Lord Zen's Saber 2.0

[Lord Zen]

Hi Everyone,

Thought I would post my second saber.

I wasn't really sure where I was going to go with this one. However I did want the inside electronics neater than my first saber, which was a real mess of wires...

I started with the V3 speaker mount with a glued 2xAA battery holder. Filed and drilled holes for cabling. The holes will allow for access to the speaker and the mid-point of the 2 batteries:

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y420/LordZenSaber/Saber_20_03_zps454b9cdc.jpg (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/LordZenSaber/media/Saber_20_03_zps454b9cdc.jpg.html)

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y420/LordZenSaber/Saber_20_04_zps415bc084.jpg (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/LordZenSaber/media/Saber_20_04_zps415bc084.jpg.html)

Soldered and attached the 7.2V battery protection circuit to the rear of the holder. The Ultrafire batteries I used did not have PCBs in them. Then wired up the recharge port. The yellow and green wires connect to the speaker:

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y420/LordZenSaber/Saber_20_19_zps6e35057a.jpg (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/LordZenSaber/media/Saber_20_19_zps6e35057a.jpg.html)

The Igniter soundcard is wired-up and fixed in place on the other side of the battery holder. The speaker and power lines connect from underneath. The wires for the Main LED are connected to a modular connector block so I can link to either the daughter-card or direct to the LED. I'm using a GGGG LEDEngin for this build wired in seriallel (GG + GG), so only using the grey and white wires. The recharge port screws into the pommel end and doesn't appear to interrupt the sound flow from the speaker. The 1.2 inch double female is a placeholder to make sure everything fits in smoothly. The batteries are held in place with heatshrink:

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y420/LordZenSaber/IMG_0947_zpsc531f7c7.jpg (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/LordZenSaber/media/IMG_0947_zpsc531f7c7.jpg.html)

I then use further ribbon cable to hook up the main and aux momentary switches. To make the saber look sleek and functional I used two tactile switches.

Moving to the externals, I decided to create a simple, functional saber this time. Somewhat in contrast to my previous saber with its flashing lights and buttons. I also wanted the saber to look used and worn, so I scuffed it up and blackened it will aluminium black:






http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y420/LordZenSaber/th_IMG_1455_zps6e83724a.jpg (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/LordZenSaber/media/IMG_1455_zps6e83724a.jpg.html)

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y420/LordZenSaber/th_IMG_1466_zpsb6e27fa0.jpg (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/LordZenSaber/media/IMG_1466_zpsb6e27fa0.jpg.html)

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y420/LordZenSaber/th_IMG_1464_zps71a71e89.jpg (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/LordZenSaber/media/IMG_1464_zps71a71e89.jpg.html)

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y420/LordZenSaber/th_IMG_1460_zps4931b453.jpg (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/LordZenSaber/media/IMG_1460_zps4931b453.jpg.html)



http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y420/LordZenSaber/IMG_1452_zpsdb0ce81c.jpg (http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/LordZenSaber/media/IMG_1452_zpsdb0ce81c.jpg.html)






Thinking from the inside out definitely made the installation process much simpler. Less swearing involved this time. But there was some soldering of an LEDEngin, so one or two swears may have came out of my mouth then...
I also found mounting all the electronics around the speaker and battery a somewhat modular approach - that small ~3inch long block can be taken out and fit into another saber hilt quite easily, and using small socket connectors lets me swap-out different switch and LED types.


Anyhoo,
Thanks for reading

[Yoshi-Taka]

One word comes to mind - stunning. I love the placement of the switches. I have to ask one thing though. On the flute where the switches are, it looks like there's a hold drilled on the opposite end. What is that?

[Silver Serpent]

It looks like it might be a set screw to hold the chassis in place.

[Kyaryo Ysoyav]

I've always liked that emitter but could never think of a cool, short saber design for it. Your's is great! Awesome work.

[madmaxx]

nice work. the igniter is a great sound board and your hilt does it justice. again well done

[Lord Zen]

Thanks all for your kind words :)


I have to ask one thing though. On the flute where the switches are, it looks like there's a hold drilled on the opposite end. What is that?

That's erm.. "Battle Damage",
or what-happens-when-your-drill-bit-isn't-centered-correctly... ;)

That was going to be the first hole for the tactile switch, but after the drill bit skidded I rotated the piece around and started again
It's not normally that visible, the camera is picking it up a little more. I thought about putting some filler in there, but I decided to leave it as-is


Or I could pretend it is secret button X - that should only be used in an emergency...

[Yoshi-Taka]

I'm sorry but I laughed way harder than I should have.

That gives me a fun idea, though. Using those switches as accents, rather than actually functional. Hm.. I have some thinking to do.

[Mandalorian]

That saber is awesome. I love how simple the design looks. And the 'weathering' really makes this saber stunning to me. Great work.

[Darth Ryo]

Pretty cool indeed, congrats and enjoy ^^

[Starwinder]

Nice utilitarian design, and the weathering is great too!

[Flyby Knight]

Simply beautiful.