite/LaughingManROTATE.gif Contains 100% your daily recommended dose of Laughing Man

[xwingband]

I'd really have to see the inside to say the best way of securing it. I have to assume here is a bottle neck somewhere in there to put the mono-plug. That could be the spot you let it float above.

Otherwise perhaps you need a sleeve made. It would have a small lip on the bottom to stop the heatsink.

When you get it I'd love to know what the inside of the Larbel look like.

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[Yoiaholic]

Thats my fault, I guess I always think of the heatsink as the LED mount as well. Thats what I'm looking for a way to heatsink/and hold the LED optics inside this hilt, preferably without having to modify the outside of the saber. Thats why I was thinking of doing an extended blade holder/LED and heatsink mount. I thought that it would be something that would attach to the round emitter in the inside and give an additional 1 inch for the blade then hold the heatsink and LED in place.

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[Yoiaholic]

Will do, when I get it (probably Saturday) I'll have tons of pics of it to put up.

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[james3]

<font color="green">DROOOOLLLL!!!</font id="green">

<font color="blue">Very nice indeed. That is just so cool, can't wait to see it "in hand".</font id="blue">

<center>http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/Dadof3/kotor2.jpg</center>

[Yoiaholic]

Well my saber is here! [:D] I probably should have waited because I ordered a ton of things that just won't fit into it. I'll definatly use them for something. I ordered corbin's board (too wide) I took my Anakin FX apart, lol I bit harshly I'd definately need a conversion kit to make it whole again but it probably wouldn't be worth it. I also ordered Tim's battery pack... yeah that won't fit either. Well at least my luxeon III will fit, after my neighbor and I drill out this saber on his drill press tonight. It was really made for EL and the compartments are set up that way. I think I might be able to get my FX board in but I don't want to have to drill holes in the back... Oh well I love this saber, as soon as I have some work done on it I'll post more pics!

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[Madcow]

For a heatsink, you can use a copper pipe end cap.
http://www.freewebs.com/genesis_sabers/Luxeon%20Star.JPG

This will fit easily into a 1" inside diameter hilt.

MC


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You want to go home and re-think your life

[Firebird21]

Now that's innovative MC!

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[Yoiaholic]

That is nice! The problem is that as xwing thought there are some huge bottlenecks in this saber. I'll post pics of it tonight before I have it fixed. The grip part is only 1/2" ID with the hole. Too small to do anything with and I wouldn't want to enlarge it because the threading is right there. From the led board back is it about 1.25 inches. The really nice part is that the brass button has a push on/push off switch underneath it. Sadly the previous owner glued it in and cut off the lead wires but I'll figure a way to use it.

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[Yoiaholic]

Ok here are some pics, though a few are blurry, I have to run to radio shack to get a few items and I'll try to fix them later.

-This is a pic of the full saber before disassembly.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Ki1.jpg


-This is with the emitter unscrewed. I will need to remove most of the long thin part at the end to house the optics/led and heatsink. This should not be a problem since the screws are directly after the outside curves.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Ki2.jpg


-This is both the emitter and grip section unscrewed.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Ki3.jpg


-This is the whole saber disassembled.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Ki4.jpg


These are close ups of all the different pieces. (Low quality I know)

-This is the emitter piece, I've drilled the whole thing out to 3/4 inch since it had a big bottleneck for the jack.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Kipart1A.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Kipart1B.jpg


-This is the grip piece. Sadly it is only 1/2 inch wide inside and I really can't drill it out. That adds up to about 4.5 inches of wasted saber space.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Kipart2A.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Kipart2B.jpg


-This is the switch/rear section of the saber. What is really neat is that there is an on/off switch under the brass button. However someone must have not liked this and they cut off the leads and glued the switch into place. Most annoying but at least it is there. I'll make it work. I also had to grind out the inside as it had a disk that seperated the battery compartment from the inverter.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Kipart3A.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Kipart3B.jpg


-Switch pic
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Kiswitch1.jpg


So it seems I have just enough room for a battery pack and resistor/LED and internal recharge port. I'm just going to wire the recharge port inside and unscrew the center part when I need to get to it. No reason to drill through the beautifully finished hilt when the inside is so accessable.

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[Firebird21]

That is a very nice looking saber..



Is there any way you can utilize the wasted space for batteries?

Maybe tape some standard rechargeables together and slide them in (how many of what kind of batteries will fit in there, I wonder...)

Just a thought... That will give you a little more room so you may be able to slide a MR S/B in there.

Edit: Awh crap... I forgot about the speaker!


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[Yoiaholic]

Sadly when you consider the space that wires will need there just is nothing I can do with the grip section. It sucks because thats all thats standing in the way from sound and corbin's board.

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[Lord Maul]

very cool saber yoi, that does suck about the grip section [:(]
as for sound, it looks like from your first post it has holes in the pommel for sound. everything is in place for sound but the card won't fit. maybe you could drill out two slots in the grip section for the sound card to slide inbeetween. might not work but it is an idea

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[xwingband]

What portion in the grips is getting in the way? The top threads or the bottom ones?

Because it's a bummer that it would only really take 1/8" around to make the space usable.[:(]

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[Yoiaholic]

I could probably get about 1/8 more of space, xwing, but what would fit there? I'd need to send it to someone with a drill press though. Corbin's board needs at least 1.10 inches, and the mr board needs a little over 1 inch.

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[xwingband]

I meant 1/8" all around, for 3/4" overall. Then you could get some batteries up in there and still route wires. That would really open up some options. You could throw in two NiMH AA's up there, two or three AA's at the bottom and still work in the boards if you want to squeeze it. I'd probably go either or because the double clash sensors needed would really be making it hard to fit.

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[Yoiaholic]

with the threads being cut into the side I just can't risk it. Its a shame though, with the accuracy of this saber I at least wished to have corbin's board or sound on it.



But now the only question is royal blue or green? I have those two on me now, but I'd be willing to order a blue if it seems to fit better. I need opinions.

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[Madcow]

Well...
That saber is a replica of Ki-Adi Mundi's I believe. It was blue in the movies.
http://starwars.wikia.com/images/e/e0/Ki_adi_mundi.jpg

MC


http://rpetkau.photosite.com/~photos/tn/88_348.ts1141004694072.jpg
You want to go home and re-think your life

[james3]

I think the blue works for it the best as well. I am pretty sure that they used that saber in both colors in EP2 and EP3 but it has that "Guardian" look to me so that's why I say blue.

<center>http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/Dadof3/kotor2.jpg</center>

[Yoiaholic]

Royal Blue or Normal? I can get a normal blue high current K2 from led supply now [:D]



And I think my post count is a Knight :) lol

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[Firebird21]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Yoiaholic

And I think my post count is a Knight :) lol<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">


That's because you don't Shut Up!


...at 0.34 posts a day.[:p]


I vote for the Royal blue, unless you get the K2.

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[james3]

Congrats Sir Yoi. I know space is at a premium but if you are looking to run a buckpuck then I would have to say that's a tough call. My luck seems to be that I always get the high color bin blues so they tend to be more Cyanish so I am still not too sure what a nice mid to low bin blue looks like. I can tell you for sure when my high current blue K2 comes in the first of the week but I do love that Royal blue.

Yep I just scrolled through the pics again and I like the blue. I of course would worry that there would be to much green in it but a blue K2 would look awesome with that hilt.

<center>http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e370/Dadof3/kotor2.jpg</center>

[Yoiaholic]

Thanks guys :) I'm going to go with Royal Blue. Which means that I need to make another saber to contain all the parts and green LED I have. Any word on when the Luke Emitter will be back in stock? Its a toss up between making an MHS luke or this custom design:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Customsaber2.jpg


Which do you think is better?

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[Lord Maul]

i'd go with the custom cause no one else got it and it looks sweet man [^]

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[xwingband]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&item=150029277424&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

To those interested...

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[987654321a]

thats a very awesome saber you have yoia

Darth Sequentius...Sith Lord
http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/bg/type/0/taskforcedelta.png

[Yoiaholic]

Xwing, I asked that seller on ebay and sadly its a solid saber. But it looks well done so I hope someone from the forum gets it.


I have an idea for a heatsink, I took Madcow's 3/4 inch copper cap and cut it off just below the lip since I don't have more than 1/4 inch for the heatsink. However there is a ton of unused space in the grip section. I'm wondering if you think I can do this: drill out a hole for a flat head screw, then attach nuts and washers to extend the heatsink into the grip section. I'll use arctic silver to make the top of the heatsink smooth and adhere the LED. I'm sure this will work however what kind of screws/washers should I use? Do they sell copper ones? And if not what is the next most conductive metal?

Thanks so much!

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[Yoiaholic]

Here's the heatsink I have so far. I think I'm going to add some washers to it to increase the transfer ability. My dremmel diamond-carbite wheel is at the end of its life or I might have made prettier cuts.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Heatsink1.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Heatsink2.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Heatsink3.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/Heatsink4.jpg

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg

[Madcow]

That will do OK for a 3w, But I would secure it with 3 screws and use thermal paste between the LED and the copper.

Plus - I assumed you filed the grooves where the wires go to avoid shorts?

Looks Good,
MC


http://rpetkau.photosite.com/~photos/tn/88_348.ts1141004694072.jpg
You want to go home and re-think your life

[Yoiaholic]

First here are some pics of my ugly (yet functional) heatsink. I had to use a lot of paste to fill the gap between the led onto of the screw for the washers and the copper base. I'm hoping that the heat will not be an issue and so far in brief tests running the LED un resistored for a VERY short time it hasn't been an issue. I'm hopeful it will continue to not be an issue.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/heatsink.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/heatsink2a.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/heatsink3a.jpg


I also ended up needing to replace the switch. There was a small push on/off switch located under the brass button. After attempting to remove it to solder it it was no longer functional. I spent about 3 hours searching the internet and switch manufacturers catalogs and I found something that may be of interest to us all. This is an exact replacement of the switch that was originally in the saber.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/switchpic.jpg

The Switch is a DPDT push on/off mini key switch. The dimensions are an astounding 6mmx6mm square. This switch will fit nearly anywhere are will eliminate some of the headaches of trying to find a mini DPST switch. Here is the link to where I purchased it. There is a PDF with all the dimensions and specs there as well:

http://www.mouser.com/search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=MHPS2266virtualkey64200000

At 77 cents per switch I think its a great deal. I got 2, one for this project and one for my next which will have corbin's driver with MR sound.

_________________________

'Your swords please, we wouldn't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.' -Count Dooku
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/yoiaholic/dookubig.jpg