Proto-saber (completed9/10/07)

[ArkaiHalon]

Has anyone ever built an OLD republic protosaber, with the belt pack?
I've always liked those, although I don't know why.

I'm thinking about building one, with all the drivers and batteries in the belt pack, leaving room in the actual hilt for other embellishments such as a visible lighted crystal.

[Hasid Lafre]

Would be pritty cool. To add to it I would use someting like steal braided lines to protect the wires going to the saber from teh pack.

[xwingband]

I'd thought of it. I think it could be really neat. I wouldn't actually try to remove all the stuff out...

I was thinking a stereo plug to a battery pack on the belt. If you tried to move it all out in a more complex setup more connects might be needed. Like wiring a DIN plug wouldn't be too fun. :?

Just being a power source too means you can make a static wall wart powered base. :)

I'm not a fan of the exposed crystal look of the true "proto" sabers. Nothing saying you can't make a more than a rock look without the prequel look though.

[ArkaiHalon]

Would be pritty cool. To add to it I would use someting like steal braided lines to protect the wires going to the saber from teh pack.

That's what I was thinking, and I like Xwing's idea of a stereo jack.


I'm not a fan of the exposed crystal look of the true "proto" sabers. Nothing saying you can't make a more than a rock look without the prequel look though.

I was thinking that when in "duel mode" i'd remove the crystal and put in the blade, but for "show", put the crystal in place. If that makes sense.

[goldsaberwarrior]

Why not have it fixed so you can put the crystal in a chasis to protect it when you dual. I would suggest a chasis like madcow's. You would still be able to dual with it on the outside and possibly not have to worry much. Another way for the crystal you may want to go is have a "holding chamber" somewhere on the hilt you can put the crystal when you're dualing. Just some ideas.

[ArkaiHalon]

http://thelightsaber.com/HistorySabers/SmallPics/Proto1SM.jpg*

on the protosaber, the crystal is exposed with no emitter, so I'm not sure of a way to have the crystal and a blade at the same time, in the same location. I remember seeing somewhere on here somebody had a crystal chamber in the hilt, with cut out windows so it was visible.

as for now, I'm not planning on it looking as organic as the pic above. will be much more utilitarian, for lack of a better term.


*picture from thelightsaber.com

[goldsaberwarrior]

The picture didn't go through. At least it didn't on my computer. Here's a pic for you.
http://thelightsaber.com/HistorySabers/SmallPics/Proto1SM.jpg
There's a pic of the protosaber for you. Hope it helps you some anyway. 8)

[Jay-gon Jinn]

That's the exact picture he posted, it came up fine on my computer. I think it's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure how you would go about using a blade with the crystal at the same time either.

[987654321a]

Ohhh Idea!!! How about making a resin cast of a crystal. Then drill through the center 1" you could then glue the blade in the resin crystal and fit it easily in an emmiter? hows that for an idea? :D

[Jay-gon Jinn]

That thought occurred to me as well, after I posted that. A large enough crystal could be drilled out to accept a blade through the crystal....you could probably use a 3/4" blade a little easier than a 1", though.

[goldsaberwarrior]

I guess my computer glitched for a moment. I see the pic now. Back to topic.
What about modding the design? Have a blade holder over the crystal. Fix the saber so the crystal is lit up when it's on. The crystal would then have the look of generating the blade. Don't know if that's specific enough. That's a way I could see using both at once.

[Ambo]

I would build it as a normal saber with all the LED workings and power source in the hilt....then use EL to run in the "power" cable like in the pic(use clear tubing with a single strand of EL)...and put the EL power source and such in the pack on your hip......then you can see when you turn the "power pack" on your hip on the EL wire lights up....the you can turn on the saber....kind of like "powering up" the saber before you send the energy to the crystal....

And IMHO i would use a blade for dueling but make a 1" "crystal holder" and have a large clear crystal mounted in it to put in it while its on your hip.

[Hasid Lafre]

That thought occurred to me as well, after I posted that. A large enough crystal could be drilled out to accept a blade through the crystal....you could probably use a 3/4" blade a little easier than a 1", though.

