First build - Light Yari

[Arkanjel]

Hello saber enthusiasts. Im a long time lurker, first time poster. And also first time builder. Something I would have not attempted without all of the fantastic tutorials too numerous to mention. As I fear the build will never actually be "done" I figure its about time to post a few in-progress images and get some feedback. My concept was for something less saberish and more similar to a yari (or pike). Something with a "heavy weapons" feel to it. The weapon is 54" in length (total) with a 22" blade. Made mostly with MHS parts (thank you Tim for the great store and service ;) ) The center section is 1" aluminum tube stock epoxied snugly into two blade holders. Then a thin layer of inner tube rubber over-wrapped with 1/16" galvanized steel cable (amazing grip and feel.) Inside is a PC 2.0 pushing an orange-red Rebel Star and "Blackstar" sound font.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8294353393_66f81f01cd_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8294353393/)
02 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8294353393/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8084/8294351985_ede1e5fe35_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8294351985/)
03 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8294351985/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

A lit AV switch for power and the tiny momentary switch for acc functions. The speaker faces forward and sits just behind the switches and really casts sound to the blade well.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8082/8295410296_a11f0bea3a_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8295410296/)
01 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8295410296/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

I used the pommel insert designed to hold recharge and RICE ports. But Im running a small battery level indicator in place of the RICE port. Its a nifty programmable, multi color (green->yellow->orange->red) LED unit.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8357/8294345853_8ebc6f69f4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8294345853/)
09 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8294345853/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

I made a kill key from an old paintball marker detent.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8084/8294350717_0a3549ce2d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8294350717/)
04 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8294350717/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8491/8295404260_1f812e2e16.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8295404260/)
05 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8295404260/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

"Razor" plug
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8221/8295402824_a6880fdd5f_n.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8295402824/)
06 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8295402824/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr


Made a lit, see-thru tube chassis out of some left over 1" blade material. The square LED is pretty bright. It also lights up the pommel venting really well.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8221/8330682096_684fb38860.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8330682096/)
IMG_0186 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8330682096/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8362/8295398522_6867a4b5fa_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8295398522/)
010 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8295398522/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

And one with me for size comparison. Im 6'3".

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8495/8331437218_1215833f9d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8331437218/)
NIK_9509 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8331437218/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

I have some cosmetic work to do still. A stylized etching is in the near future. And I would also like to turn the forward vented section into a crystal chamber if I can cram-fu it in there. But as it stands Im pretty happy with the overall design. Balance and feel are amazing.

Thanks for looking. More to come....

[eastern57]

Good Stuff man! I like this kind of outside-the-tube thinking. ;) I also like the finish, what did you use?

[Arkanjel]

Good Stuff man! I like this kind of outside-the-tube thinking. ;) I also like the finish, what did you use?

Thank you sir. The finish is just baked Krylon Ultra-Flat Camouflage. The stuff is really durable for rattle-can paint. I weathered it a little with a Scotch-brite pad. Ill probably do clear and flat black anodizing when Im done with the etching.

I see you are in Okinawa. Im a bit jealous. Im an avid aikido practicioner. Thats the main reason I chose the size shape for this build. Most of the aiki-jo techniques we do are easily adaptable to this light-yari.

[Jordandau]

Don't wrap the whole board in electrical tape, it needs to get air to it to function properly. Infact, use heat shrink instead of tape for almost every application.

[eastern57]

...The finish is just baked Krylon Ultra-Flat Camouflage. The stuff is really durable for rattle-can paint. I weathered it a little with a Scotch-brite pad. Ill probably do clear and flat black anodizing when Im done with the etching....

Ooh, I used that on Fishbone, great stuff, definitely has it's own unique kind of flat. Always in motion, eh? Yeah, same with my stuff :D Keep it up!

[Arkanjel]

Don't wrap the whole board in electrical tape, it needs to get air to it to function properly. Infact, use heat shrink instead of tape for almost every application.

Gotcha. The chassis setup is temp. I plan on making one from pvc instead of aluminum so I wont have to worry about any unwanted contact.

[madmaxx]

nice staff buddy and not too shabby for a first try either...love to see what you turn out on your 3rd or 4th try!!

[The Yin]

that looks cool, very creative.
Looks like i be fun to duel with.

[Arkanjel]

nice staff buddy and not too shabby for a first try either...love to see what you turn out on your 3rd or 4th try!!


Indeed. Im already working on a saber as well.

