Worst mistakes

[Storm Sunfire]

Okay, so I just burnt out two different LEDs. I decided to run 2AA batteries
directly to a switch and then to an LED with no resistor. No problem right? Well after getting it all together I tested it and the LED turned on for a second then nothing. I checked my connections and replaced the LED with another and tested it again. Same thing. Now I'm mad so I pull everything apart that's when I realized that I had two Trustfire 14500s in the battery pack instead of regular batteries. What doofus.

I thought I'd console myself by reading about mistakes that other people have made.

What's the worst mistake you made? Post your embarrasing failures for all to peruse.

[B5813]

My worst mistake(not sure if it was mine though) was getting the threads stuck on an Obi TPM pommel screwed into an MHS extention. I got so PO'd and frustrated I started using a hammer on it(that was the stupid part). I nearly gave up building sabers right then and there.

[Lord Maul]

I don't know if it is the worst, but on a MHS saber I year ago, I burned the electronics. When the emitter was screwed down in pushed the battery pack into the recharge port, shorting everything :mad:

[DJMoonbass]

i rode a stolen shopping cart off of my friends roof into his pool about 3 years ago. i missed the pool. then rolled into it. Worst and funniest mistake in my whole @#$% life.

[Jedi-Loreen]

DJ, you just made another mistake by posting a non-lightsaber related mistake.

See where this it posted? It's not in the Miscellaneous section. :roll:

[Kal El Rah]

J-lo, the title to the thread doesn't specify just saber mistakes...............

[Jedi-Loreen]

I know, but considering where it's posted, it should be assumed. :rolleyes:

[duncan29793]

Hey DJ... I thought it was funny. Can't please everyone.

[cannibal869]

Yeah, I kinda liked DJ's post too :rolleyes::mrgreen:

[jtong77]

It would be ok if he was assembling a light saber at the time though, right?

[Dahi Esmeva]

lol DJ

[Rhyen Skytracker]

i rode a stolen shopping cart off of my friends roof into his pool about 3 years ago. i missed the pool. then rolled into it. Worst and funniest mistake in my whole @#$% life.

Did you hit your head DJ? If so, that would explain alot. LOL :D

[LastODJedi]

I swapped the diffuser tube from a damaged MR blade to a new poly-c tube. The diffuser had the tip still attached so I left it and slid it into the poly-c tube.

However, I forgot to glue it in.

While messing around with it later I swung it a little too hard and the whole thing shot out like a missile into my Alec Guiness autograph. I only had to get a new frame, luckily Alec wasn't hurt in the melee.

After that, I always make sure my tips are glued in place!

[Barmic Rin]

We got a video of this shopping cart incident?

Worst saber mistake? Snapped my 03 Luke ROTJ MR saber blade, used industrial strength glue to put back in place, all it did was melt the plastic from around the wires.

They crossed.

They sparked.

The glue caught alight.

I swore & blew it out.

One dead saber & one flat sticking of burnt glue for 2days afterwards...

[Logan Cade]

Worst saber related mistake?…..Trying my damndest not to scratch a hilt and ending up doing it anyways.
Oh…and sending my US 2.0’s in for the upgrade.

Other then that, it’s been a pleasure.

[jtong77]

Oh…and sending my US 2.0’s in for the upgrade.


Seems like a lot pf ppl has made that same mistake....

[Storm Sunfire]

Listing that as your worst mistake is wrong. When you are sitting in a shopping cart on a roof looking down at your buddy's pool? That's a whole series of mistakes. Even though I meant lightsaber mistakes, that was pretty damn funny.

[Storm Sunfire]

Ya know how some MHS parts are narrow inside? When you try to jam a battery pack in there the heatshrink scrapes off the battery right? Well, genius that I am, I decided to save space by putting nekid batteries in the battery holder. Once everything was hooked up the saber was sort of warm then it was HOT. Yow! By the time I had it all pulled apart, the battery holder was a useless pile of slag.

