Innards

[BhujangiJedi]

So I've been reading through the forums for about a month now and I finally got my own parts and built my own sabers. I've seen hundreds of pictures of (mostly) beautiful sabers, and read through the tutorials, but there's one topic I don't think has been covered sufficiently... how do you stabilize everything once you stuff it in the hilt?

I tried some quick & dirty ghetto tactics with scraps of cardboard & packing peanuts before I realized I needed something semi-durable (to withstand being disassembled/reassembled for battery changes and single/dual saber conversion) and convenient to deal with.

Soooo... I came up with my professional cardboard and tape solution: :D

Looks alright from the outside:

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=39&d=1201649251

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=40&d=1201649305


Let's see the innards...

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=41&d=1201649414

Purrrrrrdy, ain't it?

There's a piece of cardboard acting as a spacer so that the switch doesn't protrude as much outside the hilt that also stops the battery pack from sliding upwards into the hilt too much. I wedged long folds of cardboard on either side of the battery pack to keep it from rattling around. And to keep it from slipping downwards, I put some stabilizers in the pommel, and one in the double-male piece that lets me join them into a double-blade.

As you can see, this is a very simple MHS saber, no custom work. Putting it together forced me to solder for the first time in my life with a nifty 25W $5.99 iron from Fry's. I don't have a workshop or experience, so I'm wondering what the pros do to keep everything packed inside nice and stable.

[Arm on Fire]

I used pieces of pvc pipe that fit the id of my hilt , dremeled out spots for wires and such to space out the innards, i am working on designing a modular shuttle type system for the innards of my next saber so that the guts will slide out with everything intact on the shuttle, it should make it easyer to wire and you wont have to worry about twisting off connections when dissassembling the hilt. i think i saw somthing like it already here somewere but i cant find it again.If it works ill post pics.

[barjedi]

i was watching a vid on you tube where i think it might have been Erv that had a saber he was reviewing, and when hfe opened the saber to show the glowing crystal chamber, he explained that he used a sink tube the same od as the id of the saber and dremmeled the crud out of it to make this cool looking harness and hot glued the board, speaker, battery pack and the aforementioned glowing crystal chamber to it.
the idea was that you squeeze the tube a bit (as it was split along one side and holes cut to get at things inside) and slide it in. the tension of the inner tube trying to spring back to normal held the electronics in place. i have yet to try it as i am trying to find the video again to refresh my memory on building something like this.

[Malaki Skywalker]

i was watching a vid on you tube where i think it might have been Erv that had a saber he was reviewing, and when hfe opened the saber to show the glowing crystal chamber, he explained that he used a sink tube the same od as the id of the saber and dremmeled the crud out of it to make this cool looking harness and hot glued the board, speaker, battery pack and the aforementioned glowing crystal chamber to it.
the idea was that you squeeze the tube a bit (as it was split along one side and holes cut to get at things inside) and slide it in. the tension of the inner tube trying to spring back to normal held the electronics in place. i have yet to try it as i am trying to find the video again to refresh my memory on building something like this.

Got a link?

[barjedi]

i have yet to try it as i am trying to find the video again to refresh my memory on building something like this.

it was months ago, hence the above quote

[Hasid Lafre]

You could alwase use the bouble wrap that tim uses to send the led in.

[strengthofrage]

Just go to Erv's site under tutorials, he shows step by step how to make that same saber chasis.

[barjedi]

rock on, i try to help a guy out and i get help for myself too... i love this place!!!

here is the link to that tutorial... http://www.plecterlabs.com/catalog/article_info.php?articles_id=19
there was a vid like i said, but it wasn't from his site, however the pic is awsome, and i think it is a great way to secure your electronics IMHO




"where do i buy tickets?"

[Barmic Rin]

I'll be using his tutorial for that when I get my CF v3, & adapt it to a recharge pack instead of standard batteries, it takes too long to change them at the moment.