Arcann Inspired Saber Build

[Thousandlegends]

Hello all, I am not new to TCSS forums or store but have never really posted here before... Wasn't really sure where to put this so feel free to tell me to move it, if need be.
I plan to build the saber hilt myself and the all the internals probably get most of that at CSS.

Anyhow so this is saber build I am actually working on a pair of sabers, inspired by the brothers Arcann and Thexan from the new upcoming old republic update Knights of the Fallen, anyhow I have not really done a build like this ever... really, i mean ever..., I have built a few scratch built sabers similar to the Luke ANH one but none ever had full electronics so this is going to be interesting. I have also wired up and modified a few Master Replicas boards as well but my wiring experience in sabers has been limited to that pretty much.

Those people that actually know me, know that I am a pretty advantageous person when it comes to projects... so this may seem like a lot for someone like myself but I usually figure it out.

Anyhow I am going to be scouring the boards here for information on wiring up the saber and building all the parts that need. If any of you guys know of some boards and can provide the links to the topics then post em here that would be so Awesome!!



I have worked with metal before and have the most of the proper tools I should need, but... we'll see when I get started. I am learning to use a lathe right now as well as a pretty basic mill made from a drill press that my neighbor has. I can also do some really basic welding if need be and I mean basic but not looking for it to come to any of that.

So here is the idea I had in mind started with a basic sketch but I am going to refine this later.

11950

I am planning on buying a board I have seen people make their own boards and setups on this site but its beyond me and I don't mind admitting it.

for the Internals
- Prizm Soundboard (plectra labs) it does pretty much everything I want this saber to do and stays in budget because I do have one.
- Cree TRI LED an XP-E2 (Red/Green/Royal Blue) was thinking of also wiring it with the 4-die cree also, can't remember the name of it, but thought bay be having an extra red or I've seen them with a white led as well to increase brightness, what are your guys opinions on that?
Also does anyone know the diameter of the cree tri XP-E2 CopperNova LED?
- Speaker I'm open to suggestions was looking at the 2w ones on CSS store but any suggestions on that are welcome?
- I'll be putting JST connectors on everything I can I real like them especially if you need to change out a part
- Charging port (never done one of these so that should be fun
- RICE Port
- Kill Key (not really sure how that works either but I'll look around
- Accent LED indicator ( I am going to be putting some sort of dancing LED indicator thing or something just not sure where I want to put it on the saber where it won't look weird, but was thinking I could have 4 LEDs that flash differently according to the sound and blade settings on the saber.)
- Batteries (I am looking to put either a 3.7v or 7.4 v 3400mah PCB protected battery with the recharge port for interal charging function. not sure what the board can handle or what wold be best for the saber. I want to get a long lasting use out of it and I will of course have the pommel come off just in case you need to hot swap a battery in a pinch for some reason.

- Switches (I'll be suing momentary switches for the whole setup but I am going to machine my own switch plates to match the saber design, I don't really like the light up switches for this design.)

Also I will be trying to implement something interesting.... Let me know if any of you have tried this or had any success with it but I want to use a pressure plate that is attached to the AUX switch so that when you squeeze the saber it will initiate the flash on clash function.
The overall length of the saber will be 10-11 inches

I am still trying to think about switch placements and port accent led placements so the sketch is really a rough idea that I did real quick just to see where I was going with it and if I even liked the design at all which I do and so does my cousin the recipient of the 2nd saber being made like this one.


Anyways I am going to try and get all of this and a costume ready by the time the Denver Comic Con comes around next year so I got plenty of time.

I will keep you guys updated ad the build continues and if you guys have any questions or input or like I said some thread that might help me out just post em here.

:)

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Welcome to the Forums.

It looks like you have a lot of reading ahead of you.

[Thousandlegends]

Yea thats an understatement, but yea, I've been reading all week about this stuff :) I like to challenge myself just in case it wasn't obvious lol.

[Zahc Zi Phan]

Very very cool! I just got the KOTFE font for my CF 7.5 saber and plan to come up with a wicked yellow color profile. I am also planning on going as Thexan for Halloween. I will watch this thread eagerly!

[Thousandlegends]

Awesome! Can you drop me a link to where you got the font?
Im pretty excited about this build to be honest, so much planning to do and figure out

[ColdVizjerei]

I'd also be very interested in acquiring that KOTFE font Zahc mentioned.
Found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPDorlcLxT0

But haven't seen anything up on saberfont yet.