[ARKM]

Boring a hole through a a piece of solid round aluminum on a lathe and leaving the drill bit inside of it between drilling sessions. Aluminum then cools, contracts and traps the bit. I have ruined at least two emitters and 1 drill bit that way. Never again.

[cardcollector]

My worst mistake was ruining three sound baords in a row.

ABRAKADABRA: POOF!!! Magic white smoke!!:-D

Oh; and posting questions when more searching was in order...

[Obi-Ben]

I don't have one big lightsaber mistake, just a bunch of little ones. Like using quick disconnects on every single component. Or shorting (very briefly) the batteries when installing the recharge port. Spending way too much money on a single MHS part I ultimately didn't like very much on my hilt. And ordering a blade from Ultrasabers. It's been 3 weeks...hello???!?

[morpheus1977]

I don't have one big lightsaber mistake, just a bunch of little ones. Like using quick disconnects on every single component. Or shorting (very briefly) the batteries when installing the recharge port. Spending way too much money on a single MHS part I ultimately didn't like very much on my hilt. And ordering a blade from Ultrasabers. It's been 3 weeks...hello???!?

Whats the problem about using quick disconnects on alot of the components? I know not two but no body has explained why..

[Lord Maul]

It takes up a bunch of space in the hilt. Once you make a saber with accent LEDs, a recharge port, and a sound board, you'll understand ;)

[Kal El Rah]

LM, you forgot the batteries.........:wink:

[DJMoonbass]

no i dont have a vid of the incident i wish i did though. lol. it was awsome. and yes it doesnt specify lighsaber mistakes j lo. plus this in MISC.

It is only in Misc because I moved it here. It was originally in LED hilts/wiring I believe. When the discussion got too out of hand, I moved it. -LM

[Obi-Ben]

It takes up a bunch of space in the hilt. Once you make a saber with accent LEDs, a recharge port, and a sound board, you'll understand ;)

Yeah, exactly. It was a tight fit to begin with, and there was no way I could get everything to fit with all the needless bulk. Once I cut out all the quick connects and excess wire length, I had quite a pile on my desk. The saber works just fine without them.

Still waiting on my blade...

[Storm Sunfire]

Boring a hole through a a piece of solid round aluminum on a lathe and leaving the drill bit inside of it between drilling sessions. Aluminum then cools, contracts and traps the bit. I have ruined at least two emitters and 1 drill bit that way. Never again.


I've sawed through my finger, dremeled a hole through a piece that I was holding in my hand, forgot to wear eye protection while using a cutting wheel (the wheel broke from the pressure, flew across the room hitting the wall and bounced back and stuck me in the eye), and I've burned myself pretty good with a soldering iron. I can't wait to get a lathe and see what happens!

[Obi-Ben]

I've sawed through my finger, dremeled a hole through a piece that I was holding in my hand, forgot to wear eye protection while using a cutting wheel (the wheel broke from the pressure, flew across the room hitting the wall and bounced back and stuck me in the eye), and I've burned myself pretty good with a soldering iron. I can't wait to get a lathe and see what happens!

Holy crap--I don't think you should ever have graduated from the safety sissors. You need to stay away from all machines and anything sharp.

[Barmic Rin]

Holy crap--I don't think you should ever have graduated from the safety sissors. You need to stay away from all machines and anything sharp.

LANGUAGE DUDE!!! PG forums!!

[gundamaniac]

Wow, this makes my worst mistake seem mild- snapping off a tap in a bladeholder. I couldn't get that thing out of the bladeholder so I just resorted to grinding down what was exposed and covering it with a sinktube overlay.

The only ouchies I've sustained from the hobby were not wearing gloves while Dremeling and accidentally letting my metal cutting bit wander into my thumb (gave myself a tiny nick...I consider myself lucky there), picking up a screw right after I dremeled it to shorten the length of the threaded section...can you say burn?...and the worst one was reaching over my soldering iron (no soldering station) and bringing the fleshy part of my palm down right onto the tip of the iron because it was late and I was not being observant. Gundamaniac + sharp/hot objects = bad bad bad news. Why am I in this hobby again?

