My first saber, a MR Luke ROTJ conversion (pic intensive)

[Jetsi]

I have my MHS saber sitting on hold, figuring I wanted to try this first. It could (and did) serve as a learning experience on what to do and what not to do.

It started out as a 2002 MR Luke ROTJ EL saber, which didn't work. The conversion has it now running off of 4 AA NIMH batteries with a recharge port, a Corbin battle blade, and a green Lux 3 running off of a Hasbro card.

Here is what I had to start with. Notice the condition is far from pristine. The only thing I have done here is gutted the saber and painted over the "copper" with flat black.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07417.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07418.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07419.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07420.jpg

Since I have never worked with aluminum before, I wanted to get a feel for drilling into it, and figured some accent work along with the screws to hold the blade and holder in place would be a good task.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07421.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07422.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07423.jpg

Everything was quite a tight fit into the hilt, and it is slightly larger than a MHS one, if I am not mistaken. Something to keep in mind.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07425.jpg

Everything but the switch installed. You will notice on the closeup that this board has the switch connected to it directly, instead of with wires. This caused some trouble, but I think I have it working.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07427.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07426.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07428.jpg

Here it is with the switch cover in place. Just a piece of sink tube that has been cut lengthwise and had the corners rounded. I then cut a holt into it for the switch to go through, and fastened the switch with a few homemade cuts on the back side and some wire, along with a screw to go between the switch and sinkpipe. Doesn't work the greatest, but it is accomplishing the task for now.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07429.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07430.jpg

Some shots of the saber illumated.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07434.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07435.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07436.jpg

And an example of the sound working as it should:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/th_MOV07433.jpg (http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/?action=view&current=MOV07433.flv)

I must admit, I am a little disappointed. The blade isn't near as bright as I thought it would be, at least when I have seen other peoples pics and videos. Here are a comparison shot of this one and a 2005(?) MR Luke ROTJ LED side by side:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07437.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u49/jetsi/MR%20Luke%20ROTJ%20Conversion/DSC07438.jpg

I plan on dressing up the hilt some more, with some rails to help protect the switch from accidental activation, and I also plan on redoing the switch entirely when I can find something suitable.

Is this as bright as they get (for a Lux 3), or am I expecting too much? The batteries are fresh and putting out 5.1 volts, as far as I can tell the solders are good and solid, and it has the 5 degree lens on it. I like the way it looks in the dark, but I really expected to see it better in daylight as well. Any help or input would be appreciated.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

If that's a 1 inch blade you really should try a 10 deg lens. It might make a difference in how well the blade is lit. If that's the stock blade with the original diffuser, I'd ditch that too, and get a blade from either Ultrasabers, the Corbin blades from the store. or one of X-wing's.

You also might want to try to find someone with an MR board for sale and swap out that Hasbro. Mine were all a bit brighter after I did that.

[Jonitus]

Hasbro boards are really only sufficient when using a 1W LED. They greatly underpower a Lux III. No wonder you're disappointed. If you want to stick with green, get yourself a MR board and do the swap. The MR puts out enough current to drive a "light-side" Lux III to its full capability.

Other than that, nice saber. Your viewports on the emitter are cool.

BTW, you can take off that rubber cover from the switch that covers the board and solder wires to the board to connect to an actual switch instead of jerry-rigging it to use the actual rubber switch like you have it. Just food for thought.

[DACOTA]

Yeah i'm getting a board from vortex[a maul fx board] and thats going into this baby!It should look really good with the lux lll green I have.I'm going to get one of those speakers and the new speaker mounts.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/DACOTA007/MHS1V3V.4-1.png

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/DACOTA007/P1010001-1.jpg

[Jetsi]

K, I will try to respond to these in order:

Jay-gon, it is a 1" Corbin battle blade and a 5 degree lens.

Jonitus, I would love to get some MR boards, or even some stuff from Erv, but I figured they were too expensive for me at the moment. I will do some looking around, as I really would like this to work as I am doing it for my son.

And I didn't know about being able to get access to the switch on the Hasbro board. That opens many possibilities. One idea would be to mount a momentary and a latching switch side by side, so I could drive the Lux III off of a resistor or buckpuck, while still getting Hasbro sound. All of this is assuming the MR boards are out of my budget.

Dacota, keep us in the loop, looking forward to see how it turns out.

[Ravage179]

seriously try using the gift wrap tecnique it's just clear cellophane (you can probably buy it from a dollar store or Wal-Mart for a buck a roll)

roll out one layer on a CLEAN floor the same length as your blade (or else you get dust contamination)

then lay out a second layer same length

Then buff it with steel wool diagonally usually the last 2/3 close to the tip (this help diffuse the dim spots

then roll it up around a dowel and insert it in your blade tube

here is a comparison shot of corbins film next to this type on a green 3w
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1020/1450887326_efec197d18_b.jpg

for a buck the experiment is worth it

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I forgot to mention that the saber looks good, BTW!

If you dedide to go the MR route, I have picked up a few MR boards from the guys here and at F/X-Sabers.com forums for around $35-40 shipped. If you can, see if you can get the board from an Anakin ROTS saber, it has a good mix of clash sounds and idle hum on it. It's also as easy to install as a Vader/Maul board, as it is an identical board.

One other source is ebay. Sometimes you can get a good price ona broken MR and gut it for the board. I did that a couple weeks ago with an Anakin saber.

[DACOTA]

What I did for the cellophane was a double wrap of corbin film combined with the cellophane,and I didnt use steel wool cause the corbin film is my diffuser.Here is a comparison shot.
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/DACOTA007/Bladecompare.png

[Jetsi]

I think I will give that cellophane tip a try, along with various other things on the board. I can see now there will be a lot of sniping and bidding on broken MR sabers on eBay now.

Just one question about the cellophane, and it is probably stupid, but here goes: Are we just talking plain old cellophane, the stuff that is like 12 inches wide? And you lay out 2 sheets and place a dowel on it lengthwise, then roll and insert? Sounds pretty easy.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Not that kind of cellophane! It's clear plastic gift wrap, found in dollar stores or Wal-mart, or any other dept. store that has a gift wrap section. It usually is sold as a 30" wide by 9 or 10 foot roll and looks chrome. X-wing also suggests that you can get it here:

http://www.papermart.com/Index/index_retail_cello.htm

[Jetsi]

OK, that kind of cellophane. Gotcha. So if it looks chrome is it the iridiscent, or just plain ol' clear polypropylene?

[DACOTA]

Its clear and it wrapped on a cardboard roll,but yet it looks chrome,figure that one out.Ok I'll tell ya,I guess it gets to a certain thickness where it looks chrome.

[Jetsi]

Gotcha. I got the saber gutted again, going to move some stuff around. Guess I could stop in at Wally World tomorrow and pick some up.

I will let everyone know how it works when put back together, hopefully before the end of Monday.