The yari probably looks a bit hum-drum compared to some of the uber flashy and decorated stuff on the forum. But it was my intent for it to be very streamlined and tactical. And to also look/feel like something truly battle ready. Even without the blade its got a feeling of substance. Not overly heavy. But definitely built to last. Its already proven to be incredibly durable. Ive dueled against a hickory jo and bokken with it hard enough that I was suprised the TCSS battle blade didnt break.

The real kicker for me was the electronics work. Until now I had never soldered or wired ANYTHING. Like, ever. So I was a little hesitant to start messing with wiring diagrams, resistors, circuit boards, etc. But in turn it has been really rewarding to get everything wired and running. I spent a TON of time reading on the forums before and during, double checking myself. There were a couple of scares. I crosswired the momentary switch and blew the pcb on my battery pack. Thought I had fried the board.

[slothfurnace]

Nice work, love the paint.

Nice and elegant, unique, good detail choices where they're needed. Nothing overdesigned.

Well done.

[MandoJoe]

This is absolutely fantastic. I want to swing it around so badly. I might have to sneak into your house and steal it, it's that awesome.

[Arkanjel]

Heh, thank you. It is indeed a joy to wield. Though before you try sneaking in and stealing it you will have to make it past my legion of attack mandrills. :wink:

@Sloth: I appreciate that. You are a master craftsman sir.

[MandoJoe]

Gah! Not mandrills! I love primates of all shapes and sizes, but mandrills freak me right out.

[Arkanjel]

And they are trained to... Well, it rhymes with grape.

I meant to note (if not obvious) that the board is in the tail section. Not only for the sake of room but I figured it would receive much less shock. The PC 2.0 took a bit of tweaking to get the motion and clash configs set up right. The motion aspect is great as the board placement mirrors the blade. The clash value had to be jacked up quite a bit to prevent unwanted triggering when stopping spin moves.

Also, regarding sound, I have the speaker installed perpendicular (not "inline"). I still get a lot of sound out of the front section. With little, if any, noticable volume change in orientation. But the pole section also works as an amazing resonance chamber. I get nearly as much sound from the pommel insert all the way at the other end. And the sound is passing by the battery (7.4 14500 inside the pole), board, wires, and recharge port. With the board volume on "4" the sound really fills a room. My 15 month old twin boys love it. The wife....uh, no so much.

[Arkanjel]

Made a much nicer razor plug today. Its topped off with an extra pommel insert I had laying around. I think it ties it in well.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8502/8309038286_675eb7ae14.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8309038286/)
IMG_0178 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8309038286/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8497/8309037630_a6aaae4a53.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8309037630/)
IMG_0179 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8309037630/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

[Lord Dottore Matto]

Excellent work. A great way to protect the PC from shorts is to use the anti-static bag that came with it. Indeed E-tape is a no-no for Plecterlabs boards.

[Arkanjel]

Thanks LDM. Love your work. Your threads have been invaluable.

Ya, Ive done away with all the tape. I hate working with that sticky crap anyways.

Im making a "viewing chamber" tube chassis for the board out of some left over 1" thick wall blade. Going to light it with an accent led.

[Lord Dottore Matto]

Oooh, that will be cool!

[Caine Drathul]

Nice weapon, man! Now let's see a Yari Kata! Many peeps have made some nice Yari's, but no forms. That weapon deserves a form. :cool:

[Arkanjel]

Nice weapon, man! Now let's see a Yari Kata! Many peeps have made some nice Yari's, but no forms. That weapon deserves a form. :cool:


Indeed! Just need to find some time to train. I work 6 days a week and I have 15 month old twin boys. With aikido 3 nights a week I dont have much time left.

[Johannes Huber]

Really nice work on the Yari, especially the idea with using the blade holders, it just opened up a huge number of new combination ideas for using the MH system in some really neat new ways. It's also great how you are continuing to evolve the design and modify the piece as you get new ideas
If someone wants to take a look at an interesting sojutsu (spear) form that might inspire a movement methodology for a saber/yari configuration like this, they may want to go to Youtube and look up Saburi ryu Sojutsu. I suggest that ryu since the style is peculiar for have a very long blade relative to the size of the haft as well as a cross guard (or a pair of perpendicular small blades at the base of the main blade in a "Juji" configuration). Not being a practitioner of that particular koryu, I can't be sure, but I would guess at a length somewhere around 2' - 2.5' of blade and then a 5' shaft, so it should give some ideas of possible motion flows. One note: it is a koryu (Azuchi-momoyama period) so some body motion may look a bit odd to non-koryu practitioners (part of the difference comes from adapting to moving in armor and/or the clothing of that period), but it's a lovely style to watch, using a lot of elegant but dynamic spiraling motions to bring the blade into play in unusual ways.
Again, great work on the saber!