Thats what I was gonna say but I had an idea is you have someone make something as solid as mhs aluminum bladeholders but look like a crystal right. then you make a blade plug that will finish off the look of a crystal like it is up there but when you got a blade in it it looks like a crystal with a blade comming off of it. Like its comming out of the crystal.

Maybe a altered style 1 bladeholder and use some sculpting around it then get someone whoes a damn good painter and make it look really cool.

[987654321a]

The crystal part is the easy part, its only the main body of the saber that would be hard unless you use clay or something.

[Hasid Lafre]

1.25 sinktube with alot of sculpting.

[goldsaberwarrior]

You could do a sink tube I suppose but it would take ALOT of work to mod and sculpt the tube. If you do the proto saber post some pics and tell us what you did incase someone wants to make a proto or something similar. If you don't mind I'd just like to know once you get done.

[Hasid Lafre]

not really theres some kinda sculpting compound like clay but it bonds to metal and you can even drill and tap the stuff and its strong as hell.

forget what its called thou. ALW uses it.

[pockets]

not really theres some kinda sculpting compound like clay but it bonds to metal and you can even drill and tap the stuff and its strong as hell.

forget what its called thou. ALW uses it.

bondo?

[ArkaiHalon]

Lots of good ideas. My father in law owns an engraving business, so I'm gonna go ransack his supplier list and see if I any of them might either make a resin cast, or have huge block of acrylic i can futz with. I do think I'll go with the 3/4 inch blade, just to make it that much easier.

I really like the idea of EL wire in a clear tube.

Anyway, I got started on it last night. so far it's a
1.5 inch sink tube, with a 1.24 stuffed inside and held in place with poly washers. I'll post some "in progress" pictures later.

[Jedi-Loreen]

You don't want to put EL wire inside a clear tube without some kind of diffuser, if it's for a blade, because it will just look like lit up wire inside a tube.

[xwingband]

I believe he's refering to the power cables. A neat idea too... simple enough. Every hardware store should have some clear tubing to use.

Apoxie sculpt. I believe that's what Hasid is talking about... MarsMaster used the stuff on his Amber saber.

[ArkaiHalon]

I believe he's refering to the power cables. A neat idea too... simple enough. Every hardware store should have some clear tubing to use.

That's it. I really think that would give it a nice touch. what do you think of having two colors of el wire in the power cable, then their mix being the blade color, like red and green, with an amber blade. Or someting like that?

I've got like 5 or 6 fee of clear vinyl tubing left over from when I repaired my ice maker. Just need to get some brass barbs.

[/quote]

[987654321a]

HD sells clear polyethylene type tubing thats thin enough but it still is very flexible

[Jedi-Loreen]

Ok, I see what you mean now.

Red and green actually make brown. :P But it could work with an amber blade, it's your saber, after all, do what you want.

If I were to do one, I'd say with cooler colors, like green and blue for the power cables and cyan for the blade, that would look 8) . :wink:

It's a neat idea. You will certainly have enough room inside the "battery pack" for the EL inverter and batteries.

[ArkaiHalon]

[size=16][color=blue]
Red and green actually make brown.
yeah, but who wants a brown lightsaber? LOL

[xwingband]

Red and green makes brown under the paint system (Red, Yellow and Blue)

With light (RGB system) red and green is orange. :D

[Ambo]

You could even do three colors I suppose...and then just twist em in the clear tubing.....

[Jedi-Loreen]

I always seem to think in paint colors for some reason, which is weird, because I used to work on color computer monitors, so you'd think I'd think in colors of light. :roll:

[ArkaiHalon]

no worries. At least you think.

[Jedi-Loreen]

:D

[Firebird21]

I think True Red and True Green should make black since they are opposite colors that should cancel each other out; however, xwing, your confidence compels me to investigate this further...

[Jedi-Loreen]

Just take a red filter and a green one and overlap them and see what happens. Or 2 sabers, one with a green LED and one with red, shine the 2 LEDs together, without the blades, in the same spot. Simple. :wink:

[goldsaberwarrior]

If this proto saber turns out good for him he'll want to post pics and how he set everything up. May help others build a proto.

[Firebird21]

Just take a red filter and a green one and overlap them and see what happens. Or 2 sabers, one with a green LED and one with red, shine the 2 LEDs together, without the blades, in the same spot. Simple. :wink:


Your first suggestion is the paint method. The second is the light method.

