minorhero
12-25-2016, 09:45 AM
Hello world,
I learned that stunt/dueling/combat lightsabers existed about 1 week ago and have been driving my wife positively crazy with my enthusiasm ever since. I had previously thought that lightsabers either were hasbro toys or those giant heavy things with glass tubes that were sold about 20 years ago. When I learned that people actually make them with poly tubes strong enough to take a beating my first reaction was "YES I am buying that right now!" then I learned folks build them as well and my reaction changed to "YES I am building one of those right now!". Or rather I could start after I finished up some Christmas projects. And so I did.
A word about my background. I have been haunting this and other forums for the past week and reading and watching a lot of videos but I am very much an utter noob. I taught myself (still am teaching myself) woodworking a few years ago. I have a reasonably complete woodshop including a wood lathe and drill press. I have essentially zero electronics experience. I plan to do some soldering with this build, and even though I have no experience with solder (outside of some home plumbing repairs and doing some very very very minimal tinning of wires when I was a kid) I am not particularly worried about that part of it. So long as I can find a video (and there seems to be many) I am sure I will be able to figure it out.
My idea for a lightsaber is heavily influenced not only by the machinery I have but also my enjoyment of woodworking. So my lightsaber will definitely be using wood as a major element in its construction.
So far I have purchased a 1.25" and 1.5" sink tube from my local hardware store. The 1.25 was brass with chrome plating. The 1.5 appears to be stainless steel. I began my project by using a 1.25" forstner bit in my drill press and drilled down through a 7" piece of cherry. I ended up having to widen this hole a few thousandths of an inch. Meanwhile I took my 1.25" sink tube and chucked it up in my lathe and used sandpaper to rough up the surface. Originally I tried to push my tube directly into my freshly drilled hole, but my 1.25" tube was exactly the same size as my 1.25" hole and thus they would not fit. When the tube was chucked in the lathe I tried sanding it down small enough there but it was frankly taking too long. I thus used the drill press to widen the hole in the wood which worked faster and easier.
I then epoxied the sink tube into my block of cherry. Once dried I used my bandsaw to trim the remainder of the 1.25" sinktube off.
At this point I needed a way to hold my sinktube/wood in my lathe. So I chucked up a block of wood and turned it into a cone that was wider at its widest then the inner diameter of my sinktube and narrower then the tube at the other end. With a 60 degree live center and that wood cone in place I could now hold my sinktube/wood in place so I could turn it down on my lathe. This worked extremely well. With the aid of callipers I was able to get the sinktube/wood small enough so that it would easily but snugly fit inside my 1.5" sinktube. Wood turners will recognize this process as being exactly the same as when you turn a pen, just bigger.
This is where I am at now:
http://i.imgur.com/OMB2aY2.jpg?1 (http://i.imgur.com/OMB2aY2.jpg?1)
http://i.imgur.com/nFRz7vQ.jpg?1
(http://i.imgur.com/nFRz7vQ.jpg?1)
I don't seem to have permission to post pictures yet so unfortunately you need to follow the links.
Anyway my plan is to cut out windows in my 1.5" sinktube so that you can see the cherry tube underneath. I have ordered an emitter and a pommel from TCSS as well as tri cree green/green/white led. In addition to dremeling my 1.5" sinktube I also plan to use a 1.5" forstner bit and drill down a piece of walnut. I then will turn that piece down on my lathe and then finally cut it apart. After a lot of sanding and shaping I plan to add accents to the outside of my 1.5" sinktube. Thus there will be contrasting walnut and cherry wood showing on my lightsaber. These accents will be pretty small though. It is very important to me that the hilt be comfortable to hold. I therefore will be leaving the grip section clear of odd protrusions. I wanted to add a crystal chamber to the mix but decided eventually that it was too much for a first build.
So this all brings me to my questions.
On my list of features is flash on clash, a humming kind of shimmer green/white when the blade is on, Sound, and a momentary switch that does not include any accent leds.
So what sound card should I buy? While I prefer to not break the bank on this first build, I definitely want all of those features. Having no experience at this I don't know if hilt movement effects are all the same or if some cards are better. If one is better and more accurate at movement effects I would definitely want to go with the better one, and for that purpose and I am willing to open piggy bank.
I also do not want to skimp on batteries. I plan to go rechargeable with a recharge port, what is the best one to use there?
When it comes to the blade I want something sturdy enough to stand up to combat with other lightsabers, but I also want the brightest most evenly lit blade possible. What should I go with? There is at least a half dozen options that people swear by. But as someone who has no idea what he is doing its all Greek to me. Should I go photon green? Should I go with TCSS battle blade? Corbin? Should I go with ultraedge? etc etc etc. Thoughts?