[Darth Vane]

mine would have to be when i was about ten. i had a old Plastic electronic darth maul saber with sound, lights, yada yada. so i let my three year cousine play with it. he goes running through a door with the hilt horizontaly and snap it splits in to. i wasent upset i thought it was funny that it still worked in two pieces! lol

[JediMahi]

My worst mistakes have not been that bad. I got impatient with my US(2.0) board "man-handled" it, and now it no longer works. I was not looking at what I was doing and picked up my sodering iron from the hot end. It took me a little over 1 sec. to realize my mistake and only my little finger escaped unburned. I had another run in with my impatientence and broke a tap in a Blade holder that I spent hours machining and because of where it broke I cant get the thing out and I cant cover it up so, I just have to look at it

[JVit]

Speaking of worst mistakes..

How long does Ultrasabers take to make their sabers? I ordered one a while ago, and all I get for a response it "no estimate time to build".

Let's hope that'll be my only mistake.

[Obi-Ben]

The use of protective eyewear cannot be over emphasized. When dremeling today, a piece of...something flew up and hit me in the eye. Could have been a HUGE mistake. I don't have protective glasses, so I wore my ski goggles instead.

[Invisas1979]

Arrrrgggghhhhhhhhhhh. I can't believe it, what a bone head. My first mistake, I drilled holes in the emmiter of nameless without the heatsink in it. Soooooooooooo when I came to screw it together, yup the holes were off centre.

School boy error.

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

LOL! BTDT.

You're in good company on that one. If you use a set screw instead of a thumb screw, it's not as noticeable.

[Invisas1979]

Yeah, but what about the other 6 holes on the front??? Ha ha ha. What a plank. Now i've either got to buy a new one or find a way to keep the heatsink and lens holder from moving inside which it does at the moment.

[Ghostbat]

So I'm sitting out in the desert soldering together a battery pack. I don't notice that a tiny droplet of solder has gotten away from me and has cooled bridging the positive pole with the body of the battery... also known as the negative pole... I think to myself "This is getting hot, better set it aside for a bit so I don't damage the battery... wait it's getting really hot I wonder..." That's when the battery explodes, spraying my face with battery acid. Fortunately I had blinked at the right moment and was able to empty a bottle of water over my face and chest and walked away unscathed.

I was acutely aware for days that I was probably a good four hours away from the nearest hospital by helicopter, if i had happened to have a helicopter handy, which I didn't.

For those playing along at home, don't do that. And if you do that, wear eye protection.

-Uncle Ghostbat

[Storm Sunfire]

So I'm sitting out in the desert soldering together a battery pack. I don't notice that a tiny droplet of solder has gotten away from me and has cooled bridging the positive pole with the body of the battery... also known as the negative pole... I think to myself "This is getting hot, better set it aside for a bit so I don't damage the battery... wait it's getting really hot I wonder..." That's when the battery explodes, spraying my face with battery acid. Fortunately I had blinked at the right moment and was able to empty a bottle of water over my face and chest and walked away unscathed.
I was acutely aware for days that I was probably a good four hours away from the nearest hospital by helicopter, if i had happened to have a helicopter handy, which I didn't.

GB- Whew! I think the Universe is trying to tell you something. I don't have to learn my lesson if I can learn your lesson. Glad to hear the "unscathed" part. BTW I never did like the desert, every time I have ever been in a desert I have had to shoot someone...