Unfortunately I have no filters. But if I remember back to my days as a DJ and my War of the Worlds light show, those 2 colors made a really dark, ugly Purple. It was of no use as a stage light. No Orange, unless you're talking about a dark, putrid, rotting one. lol


This is very dependent on the shade of the filters used. If any particular color is stronger, it will adversely effect the end color. If your Green has more Yellow than Blue, the end result will be more to the Orange side... More Blue will make Purple.

And it just dawned on me... Filters are the same as Painting! They both filter out colors, so you make colors the same way. It's not until you have multiple lights of each color shining on the same spot that the rules flip.

[xwingband]

Hmm... not sure on that. I've never tried to mix two filtered LED's after the fact. I think its not right though because I've seen the demonstrations where they mix seperate Red Green and Blue lights into White light. They were stage type incans too.

The reasons the filter gave a crappy color using a red and green filter is because the first filter if doing it's job you'd theoretically have only that color getting through... the second filter just muddies it up because there is little to none of that color left to filter.

[Firebird21]

Hmm... not sure on that. I've never tried to mix two filtered LED's after the fact. I think its not right though because I've seen the demonstrations where they mix seperate Red Green and Blue lights into White light. They were stage type incans too.

The reasons the filter gave a crappy color using a red and green filter is because the first filter if doing it's job you'd theoretically have only that color getting through... the second filter just muddies it up because there is little to none of that color left to filter.


Yes, and Exactly.

Colored LIGHTS mix the opposite as colored FILTERS. and that's where all the confusion is coming from.

[Barmic Rin]

What sort of diffuser would he use in the flexi-tube without it going crinkly?
I'm liking the Blue/green idea, but i'd go lime, green would overpowr the effect of the blue, but go with what you wanna do.

The guy on Ebay that does EU sabers uses a resin for his Sith Legacy sabers. i'll get the address of his site & post a link when i get a chance.
Tat comes our almost organic the way he does it, kinda how i'd always pictured the ProtoSabers & early Kotor era sabers. The infamous 'Exar Kun' saber was only on the front cover of one issue, inside it looked more organic.

[ArkaiHalon]

I wasn't going to use a diffuser in the cable. Just want it to look like glowing wires. I might switch to a opaque tubing if it doesn't look right in clear.

progress is going to be slow on this one, since i know less than squat about EL

[Jedi-Loreen]

When I said "green" EL wire, I meant lime, because that's the color most people use in their EL blades. the green EL wire isn't as bright, and looks kind of teal. Though that was the older, dimmer wire. Never thought it was worth it to try the newer HB green, since everyone, including me, likes the lime better.

I've made a blade out of every color EL wire there is, at least before the HB wire came out, though I don't have a pink one, just made one for someone else.


I don't think you'd want to diffuse your cable, you want to see the individual wires, in this case.

[ArkaiHalon]

[quote="Jedi-Loreen"]

I've made a blade out of every color EL wire there is, at least before the HB wire came out, though I don't have a pink one, just made one for someone else.[\quote]

I will therefore count on you for expert advise :wink:
and I think I will go for the blue / lime = cyan look.

[ArkaiHalon]

The hilt so far.

1.25 inch sink tube, fitted inside 1.5 inch sink tube, with PVC overlay.
PVC is painted with "hammered bronze" texture paint. Haven't clear coated it yet.
http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/protosaber.JPG
http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/Protosaber%201.JPG
http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/protosaber%202.JPG
http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/protosaber%203.JPG

I've got the vinyl tubing hanging in my garage, hoping the Texas heat will take the curl out of it. More pics to come as I get farther along

[Jay-gon Jinn]

You could also use sideglow fiberoptic cables for the power cables. You'd just need to mount a couple of leds in either the power box or the hilt.

[Hasid Lafre]

I would put it in the box.

[Jedi-Loreen]

I like the EL wire idea better, It's simpler.

[Hasid Lafre]

But if he used a lux with the fiber optic cable then he can just jump off the same powersourse. no sence in having to seperate setups when you can run both on the same system and not have to worry about an inverter in the middel.

I would find a battery pack that gives you the voltage needed but has gobs and gobs of Mah so you can have freakishly long runtimes.