[Zahc Zi Phan]

That is one and the same font I purchased. I went through all the sound files and it is awesome. The video barely does it justice. I had to speak to LordBlako personally, PM through Imperial Royal Arms (IRA) forums. He said he has been waiting patiently for Saberfont to post it but it has taken much longer than expected, so for anyone who wants it, he will gladly take Paypal (~$7) and send you a download link. I don't think I can post a link to IRA forums per TCSS forum rules, but its not hard to find and make a profile, then find Lordblako and send him a PM. Tell him Zahc sent you and recommended him highly. Very nice guy.

[Zahc Zi Phan]

OP: I read most of your post and can try to help. If you have a Prizm (great board), it takes a single cell 3.7v battery. Get the 3400mah 18650 from the store and that should give you a nice long runtime. About the best you are going to get for that setup. I am not sure the diameter of the tri cree offhand, but I have one at home and will measure it for you on sunday when I get off duty. As for the kill key/recharge port, very simple. They are the SAME port. Look at the Plecter labs manual and it shows how to wire the port up. Not difficult at all, I have done it a few times with no issues. It charges just fine and kills power to the saber when a plastic key is inserted. I saw you have it as two separate ports in your drawing. You also do not need a speaker on/off switch with a Plecter board. That doesn't look like its going to be a very big Saber hilt so keep it relatively simple, you can run out of space very fast building these things.

As for the pressure plate thing, you may be getting into uncharted territory. I haven't heard of that done, the prizm does have FOC support so if you wire it correctly it will FOC whenever the blade is struck. If you have issues with designing or machining the body, talk to Tim. I recently had him do a significant amount of custom work for me and he did a fantastic job. I will be sharing my new custom saber soon, as soon as I have an entire day off to finish wiring the bad boy up.

[Thousandlegends]

Hey yea thanks I have been reading over the manual for the prism board I don't actually have one in hand still on a waiting list for it so hopefully not too long.


If you have a Prizm (great board), it takes a single cell 3.7v battery. Get the 3400mah 18650
Yea I was looking at wither that or the 7.4 but if you think runtime is good on that then that will do fine.



I am not sure the diameter of the tri cree offhand, but I have one at home and will measure it for you
Kool that be awesome!



I saw you have it as two separate ports in your drawing, You also do not need a speaker on/off switch with a Plecter board
Yea I was under the impression that I needed one for the charge port and the other was the RICE port
Thats also good that I don't need the speaker on/off switch one less thing to worry about.



That doesn't look like its going to be a very big Saber hilt so keep it relatively simple, you can run out of space very fast building these things.
This I know all too well my first one I rigged up was way too small inside.
11-12 inches seems pretty big to me since all of mine have been around 8-9 inches that seems like a lot of saber to hold onto but you could be right, I won't really know the final size until I start drawing out my schematic from rough drawings.



As for the pressure plate thing, you may be getting into uncharted territory. I haven't heard of that done, the prizm does have FOC support so if you wire it correctly it will FOC whenever the blade is struck.
Yea I think the pressure switch is going to be very difficult if not frustrating...
I was not aware of the fact that the FOC could be made to do it if you you hit the blade on another saber blade, I thought it was only through the AUX switch, but there is still the matter of the blade lockup flash as well which I would still like to have on the the pressure switch but it might just not be possible with my time frame.

Yea, Im familiar with Tim's work and have picked his brain some on other projects I have done he is very helpful, which is why I like to support these guys with my business.

Thanks for all the input so far I still have a lot of reading to do and then I need to order more parts, this thread may come very slow at first so be patient as I have a lot to do with this build.

:)

[Zahc Zi Phan]

The recharge port and the rice port are two different things. You will need both if you want to use both.

For FOC and lockup, the board does all that automatically, so instead of the pressure switch, just get a small tactile momentary switch for the aux and hide it somewhere you would normally grip. That way, you don't have to worry about the pressure plate idea and can trigger the aux switch without anyone seeing it. Its very commonly done.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

For FOC and lockup, the board does all that automatically...

Not quite. Lockup needs to be triggered by the Aux button, FoC is "done automatically" assuming you don't "deactivate it" via the board's configurations.

[Thousandlegends]

ok thanks... yea I've been watching the videos you guys have... I have considered the idea of using the hidden aux switch somewhere...

