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View Full Version : Aanadien's First Build - PVC 3 hilt project



Aanadien
01-17-2016, 04:10 PM
Ok, so I decided I would get started on my build thread while we are still collecting parts and refining our ideas. I say "our" because my 3 kids are involved with this build, thus the 3 hilts.

For Christmas the past several years, their "main" gift is some sort of activity that they get to do or trip we take. It always revolves around spending good ole fashioned quality time together. This year, all 3 of the kids received the following certificate:

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They had to go on a scavenger to find it and so on, when they found out what we were doing, they were very excited. After hours of them looking at different hilts online and trying to draw their own, this is what has been decided.

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Above are the 3 hilts. The horizontal sketch is a basic chassis layout. Each hilt will unscrew to reveal access to the electronics.

The first (left) is my daughter Kennadie's hilt (she is the oldest, 11). She absolutely fell in-love with the rendition of Jaina Solo's hilt over at Genesis, and she is definitely a "lightsider". I told her we can use it as inspiration, but she still needs to "make it her own." She is going to have a purple blade. The hilt will be <11" (waiting on blades to arrive so we can do some pre-check's on weight/balance). She will have 2 tactile switches 1 for on and 1 for off (technically either will do both because we are using a NBv2), a power on LED (lit when the hilt is powered), and a blade power on LED, and a recharge port/kill key. The power LEDs may or may not blink, depending on her preference. The hilt will be a nickel or gun-metal color with black rubber grip.

The second (center) is my son Daniel's hilt (he is the youngest, 6). Daniel kind of came up with his on his own. He told me what he wanted and we adjusted the sketch as he thought more and more about it. He is my little "darksider" and from day 1 he wanted a red blade with a "sith-like" hilt. The top of his hilt where the emitter is, is kind of hard to see in the drawing, but it features a heat shield above a hand-guard that is held within a cage...not sure how to describe that part. His on/off switch is a 12mm AV switch, he will also have a "hilt-powered" LED and a recharge port/kill key. His main grip will be wrapped leather. Since he is smaller, his hilt will be <10" (hopefully less than 9"). He is undecided on his hilt color right now.

The third (right) is my son Allen's hilt (he is the middle child, 10...and my clone lol). Allen would be my grey-Jedi, like his dad. He saw a few hilts online that he really liked, and also wanted to go for kind of a classic look. So we did a bit of a mashup. His blade will be Royal Blue. His on/off switch is a 12mm AV switch, he will also have a "hilt-powered" LED and a recharge port/kill key like his brother's. His hilt will probably be the longest of the 3 at around 11-12" and having a larger pommel. He wants his hilt to be kind of beat up and worn/old looking but is undecided on main colors, but is leaning towards an aluminum/nickel color.

This next picture is a the core wiring schematic. I've got most of the resistor values calculated as well as the LED's that are being used, but I will post them in an update post once I have everything sorted out.
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..to be continued

NanoRex
01-17-2016, 04:53 PM
That's such an awesome gift to give your kids. Much better than just giving them a lightsaber that you designed beforehand.

Good luck with your builds! Can't wait to see how they turn out :)

Aanadien
01-17-2016, 05:55 PM
And I just realized that on my schematic I have the switch going to positive which is wrong. We just did a quick mockup and figured that out.

darth_chasm
01-17-2016, 06:36 PM
Very cool the way you went about this. They must have been so excited. Thumbs up dude.

Aanadien
02-25-2016, 07:13 PM
I finally have almost everything...I'm just waiting on my last blade. Then I will need to scrounge up a couple of tactile switches for my daughters hilt. But the actual building process can finally begin.

We went with colored show blades with TCSS diffusers inside. I figured this would be best for them when they play outside, they won't have complete color wash.

Pictures coming soon.