Iam sure something like that at a con could be want to be seen all teh time. I dont htink you would be abel to turn the thing off with people wanting to look at it.

[ArkaiHalon]

And where would I get my hands on this fiberoptic cable? and is it flexible enough to allow some playing?

Edit: as of right now, I've got the tube set up for EL. but it's so early, I can easily change it to LED and fiberoptic cable.

Using brass hose barbs, and clear vinyl tubing. I'm not sure If I am gonna leave the hose clamps on or not. I have decided that I am going to have all the power in the belt pack, and run wires up through the tubing. If I stay with EL, I'll braid them together. Pics of the tubing in place to follow soon.

[GFORCE13]

Very Cool really looking forward to the next pix.

[Hasid Lafre]

3m makes it I beleave, Hay jay dont you have your cable still?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Yes I still have that cable, however, it's 14mm. or 1/2" thick. I think it's too large for what he's doing. I got it from Fiberopticproducts.com (http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/)
on this page. (http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/Sideglow.htm)
If you've already got the EL wire set up and ready to go, Arkai, I'd stick with that. It's probably cheaper, anyway.
When lit up, the cable looks like this:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o141/Jay-gon_Jinn/Fiberoptic_el_at_night_2.jpg
The red in the corner is my EL saber, back before I killed it. :roll:

[Jedi-Loreen]

In the end, I think that EL wire will be simpler.

I don't see colors for that cable, do you just color it with your light source? If that is so then he'd need a different colored LED for each color "wire".

Then you'd have to figure out a way to keep the fibers close to the LEDs and make them stay there.

Go with EL wire, it just takes a little practice to learn to work with it.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Yes he'd need different color leds. Nothing to worry about with the fibers, though, I used a solid core cable, not the stranded type. There are also fiber optic connectors for luxeons that you can buy, but in the end it would be more expensive than EL wire.

[GFORCE13]

Defintely EL would be the most cost effective and once you get the hang of it you can use it for anything.

[ArkaiHalon]

Just the pvc shroud/body
http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/Protosaber/protosaber%204.JPG

With the tubing attached
http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/Protosaber/protosaber%205.JPG

close up of the pommel end
http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/Protosaber/protosaber%206.JPG

[pockets]

that actually looks really cool, and i like the EL wire idea

[ArkaiHalon]

Thank you. I'm pretty happy with it so far. I've got some parts on order from the store, so it's pretty much on hold until those get here.

Now I just need to figure out what to use for the belt pack.

[pockets]

Thank you. I'm pretty happy with it so far. I've got some parts on order from the store, so it's pretty much on hold until those get here.

Now I just need to figure out what to use for the belt pack.

grab a block of wood or a small box and paint it and slap some buttons on it, maybe a greebly LED or 2

[Barmic Rin]

Really starting to look good dude, can't wait to see the finished product.

[ArkaiHalon]

for the power pack, I'm leaning towards
http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2160191w345.jpg
it's 6x4x2, so should have plenty of room for the EL inverter, battery pack, and switches, and be big enough to look "Old Republic".

going to add a couple of accent LED's, and use a toggle switch to turn on the EL wire, and then have another toggle in the hilt to turn on the blade.

[Barmic Rin]

I'd put it in a pouch on your belt, see if you can get a pouch made up at a local leathergoods/ boot store. Maybe have an extra hole cut in ths side to allow the cable to go through.....

Those of you that went to CE may have seen my pouch made on the thurs before, 45min before my train. For a rushed job, the guy really came through for me!
I'll post pics if I get the chance.

[pockets]

for the power pack, I'm leaning towards
http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2160191w345.jpg
it's 6x4x2, so should have plenty of room for the EL inverter, battery pack, and switches, and be big enough to look "Old Republic".

going to add a couple of accent LED's, and use a toggle switch to turn on the EL wire, and then have another toggle in the hilt to turn on the blade.

thatd be pretty awesome right there

[ArkaiHalon]

ok, i'm due to get one order from Tim tomorrow, and am putting together
order #2. (includes the EL stuff, and the blade)

I'm going with a 3/4 inch thick walled blade, which i guess is technically for an EL blade, but I will be using LED. so my question is, with Corbin's blade film, do I order a single wrap of 3/4 inch thin walled, or 1 inch thin walled and possibly get a double wrapout of it?