[tachikoma1]

I have two that took place on the same build. Actually, my first build. I was attempting to build an internal sound-card chassis out of PVC pipe. The pipe fit perfectly. I wanted a little to stick out thinking I'd be able to access the SD card there by unscrewing the pommel. Well, when I attempted to attach the pieces, the threads didn't line up just right. Instead of stopping right there like I should have, what did I do? I thought, it must just be a tight fit around the PVC, so like a neanderthal, I just twisted harder, and harder, and by the time I realized what I'd done, it was too late. The threads had totally stripped and both parts were seized. I tried vise grips, strap wrenches, and finally got them apart by banging them on my butcher block kitchen island. Now I'm waiting for two replacement parts from Tim. STUPID STUPID STUPID!

The second one is actually kinda funny, even to me. I had my internal chassis all done and assembled. I had one accent LED to solder on, and the position it was in forced me to hold my soldering iron at a weird angle. Then what happened? The magnet in my premium speaker jumped right onto the side of my hot iron and totally melted the diaphragm. Now I'm waiting for a replacement speaker from Tim too.

Go ahead! Laugh it up Fuzzball!

[Jedi-Loreen]

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/JediLoreen/JSSDC/zombiescopy.png

Holy necropost, Batman!

[(null).exe]

"Originally posted by Ghostbat, 7-17-2009"

OMG StormSunfire...for realz?

[PaPa_FoZzY]

so far the worst saber making mistake I've made was burning out a luxon led because I didn't realize my soldering pen was resting on top of the dome when I was soldering the wires... I wanted to cry :(

[Loachri MacTalabh]

Well since this thread is "The Walking Dead" I'll play. The worst saber building mistake I made. Buying a Ultrasound 2.5, basically I made a $90 dollar donation. It worked for awhile, then solder pads started falling off.

[jin starkiller]

since this thread has been resurected again the worst mistake I made while cutting a sinktube a peice of metal flew and imbeded itself in my arm and my glasses ...lucky for me ....just cost a pair of glasses and a band aid

[Darth Odious]

I've made quite a few mistakes over the years, holding nylon screws in my mouth, cause my hands were busy, then accidentally swallowing them (posted that on the randomsabers forums bout 5 years ago) when I had my lathe, my micrometer wasn't properly calibrated, I made a saber to hold a 3/4 in acrylic blade, and every dimension was .02 off, I frequently touch hot soldering irons.

But paint is my true enemy. For some odd reason, or just bad luck, about half the time I buy spraypaints they just look awful, bubble up, or don't adhere properly. I finally learned to get an airbrush, and use testors enamels, and bake in an old toaster oven.

[Storm Sunfire]

Wow way to revive a topic. I thought this thread was long gone, but it seems to have clawed it's way back to life. Is there a medal for that?

[Jedi-Loreen]

Wow way to revive a topic. I thought this thread was long gone, but it seems to have clawed it's way back to life. Is there a medal for that?
Um, you're the one that revived it, last month.


No medal, you get a demotion, instead. :p

[Ronan]

Nice double necro.

Worst mistakes was finding TCSS website.

My wallet hates me now.

:p

[Loachri MacTalabh]

Nice double necro.

Worst mistakes was finding TCSS website.

My wallet hates me now.

:p

That is the best mistake I have seen. The funny thing is every body suffers from it.:D

[Xanatos1986]

ok this is bad, the worst mistake I did was well when wireing up my fist PC the +pad for the LED the one next to the metal square box thing yeah I used to much solder and comibed them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It ended up blowing my p4, and 5mm accent leds!!!!! with PRs advice and motivation i used my desoldering braid and got as much as I could out, and melted the rest off carefully while bearly scrapping off the extra solder....I know you guys are like probably mad or disowning me now but it worked and the PC is the best board....as of now Cuz i haz not CF lol, im sure the obscene, i mean obsidian cant compare to either lol well thats my story.

[xclgreen]

Thank you everyone. I am always checking all your post for me to learn.

[Loachri MacTalabh]

Thank you everyone. I am always checking all your post for me to learn.
OK So far that is your worst mistake;)

You'll want to watch thread subject, and for the most part keep on topic.

Other than that welcome.