Chassis questions

[chicago.jedi]

So I want to upgrade my saber from a stunt to a sound saber. I have been pouring over the information on this forum about wiring and such, but one thing still escapes me...chassis. For my stunt saber I used a MWS buckpuck and bought the chassis pieces for it from TCSS but I ran into a problem. There was no way to orientate the buckpuck to get all of the wires facing the right way without having to have at least one needing to change direction (ie, it came off the wrong side of the buckpuck from where I needed it). Since this was a very small chassis that was only used for the buckpuck, I just used one threaded rod and pulled the wires through the other hole to get them going the other way. This worked for this small build, but what do people do on bigger builds?

My question is, how to you get the wires going the way you want them on a fully loaded chassis? Is it all in the layout of the parts? Do you drill holes in the acrylic discs? Do you cut gooves in the outer edge? And the most puzzling question I have, if I wanted to use the pommel insert style #6 for my recharge port, how on earth do you get the wiring around the speaker mount to put the recharge port in front of the speaker?

Any guidance, pictures, advice, ect. is more appreciated. Thank you.

[Silver Serpent]

Is it all in the layout of the parts?
Do you drill holes in the acrylic discs?
Do you cut gooves in the outer edge?

And the most puzzling question I have, if I wanted to use the pommel insert style #6 for my recharge port, how on earth do you get the wiring around the speaker mount to put the recharge port in front of the speaker?


Mostly.
You can.
Also an option.

Cut a groove on the outside edge of the speaker mount, and run the wires through that.

[GFJedi]

Here are a few pics of my chassis that i finally completed last night (was slacking getting the a/v led wiring soldered in)

I am using an activation box, so I did not have to route the wires back past the speaker, but if i was going to, I would do as SS said, and just use a file to grind a couple grooves into the outside of the speaker holder, and a few tacks of super glue or something to hold the wires in place during assembly.

http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b511/GFJedi/30157059-E906-43AD-9548-D9D255D48247-1544-000000447C63965C_zps86a7c9c5.jpg

http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b511/GFJedi/075DA64F-7BE8-49D9-967C-BF9F1765BD83-1544-00000044857F6121_zpsb2691fd8.jpg

http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b511/GFJedi/3DD47871-0447-489E-B937-457B5FB259C7-1544-000000448CBD1B6F_zps8acb1973.jpg

http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b511/GFJedi/65C68311-6CFE-4B6D-806A-719632366764-1544-000000448081E625_zps1cbe95a6.jpg

[chicago.jedi]

Thank you both. I was not sure if there was an easier way that was just escaping me.

@GFJedi: Thanks for the picture, that helps a lot. One more question, did you use pre-cut spacers for the threaded rod or did you cut your own? The chassis I want to build for mine will look almost identical to yours. I want to use the NB card and 18650 battery, as well. If you used pre-cut spacer, would you share the lenght you used with me so I know what to order? Actually, if you could tell me the over all lenght of the entire chassis (for the end of the speaker to the metal disc), that would be great, too. Thanks.

[GFJedi]

I cut my own spacers from aluminum tubing. I am using the chassis disc that locks between a threaded joint. The entire chassis sits inside a 4" mara jade style handle, and the wiring goes into a standard extension to the switch box. What works for me may not work for you, you'll have to play around with the chassis to get it just right for your needs.

From speaker to aluminum disk, the spacers are 15/16", 11/16" and 1 1/8" long, and i think the acrylic discs are .220" standard acrylic. I may be shortening up the last spacer to pull the speaker back a little and play around with the resonance for the speaker, since just a little difference in distance from the holes in the pommel insert makes a significant difference in the tone of the soundfont so far from experimenting with my build. Even just leaving the hole for my a/v switch open, or covering it with my thumb while testing makes a difference.

[chicago.jedi]

Thanks, that helps a lot. My hilt has a 5" standard extention with the switch box cut out favoring one end. I then have a ribbed extention piece and then the blade holder. I know the chassis discs do not fit into the ribbed piece so I have to get everything into the 5" extention and the pommel, which from the sound of it, I think I can. I can then run the buck puck and wires to the LED through the ribbed piece. I may have to adjust the spacing a little bit and favor the sound card towards the pommel more than you have it, to avoid the switch stem, but I think it will work. I am using activation box 6 and I am planning on drilling and tapping the box to accomidate the recharge port also. But I might change my mine and use the pommel insert for the recharge port. Not really sure yet.

Thanks a bunch. You have given me some great information to work with. I own you one.

[GFJedi]

Which soundcard are you planning to use? You will need to take that into considerating when choosing your new battery pack for sound, and whether you will need to retain the buckpuck or just use a resisitor for your blade LED. Also, you notice that i left myself almost an inch of clearance to access the SD card behind the speaker mount, and its a comfortably snug fit for 2 fingers to maneuver the card in and out of the board for making config changes or to install a different sound font later. That's the nano biscotte in my pics, and its TINY, the PC is slightly larger so take that into consideration as well.

[chicago.jedi]

I will be using the NB card like you. I will keep the SD card clearance in mind. Hopefully I can just set the sound module up and not ever have to take the card out again. That might be wishful thinking but, one can always hope.

As far as the buckpuck, you are correct. I see I will not have enough voltage for that and will need a regular resistor. Thanks again.

[Noyl Wendor]

I may be a bit late for the conversation, sorry to rez a near dead thread, But I see GFJedi has an NB in the chassis set up at the top and wanted to know if there was a certain way to slide those chassis pieces on the NB board. Do they slide on one end (both from same direction) or did you put one (each chassis disc) on from either side?
Reason I ask is that I have a harness set up on my NB, just got the chassis the other day, and really would not like to unsolder the harness to get the NB in the chassis discs. I am afraid I may have to. Any input would be appreciated :)

[GFJedi]

I had to slide the discs on the card from both ends, I don't think it's possible to slide the card all the way thru a disc.

[Noyl Wendor]

Yep, I figured that one out just this morning :D looks like I have a bit a unsoldering to do. Thank you for the reply. Btw I like the work on your chassis set up, very clean. Great work.

[GFJedi]

Yep, I figured that one out just this morning :D looks like I have a bit a unsoldering to do. Thank you for the reply. Btw I like the work on your chassis set up, very clean. Great work.

Thanks, looking back thou, I should have drilled 2 extra holes in the speaker mount to pull those wires thru rather than just running them into the rear vent hole. They would have stayed in place a lot better and looked cleaner that way. I may go back and fix it before final assembly, since I will be showing off the chassis to friends that check out my build.

[Noyl Wendor]

good idea, I may do that with mine. I think that would work

[Aussie Luke]

Hi, the chassis looks great and I want to copy it, hope you don't mind. Can I ask which version metal chassis disc number that is. Chassis disc 2 ?? I am wanting to put it in a double female extension piece and the metal disc I want to stop the chassis moving to the v groove extension piece. Thanks
Luke

[GFJedi]

not sure which number it is, but in the descriptions its the one that locks between the threads of 2 pieces, i am using one of those small gender changer adaptors to hold it into a 4" extension, and then the 4" mara jade style grip then threads over the chassis onto the other half of the gender changer, so essentially the entire chassis is exposed when the grip section is unthreaded from the hilt.