[goldsaberwarrior]

Depends on evenness you want I would think.

[ArkaiHalon]

hehehehe

Batch one of parts has arrived, including the LED.

[Novastar]

Great to hear Arkai! keep us posted with photos and such...

As a matter of note--the light WILL have a tough time getting up the 3/4" OD tube, since there is not much room for light inside.

I'd definitely suggest some sort of sanding or "texture spray" on the outside of the blade to help capture more light... and not using a blade that is any longer than 30" or 32".

But--you will find out for yourself, and with any luck--I will be wrong!! :)

[ArkaiHalon]

Update.

I would first like to apologize to Tim, Corbin, Xwing, and pretty much everyone else on this board for the severe chewing out you got this evening while I was in my garage working on this darn thing. Short version, not all 1.25 inch sink tubes are made equal, and it took me an hour to find one in my spare parts that the 1.25 blade holder would fit in. Then, as I got distracted while setting up the soldering iron to wire up the lux and everything, I apparently turned it 90 degrees and wired it up. Of course, I didn't realize until ANOTHER hour later that I'd wired it backwards. This is where the cussing you guys out came in, cause you all suck cause you dont' make this kind of noob mistake, and how bad are they gonna laugh when they read the adventures of Arkai Halon, Jedi MORON.

Anyway. I got the Royal Blue Lux 3 wired up direct . Blade holder in place, with the blade retention screw installed. gotta stuff some bubble wrap inside to stop the batteries from rattling around, and rivet the overlay in place.
Sorry that the picture is fuzzy. it's 15 til midnight, i've been working on this thing for 4 hours.
http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/Protosaber/protosaber%207.JPG

[Jay-gon Jinn]

It's alive!

Hey don't be too hard on yourself about wiring things in the wrong position....I know I've done it a couple times, and you'd think I'd have learned after the first time....I've also wired them backwards too....no big deal.

I'm not sure how well that 3/4" thick-walled blade will light up....I've always used the thin-walled versions. A double wrap of Corbin's for a 3/4" thin walled would probably work...then go to your local dollar store and look for a roll of clear cellophane gift wrap. It'll look chrome. Roll it up to fit inside the Corbin film and slide it in the blade. I think you'll like the results.

[ArkaiHalon]

reading what you and Novastar have said, I may just goahead and spring for a corbin battle blade. I will have to try this celophane idea though.

[pockets]

i feel your pain brother wiring that ultra sound last night made me wish i was dead haha.

[ArkaiHalon]

everyone post i've read about the ultra shows it to be a pain in da CENSORED. I think at the point I spring for sound in my saber, I may have to go for some buttered toast.

[pockets]

i'm VERY happy with it now that its all together. its a great board at a reasonable price, but if you have the money to spend, go for buttered toast, erv pre solders on all the leads.

[ArkaiHalon]

and just to be clear, I am NOT knocking the ultra board.
I am sure that it's awesome for someone that doesn't wire an LED backwards. like me

Right now, I'm leaning towards a corbin board and a gutted hasbro for the Pocket ripoff saber.

[Novastar]

Wiring an LED backwards is of no major import. Since it doesn't blow up like it would if you did so with a "regular" light bulb or something else... because the LED is a diode. :)

The bit of advice I can offer for people getting frustrated:

1. Chances are... you are NOT the first to have encountered whatever problem you are having.
2. Be thankful that awesome parts (aka TCSS, Ultra, Erv, Corbin, etc.) even exist in the first place.
3. Sabers get banged around. TEST your joints by yanking on them. Fairly hard. No joke. Think about it.
4. Imagine having to wire/solder each individual part on the board (such as what Erv has to do BEFORE he sends to us).
5. Imagine having to wire up an entire computer by hand.
6. ... and most importantly...

The "problems" you encounter are only going to make you BETTER. Well... when you SOLVE them. Think of them as challenges, instead of negative problems. Opportunities to improve your saber in general, or opportunities to be even more wary of possible problem areas in the future.

