First build questions and opinions needed

[Drawcut]

I've come up with a basic design I want to use in the MHS builder. Final setup will include a Plector Labs sound card (PC or CF) with a Color Extender board, two cell battery and a Rebel Tri Cree. 16mm Main switch, small aux switch (switch 20), recharge port with kill key and RICE port. I'll also add black Orings to the grooved section.

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I like the look of shorter version (with a 3" plain extension) a bit better but I'm not sure if I should bump up to a 4" extension to get more space inside. It will be tight either way I think.

I'd like to start ordering parts that are in stock now and keep getting more as things come in stock. But I have parts to be powder coated (blade holder, center section and pommel) and some are in stock and some are out. So the question is: should I wait to order all powder coated items at the same time or are the colors consistent enough across different runs to order at different times?

I could go with a longer button box (style 13) to include the RICE port or just leave the RICE port inside and unthread the parts to access. Any opinions? Is it really worth having the RICE port external access?

I'd like to have the Covertec wheel in a different color than silver but I'm not sure if the copper or brass ones will clash with the copper PC. The other option is black which is OK but won't stand out much. I'd like to hear anyone's thoughts on this.

Thanks for reading. MTFBWY

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

It looks to me like you are going to try to cram a whole lot into a relatively small hilt. RICE was developed to save having to open up a saber to access the micro SD card inside to make changes to it. If you are going to have various parts powder coated, I would have them all done together.

[Drawcut]

Yeah all us newbies want to forget about the space needed inside, don't we.:p In my day job as a mechanical engineer it seems like all I do is try to fit 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag so maybe I should make my fun projects a little easier.

Point taken on the RICE. I'll just forget the RICE port and make sure I can access the SD card. I think the shorter button boxes look better anyway.

Time to simplify things to make this first build easier and cheaper. I'll go without powder coating and use orings and maybe a leather wrap at the choke to give it some color and detail. I can always do some painting or weathering later. Also I'll go to a single white LED and use the color disks for the blade. The NB sound boards coming into stock is very tempting but I really want the auxiliary sounds so I'll have to stay with a CF or PC sound board.

Looks like I need to fire up Solidworks so I can model some detail beyond what MHS builder can do.

Thanks for the help.

[Drawcut]

A couple of quick renders of current ideas from Solidworks. Still need to add a wrap at the choke and more details to the models.

[Miraluka]

I like those models. Nice work.

[Drawcut]

Well, a few more first build changes. Wanted to give myself more room inside so I changed from the V grooved extension to a main body style 4. The longer pommel style 8 adds a bit of length and should be comfortable to hold. And all the hilt parts were in stock. ;) So now I'm waiting for the order to arrive and it will start as a stunt hilt until CFs come into stock. A couple of new renders with button details.

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[Coopinator]

You could always buy a can of satin finish or matte finish spray paint at walmart. when you take your time and do it right it's surprisingly nice. real even coat and doesn't look cheap.

[Drawcut]

Got most of my parts delivered over the last few days so I'll being diving into things this weekend. I am really impressed with the quality of the TCSS parts. They look great in the pictures but seeing and handling them in person is a whole new level. The quality, fit and finish of these parts is fantastic and even more impressive is the price point. I don't know how they do it for these prices. My credit card has been taking a hit lately since I've started this project but I am very happy with the value I have gotten here with TCSS parts.

[Drawcut]

Made progress this weekend. Got my holes drilled (and tapped) for switches, blade holder screw and covertec wheel. Also got some blade plugs made. A few pics. Not great, I'm still figuring out how to keep the LED from washing everything out. Pics are just using a flashlight to light up the blade plugs since I don't have the saber electronics wired yet. One plug has an electric razer head and the other uses the rotor from an electric motor.

If anyone has any advice on how to get the blade plugs sanded down to a loose slip fit, I'd be all ears. I did a lot of hand sanding to get these to slide out easily. Seems like there has to be an easier way.

http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy299/SammyWI/Lightsaber/IMG_20151011_191509.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/SammyWI/media/Lightsaber/IMG_20151011_191509.jpg.html)

http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy299/SammyWI/Lightsaber/IMG_20151011_191157.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/SammyWI/media/Lightsaber/IMG_20151011_191157.jpg.html)

http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy299/SammyWI/Lightsaber/IMG_20151011_191520.jpg

http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy299/SammyWI/Lightsaber/IMG_20151011_191548.jpg

[Silver Serpent]

If anyone has any advice on how to get the blade plugs sanded down to a loose slip fit, I'd be all ears. I did a lot of hand sanding to get these to slide out easily. Seems like there has to be an easier way.


That would depend on the tools you have at your disposal. A lathe would speed up the process quite a bit. A belt sander would also work.

You could also put the blade plug in the chuck of a power drill and sand it that way. There was a thread a while back detailing that method for removing chrome from sinktubes.

[Drawcut]

A lathe would make a lot of things possible but I don't have one. I did hack together something with stuff I had laying around and a drill but it was less than a great solution. I'll have to take another look at a better setup. I do have a belt sander that my FIL gave me but I'm not sure how I could keep the OD relatively round using that. Seems like it would tend to create flats.

[Silver Serpent]

Take your blade plug, color the outside with a marker or something, and then carefully sand *just* the color off. You can still get flat spots, but you'll have a visual guide to help you. Go slowly, and you can get it done.

[MikeC13]

and the other uses the rotor from an electric motor.
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy299/SammyWI/Lightsaber/IMG_20151011_191157.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/SammyWI/media/Lightsaber/IMG_20151011_191157.jpg.html)

...now THAT is an excellent idea. Nice "recycling" there...

[Drawcut]

Take your blade plug, color the outside with a marker or something, and then carefully sand *just* the color off. You can still get flat spots, but you'll have a visual guide to help you. Go slowly, and you can get it done.

Go slowly? But that's the opposite of what I want to do! ;) Got a few days off so I'll be back working on things.

MikeC13: Thanks, but I did get the idea from someone else here. They had used a rotor from a brushless motor while mine is from an older brushed style but same idea.

[darth_chasm]

Find a dowel that will fit the inside of the blade plug snuggly, put a long screw in it, chuck up the screw and dowel, put the blade plug on and spin away while gripping with sand paper.

Rubber bottle stoppers with predrilled holes work too. Thats what I've used for my hilt parts.

[Silver Serpent]

If you're sanding while it's spinning, I'd recommend wearing gloves. You're gonna generate some uncomfortable levels of heat.

But darth_chasm's method is a good one. That's probably what I'd try to do first.

[Drawcut]

Do not wear gloves when working with rotating equipment like a lathe or drill press. If the glove gets caught, it can pull your hand and more into the spinning machinery with very bad results. For protection use a loose rag, etc so that if it catches it won't pull body parts into machinery.

It's less of a concern with something like a handheld drill vs a larger lathe or drill press. But still, it's worth saying. I've seen the aftermath of this kind of accident and it's not pretty.

[Miraluka]

True story. When I was a cable guy they made us wear gloves when we were doing pretty much everything but made us take them off when we were drilling.

[darth_chasm]

I should have clarified, power drill not drill press. If using a drill press you'd just hold the ends of the sand paper and not grip the piece.

If heat is a concern with the power drill you could use a sanding pad and avoid the gloves.