Do I need a color extender board... I was under the impression that the prism had everything built in as far as I know?
I saw in the video with nano biscotte that he used an extender board for the FOC function.



On anther note; I am going to finish my design sketches this week and organize my shopping list for what I will need and see if I can't get this baby going shortly... there will be a short intermission for my steampunk cowboy costume for Halloween but otherwise, I want to stay right on track with things.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

The Prizms DO NOT use the color extender boards. Those are for the PC and CF's.

[Zahc Zi Phan]

Not quite. Lockup needs to be triggered by the Aux button, FoC is "done automatically" assuming you don't "deactivate it" via the board's configurations.

Yeah thats what I meant. They are built in features that can be used without the need for extra electronics.

[Thousandlegends]

I like putting JST connectors on my builds, especially for speakers and switches and such, but I am going to want to wire my own connectors because I want certain color combinations will the standard JST connectors work with 28 awg wire?

[Silver Serpent]

This: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/JST-connector-kit-male-and-female--P941.aspx will probably work with 28 gauge wire. If you can't crimp the connectors down tight enough to the wire, just solder them in place.

[Thousandlegends]

kool thanks that probably would work


So I watched some of the TCSS videos can anyone tell me why he used a .5 ohm resistor at the common positive on the main LED?

[Greenie]

kool thanks that probably would work


So I watched some of the TCSS videos can anyone tell me why he used a .5 ohm resistor at the common positive on the main LED?


Without the resistor the LEDs can draw more current than they can handle and they will pop. Although Rob uses a single resistor for two LEDs wired in parallel,it is generally recommended to resistor each individual diode
The size of the resistor depends on the current capacity of your battery and the forward voltage (VF) of your LEDs using Ohms law :mrgreen:

[ColdVizjerei]

looks like the KOTFE font has been added to saberfont!

[Thousandlegends]

Without the resistor the LEDs can draw more current than they can handle and they will pop. Although Rob uses a single resistor for two LEDs wired in parallel,it is generally recommended to resistor each individual diode
The size of the resistor depends on the current capacity of your battery and the forward voltage (VF) of your LEDs using Ohms law :mrgreen:

Thanks, yes this much I do know, while I am not the best at ohms law and electrical calculation, I know enough to be dangerous to be honest, I usually wire in the resistor for each LED separately my question is why wire a .5 ohm resistor into the positive (+) position and then wire additional resistors to the negative (-) position of the LED? Why not, just like you said just wire each LED separately and directly? Is it only because thy share a common positive?

I have always personally just wired my resistors to each LED separately.

And is there a point to whether you wire it to the Positive (+) or Negative (-) particularly, I have always heard positive but then I read more now where people suggest negative?


~Edit~

looks like the KOTFE font has been added to saberfont!
Nice thanks!

[Silver Serpent]

Madcow does it that way because he's experienced enough to know *why* he's doing it that way. The single resistor method saves space, and gives a baseline level of resistance to keep your LEDs from overdrawing current and doing Bad Things (tm). If you're doing color mixing, you'll still need a second resistor for at least one of the LED dice, so you're not really saving any effort on wiring.

There's no real difference to hooking up a standard resistor on the (+) or (-) side. My only recommendation is to choose one or the other, and then be consistent. The DynaOhm resistor is an exception to this rule, and it MUST go on the (+) side of the LED, and polarity is important on it.

[Thousandlegends]

Madcow does it that way because he's experienced enough to know *why* he's doing it that way. The single resistor method saves space, and gives a baseline level of resistance to keep your LEDs from overdrawing current and doing Bad Things (tm). If you're doing color mixing, you'll still need a second resistor for at least one of the LED dice, so you're not really saving any effort on wiring.

There's no real difference to hooking up a standard resistor on the (+) or (-) side. My only recommendation is to choose one or the other, and then be consistent. The DynaOhm resistor is an exception to this rule, and it MUST go on the (+) side of the LED, and polarity is important on it.

Okay that makes sense...
With color mixing on prism board you would want the resistors on the (-) because they share a common positive though, right?

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Okay that makes sense...
With color mixing on prism board you would want the resistors on the (-) because they share a common positive though, right?

Correct.

[Thousandlegends]

kool thanks :)


Question has anyone ever put a royal blue / royal blue / red Tri-LED in a saber to make purple that way?


Oh and I start machining this week so I will post some of my progress if I get any done :D