I can safely say that EVERY single time I take apart a saber that has an issue... it goes back together in a much more reliable way. I tweak this here, make this stronger here, change this here, etc. Eventually, it leads to sabers that don't fail under almost any circumstance (aka BOP I & II)... and then I don't worry about them anymore.

But yes... it *IS* hard to keep from getting frustrated. But now, every time a saber has a problem and people look at me with wide-eyes I just say, "it's not a problem. It'll be back in action the next time you see it." :)

[ArkaiHalon]

I'm very grateful for the parts that Tim, Corbin, Erv, and all the rest supply (except for the sudden disapearrance of my salary :lol: )

I was actually laughing my butt off when I typed the post last night, but i was so tired i was being silly.

you hit a nail on the head too. Each saber I build is more complex than the previous, and so on. Example is that this one will be the first one i've done with that a lux, or a blade, or EL. Go figure i do all in one project.

[pockets]

nova i used to build computers for a living, trust me, its not hard haha. i was just saying the pads on ultras board are really small and really close together and it takes a steady hand an hour and a half to wire 8 leads haha

[ArkaiHalon]

update:

i've ordered the remainder of the needed parts for this thing. now I'vejust got to wait.

On the EL wire (Loreen, feel free to pipe in here)
is it possible to hook the EL up directly to the inverter, or do I have to use the jack?

[Jedi-Loreen]

The jacks are only for making something removable, like a blade.

You can certainly wire your EL wire directly to the wires coming from the inverter, if they are to be permanently attached. I would definitely make some sort of strain relief for it, so you don't somehow break the wires.

And remember, since it's AC coming out of the inverter, there is no polarity, so it doesn't matter which inverter wire goes what part of the EL wire, core wire or the 2 fine wires (which is why they are white, not red and black, like a battery clip is with the DC coming out :wink: )

[ArkaiHalon]

cool, thanks. the wire is going to be inside of a case on my hip, so i'm not to worried about it flexing to much. gonna definately heat shrink and hot glue it once it's done.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Heat shrink and hot glue should do it, since you won't be flexing the wires where they are attached to the inverter. :D Just make sure there's no way to pull on the connection.

[ArkaiHalon]

Thanks for the heads up. I plan on this being pretty stocky.

[goldsaberwarrior]

Glad to hear it's coming good for you. Look forward to seeing complete saber.

[ArkaiHalon]

anybody know of a reasonably affordable crystal seller?
I'd like a 3/4 inch blue quartz , but don't want to spend a fortune.
Any suggestions?

[TimeRender]

Ebay! Our geology dept. has purchased quite a few samples there.

Edit: With the exception of some types of smokey quartz, blue quartz points aren't natural. They are either dyed, mislabeled, or lab grown. They can also be fairly opaque. You might try a clear quartz with a blue LED instead. Trust me, it looks much better that way.

[xwingband]

Yup, ebay is where I've gone before. You can get a large lot of different sizes for very little... it is just a bag of rocks after all. :P

[TimeRender]

Actually, after a quick search on Ebay, the biggest problem I have had is finding a crystal that is as small as you asked for. If you're willing to ignore all of the hippy magic metaphysical mumbojumbo, here's a pretty decent one for about $3. I encourage you to look for yourself though, as you'll probably find something you like even better.

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEMURIAN-SEED-CRYSTAL-QUARTZ-POINT-FORMATION_W0QQitemZ230168635694QQihZ013QQcategoryZ 3226QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphot ohosting

[ArkaiHalon]

i've been perusing ebay most of the day, and have found a few nice ones, but i wasn't keen on paying 20 bucks. The more "rugged" the crystal looks, the better.

[ArkaiHalon]

got my parts in this evening. set about to wiring up the EL.
I seem to have done it right the first time, but those little wires are a #####. The only question I have is, it seems to blink every once in a while. is it possibly my battery? I'm still waiting on the belt pack to house the inverter, and I'm gonna play around with an alternate pommel idea. I should be done with this by Monday.

http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/Protosaber/protosaber%208.JPG[/img]

[Jedi-Loreen]

If it's blinking once in a while, I doubt it's the batteries. Could you have possibly broken one of the fine wires, and it's making intermittent contact? Unfortunately, that's what it sounds like, to me.