[Arkanjel]

Thanks for the info Johannes. I will definitely poke around and see what kind of techniques can be adapted. Although I view YouTube with mixed emotions. Without knowing the pedigree of who youre watching its a crap shoot.

I originally wanted to tap the shaft section blade holders with 3 set screws so I could change the length to suit my needs. I just didnt think it would hold up to heavy dueling. Ideally, I think I would start with a 1 1/4" shaft section next time. Then thread the ends and blade holders.

I tried the setup at about 6' and thats just too long to be practical IMO. At its current length, with the blade "ignited" its only a bit longer than a typical saber. But in tight quarters, unlit the thing is an unassuming yet pretty damn burly wepon. And easily swung in even a small room. Conceptually, in the SW universe, the center section wrapping would be made of phrik or some other saber resistant material so it could be used for blocking.

Edit: here is the see-thru chassis so far. The tape is just to hold the board in place while Im working on it. The whole board will be clearly visible.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8215/8307987787_22889d262f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8307987787/)
IMG_0176 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8307987787/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

[Johannes Huber]

I know what you mean about youtube. The safest bet I know of (for Japanese methodologies) is to look for the various ryu at the yearly demonstrations in Japan at some of the shrines (such as the Meiji jingu/shrine which is known for its yearly demonstration of many koryu) and the larger demo backed by the Japan Budokan Foundation and held at the Nippon Budokan each year and then try to track back from there.
I'm really impressed with the shot of your electronics chassis and how neat and tidy it looks, wish mine were that neat:-D. I was wondering, you mentioned planning to have a visible and lighted electrical chassis, is that going into the front area with the openings near the "blade" or are you planning to open some "view ports" elsewhere? That open vent coupler looks like a great place to put some sort of crystal or mechanical chamber. Looking forward to seeing the next phase.

[Arkanjel]

The section you see above IS the viewing chamber. You just cant see much of the board because of the tape running across the middle. And the slotted section is slated for crystal chamber as well.

Im limited to hand tools except for the Dremel. I spent some years in the dental lab industry so Im pretty comfortable working with a handpiece. But a lot of stuff is done with hacksaw, files, sanding blocks, etc. Id love to pick up a used metal lathe and mill some time in the future.

Edit: this one may show the chassis better. Again, the tape is just to keep things in place til I get the fit right.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8504/8327047383_f08ee43449.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8327047383/)
IMG_0184 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8327047383/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

[Arkanjel]

Progress on lighting the board chassis. The square LED is pretty bright. It also lights up the pommel venting really well.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8221/8330682096_684fb38860.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8330682096/)
IMG_0186 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8330682096/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

And one with me for size comparison. Im 6'3".

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8495/8331437218_1215833f9d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8331437218/)
NIK_9509 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8331437218/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

[Darth Ryo]

Just noticed this thread, wow,
you've got a really powerful looking weapon, very nice pic ;)

And the chassis is really good looking.

[Arkanjel]

Thanks DR.

Doing some test etching on a spare body section I have tomorrow. Just waiting for the resist to cure fully.

[J-door8]

I have been lurking this forum for quite a while now and I have been waiting for someone to post something like this. When I actually muster up the courage to build a saber this is totally something I want to consider building. I really appreciate everything about your Yari! Can't wait to see more, hopefully ill try this soon myself...

[Arkanjel]

Thanks J. Love to see what you come up with.

Well, getting the resist patterning I wanted by hand was a bit tricky. I wasnt satisfied with my first go so I stripped down the test body and started over. Its a 7" section. The smallest dots are probably 2mm across.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8087/8373942059_cf3307c7a0_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8373942059/)
photo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8373942059/) by Simon Rivers Photography (http://www.flickr.com/people/eclipsephotographyllc/), on Flickr

[Arkanjel]

Etched today using a copper sulfate solution. Pretty happy with the results for a first try. Definitely gives me lots of new ideas...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8495/8378060137_d95bcab640_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipsephotographyllc/8378060137/)

[Darth Ryo]

Pretty cool indeed ^^

[Arkanjel]

After much thought I dont feel comfortable doing an etch on the yari parts. I think it will weaken the design too much. And I want this for a dueler.

I did however order a sleeve and parts to build a 'standard' saber using this etch design.

[Starwinder]

i'm coming late to this thread ... but man is this awesome! I think it looks great already without the etchings. Very intimidating!

[Arkanjel]

i'm coming late to this thread ... but man is this awesome! I think it looks great already without the etchings. Very intimidating!

Thanks man. I need to find some people in my area to duel with. :)

I really want to wire an RGB for FOC. But the logistics of running all those connections from the emitter all the way through the shaft.....