Thank you all for any advice!
I learned that stunt/dueling/combat lightsabers existed about 1 week ago and have been driving my wife positively crazy with my enthusiasm ever since. I had previously thought that lightsabers either were hasbro toys or those giant heavy things with glass tubes that were sold about 20 years ago. When I learned that people actually make them with poly tubes strong enough to take a beating my first reaction was "YES I am buying that right now!" then I learned folks build them as well and my reaction changed to "YES I am building one of those right now!". Or rather I could start after I finished up some Christmas projects. And so I did.
A word about my background. I have been haunting this and other forums for the past week and reading and watching a lot of videos but I am very much an utter noob. I taught myself (still am teaching myself) woodworking a few years ago. I have a reasonably complete woodshop including a wood lathe and drill press. I have essentially zero electronics experience. I plan to do some soldering with this build, and even though I have no experience with solder (outside of some home plumbing repairs and doing some very very very minimal tinning of wires when I was a kid) I am not particularly worried about that part of it. So long as I can find a video (and there seems to be many) I am sure I will be able to figure it out.
My idea for a lightsaber is heavily influenced not only by the machinery I have but also my enjoyment of woodworking. So my lightsaber will definitely be using wood as a major element in its construction.
So far I have purchased a 1.25" and 1.5" sink tube from my local hardware store. The 1.25 was brass with chrome plating. The 1.5 appears to be stainless steel. I began my project by using a 1.25" forstner bit in my drill press and drilled down through a 7" piece of cherry. I ended up having to widen this hole a few thousandths of an inch. Meanwhile I took my 1.25" sink tube and chucked it up in my lathe and used sandpaper to rough up the surface. Originally I tried to push my tube directly into my freshly drilled hole, but my 1.25" tube was exactly the same size as my 1.25" hole and thus they would not fit. When the tube was chucked in the lathe I tried sanding it down small enough there but it was frankly taking too long. I thus used the drill press to widen the hole in the wood which worked faster and easier.
I then epoxied the sink tube into my block of cherry. Once dried I used my bandsaw to trim the remainder of the 1.25" sinktube off.
At this point I needed a way to hold my sinktube/wood in my lathe. So I chucked up a block of wood and turned it into a cone that was wider at its widest then the inner diameter of my sinktube and narrower then the tube at the other end. With a 60 degree live center and that wood cone in place I could now hold my sinktube/wood in place so I could turn it down on my lathe. This worked extremely well. With the aid of callipers I was able to get the sinktube/wood small enough so that it would easily but snugly fit inside my 1.5" sinktube. Wood turners will recognize this process as being exactly the same as when you turn a pen, just bigger.
This is where I am at now:
http://i.imgur.com/OMB2aY2.jpg?1 (http://i.imgur.com/OMB2aY2.jpg?1)
http://i.imgur.com/nFRz7vQ.jpg?1
(http://i.imgur.com/nFRz7vQ.jpg?1)
I don't seem to have permission to post pictures yet so unfortunately you need to follow the links.
Anyway my plan is to cut out windows in my 1.5" sinktube so that you can see the cherry tube underneath. I have ordered an emitter and a pommel from TCSS as well as tri cree green/green/white led. In addition to dremeling my 1.5" sinktube I also plan to use a 1.5" forstner bit and drill down a piece of walnut. I then will turn that piece down on my lathe and then finally cut it apart. After a lot of sanding and shaping I plan to add accents to the outside of my 1.5" sinktube. Thus there will be contrasting walnut and cherry wood showing on my lightsaber. These accents will be pretty small though. It is very important to me that the hilt be comfortable to hold. I therefore will be leaving the grip section clear of odd protrusions. I wanted to add a crystal chamber to the mix but decided eventually that it was too much for a first build.
So this all brings me to my questions.
On my list of features is flash on clash, a humming kind of shimmer green/white when the blade is on, Sound, and a momentary switch that does not include any accent leds.
So what sound card should I buy? While I prefer to not break the bank on this first build, I definitely want all of those features. Having no experience at this I don't know if hilt movement effects are all the same or if some cards are better. If one is better and more accurate at movement effects I would definitely want to go with the better one, and for that purpose and I am willing to open piggy bank.
I also do not want to skimp on batteries. I plan to go rechargeable with a recharge port, what is the best one to use there?
When it comes to the blade I want something sturdy enough to stand up to combat with other lightsabers, but I also want the brightest most evenly lit blade possible. What should I go with? There is at least a half dozen options that people swear by. But as someone who has no idea what he is doing its all Greek to me. Should I go photon green? Should I go with TCSS battle blade? Corbin? Should I go with ultraedge? etc etc etc. Thoughts?
Thank you all for any advice!