I know how much of a PITA it is to strip EL wire with a regular wire stripper. I must have wasted a foot of wire the first time I tried stripping a piece. Since I wanted to make myself more blades, I went out and bought a pair of automatic strippers, and they really saved my sanity, though I wouldn't bother, for just one project.

But if you nicked one of those pesky fine wires, he may have broken inside your heat shrink, or whatever you have over the connection.

I have an inverter that I use only for testing my EL wire when I make blades, I test the wire during every step-when I strip it, when I solder it onto the connector, when I screw on the connector housing, when I bend the wire to go upside the diffuser in the blade, when I put the screw into the blade that holds the connector. Since I seal the end of my blades with silicone, and use that to hold the end loops of the EL wire I want to know immediately if the wire connection goes bad before I finish the blade.


Sorry to go off on a tangent there. I'd check your connection again, because it sounds to me like you may have broken a wire in the EL wire.

I thought you were going with blue and green EL wire? It looks like aqua and blue in your photo? :?

[ArkaiHalon]

Thanks Loreen, I'll double check the connection tonight. it's odd though, it doesn't blink if I wiggle the connection.

and it's a single strand of blue. there is no way in HE double hockey sticks I'd be able to get two wires stuffed in th tubing i'm using. I'll take a better pic later as well.

[ArkaiHalon]

problem found. It's the switch i was using.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Ah, good, that's easier to deal with than the EL wire.

[goldsaberwarrior]

Hopefully you won't have any more problems cause I want to see your completed saber.

[ArkaiHalon]

and now for your viewing pleasure, i give you the completed (for now)
Ancient Republic Proto Saber


http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/Protosaber/protosaber%208a.JPG
http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/Protosaber/protosaber%209.JPG
http://k-squared.com/Lightsabers/Protosaber/protosaber%2010.JPG

[vortextwist]

oooh, very nice, me likey :o 8)

[pockets]

that is SO sweet

[xwingband]

Now that would be a sweet saber to costume with!

I want to see someone go NUTS with the electronics in the off-saber box. Then make a completely sculpted saber... Like Erv's board with all the blinkies.

[ArkaiHalon]

I'm thinking of doing something to that effect.

As soon as i got done with it, I was thinking, now how do I make it better.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

That turned out great!

[valeon]

I love it. But I Was actually expecting one of the ones that look "alive". You know, like they were sculpted out of clay.

[GFORCE13]

Arkiahalon just Impressive very nicely done, I think it came out really well.
Valeon now does the Sith Army Knife also come in a Jedi Model for us Lightsiders? :lol:

[Barmic Rin]

Man that thing ROCKS!!!!!!!

Good work Arkai!!

[gundamaniac]

wow. That is mighty impressive. Almost makes me want to try a similar project, except I like playing with my sabers and taking them everywhere, which looks to be a bit of a pain with a wire and box hanging off the end. And the EL wire looks to be a pain to work with :?

Very cool though. Pics of you in costume with the saber? Please?

[ArkaiHalon]

costume is still in progress (still designing it)
it's actually pretty fun to play with. I strapped it on last night and went out back. the cable is like 5 feet long, so it's got plenty of freedom.

[goldsaberwarrior]

Sweet. Thats cool for a proto saber.

[gundamaniac]

I imagine all that light would be cool =P. But the cord coming out prevents spinny twirly fun stuff right?

[Hasid Lafre]

He does have 5 foot of "cord" so if your carefull you can do some spins but I dont think spinning is fun stuff.

Actually dueling is fun stuff :P

[gundamaniac]

That too =P

But wouldn't it be easy for the enemy's blade to be entangled in the cord?....

[Hasid Lafre]

Not really, just learn a defencive form of dueling to protect yourself and the sabers components. then strike when the time is rioght.

Persionally I think its cool as hell but I think dueling would be diffacult, Having to worry about the cord and such.

What I would try to do is get the most powerfull led possable with a colored celophane type film.

[ArkaiHalon]

since I don't have anyone to duel with, I don't know how easy it would be.
but, i'm pretty sure that would be the reason that the non protosaber was invented.

and be on the look out for Proto2, coming soon.

[gundamaniac]

Can't wait to see it. This one's already as cool as Hoth... :wink:

oh god. I'm trying to be punny again... :roll: