RE-build of my first saber WIP

[Danz409]

hello to everyone. i'm posting this to show some improvements i'm making to my saber. when i first got into this hobby there was some skills i was lacking. where to find stuff how to do things etc. after about a year of tinkering around with things and messing with fabrication processes, i have gained much skill and unfortunately am a low income man so. instead of making a new saber like most would do when he/she wants to exercise / gain skill in the saber building. i'm going a cheaper way. and also id like to thank of it as a more satisfying way. taking a project i started on a wile ago and thought was done. and RE-build from the ground up. i'm basically taking my sink tube off. due to all the felt peaces corners coming up. felt just being far to bulky for my tastes expecaly with a 1.5 inch tube. some new materials iv discovered that will in-prove looks a truck load. a bunch of unnecessary holes in my sink tube from other experiments attempts etc. i'm starting with a new sink tube entirely to make a much better looking base. also the sound will be getting a hyper-drive of a boost. moving from a Hasbro to MR board (i hope) anyway as long as things go to plan. insted of warping copper around i discovered a type of tape that contains copper used for stain glass windows that works wonders for copper accents so no more mess of wire supper glued on my tube
here is a look at the old and progress on the new

the old one in the forth pic is basically being used as a guinea pig so i can try to avoide a rebuild and have a excuse to build a new one down the road! :D

heres what im going for

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/REsaber.jpg

the old

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/Danzsaber.jpg

and a look at progress

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberupgrade2.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberupgrade.jpg

comments and suggestions are more then welcome. anything to help improve value/look of my saber!

[Danz409]

after a few hours of cutting some PVC it's begining to take some shape and looking real nice!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberupgrade3-1.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberupgrade4.jpg

[Danz409]

more progress. few holes drilled coated the grill thing with some copper and now i have to find tiny drill bit or adapter to use the small bit i have for the switch and i can get painting. also i have a small problem. i was originally going to use is kinda too stiff. when i try to bend it, it makes crinkles and such. anybody know about how or even if you can apply leather to chrome with any type of glue?

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberupgrade6.jpg

[Danz409]

slaped on some paint. i was orignaly going to do black but upon spraying a light coat on... i noticed it looked like marble... i <3 the way it looked so i decided to stop right there. and heres sorta how it looks... somehow the camra makes it look much lighter. its much darker then what the camra shows

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberupgrade8-1.jpg

[Danz409]

accent strips added and OMG this thing is looking nice!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberupgrade10.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberupgrade9.jpg

[Danz409]

good: almost done with cosmetics!
bad: still got lots of internal works to do
ugly: its not quite turning out the way i had hoped. the handle is WAY to bulky. same issue i had with my old one. i rely need to somehow get into the 1 1/4 pipes those are much more comfort to grip and adding over-shells can be done many layers not just 1 before getting considerably too bulky. needless to say, i don't thank this is going to be the end of my main saber. i might at least rework the handle to be smaller, and the copper grill isn't as nice as i was hoping it would be. the way the tape went on it kinda sparkles and doesn't show a consistent shine. looks too cheesy/fake-ish but the accent designs look amazing!

so far a lot has been learned from this build and that was one of the main reasons why i wanted to do this. now i know what that tape can do and not do for a saber design, regardless, if i plan to remake. i might just sell this saber and build a MHS saber

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saerupgrade11.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberupgrade12.jpg

if i where to call this saber a name. id probably go with Genaron

[Firedrops]

that looks really good.
can't wait to see the final product. :)

[cardcollector]

That's looking AMAZING!!!

Can you give us a list of all the parts you used??? (especially the strips...;))

[Danz409]

well i still have some work to do. iv just started on the internal caddy that houses all the goodies, i also had to get a new battery pack and holder because my old batteries was just too bulky for the inner caddy im using in this design

parts i used

outer shell a peace of PVC that fits perfect on the 1.5 in sink tube
the main grill was from a power supply cut that out with drimel and
for the copper graphics i used some copper stripping found at hobby lobby, used for stain glass. i haven't the wire mesh was also found there. thats in the sculpting department. and the end peace is the standerd sinktube screw cap with a peace from a hasbro saber that had holes in it glued on with the mesh behind it

[Danz409]

as of today. im not using those grips... simply refuse to stay on a curved surface. edges kept coming up. looks like i'm going to have to find something else to use as a grip.
im thanking of painting the base color of the sinktube a deep red for the handle area and wraping it in segments with a leather like bat grip tape and in between each wrap set have a nice copper ring

[Danz409]

work on the inner saber begins. finally got some parts, mainly was needing connectors. i'm relay liking this caddy design compared to normally just shoving all the components into the tube

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/innersaber.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/innersaber2.jpg

[Danz409]

well had some rough luck today. was hoping to slap it together in no time. fate/luck was far from on my side... after finally wiring the thing up it works... sorta... dang it... NO LIGHT! wtf.. i spend hours trying to see why the light isn't working. wiring... Ok.. polearaty.. ok.. voltage. ok... hmm.. short.. nope.. turns out the my luxion K2 after about a year of just sitting there decides to no longer work when i fire it up. well. at least im not completely boned. i have a cree P4 laying around. but its not on a star. so i wonder if i can get this mess off this star
after mutilating the luxion K2 and i mean it.. look for yourself

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/bucherdluxion.jpg

had a hard time getting that off. spent at least an hour just on that. took my helping hands to hold it wile i took 2 lighters to its but. and after doing all that i relize. i could just mount the P4 on the little PCB its on now. so i apply some thermal past + super glue on the edges to help hold it. and got it on nicely with much less effort then trying to re-mount the LED. hurray! hours wasted messing with the broken LED. and quickly relize... it uses a differ resister.. the K2 uses a 1 ohm with my setup. the P4 requires a 1.5 ohm.. lucky me it still works with 1. its just over driven!

a look at the LED i had to ghetto-fie to get working in it

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/creeP4.jpg

this thing is EXTREMELY bright!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/P4-1.jpg

after putting that on. wire it up. SUCCESS! i has light!
now i spend some time running wires though the hilt and painstaking process of upping that dang switch in... took an hour just on that stupid thing. shove all the inners together and OMG its a fully functional light saber! its great!

unfortunately... 5 min later

short in the switch shows up... GDI!

anyway despite the short here's a look at the saber so far!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/Genaronalpha.jpg

[Invisas1979]

Some others have used O rings covered with heat shrink for grip material. That would give you a nice solid grip and still be in keeping with the design.

Good work with the LED, i'd have tossed the broken one and just brought a new one. Perseverance is what you need if you wanna be a record breaker.

[Danz409]

well i found out what was wrong with the switch... and the answer is... ITS FROM RADIO SHACK! :D

yea took the thing apart and second i unscrewed the screws... this happened...

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/crappyswitch.jpg

official middle finger salute to radio shack and there quality products!
__________________________________________________ ____________

on a good note just made an order last night for some parts. ill be rebuilding this in 1"1/4 inch format to be more skinny possibly a change up in design so expect a new WIP thread for that

[Danz409]

had some fun returning this... well. i guss you could call it returning.. i take it to radio shack. get out of the car. i made shore before i walked in. that nobody was busy so as soon as i would walk in they would give me that "how can we help you" BS. i say nothing walk over to the counter... lay down the pile-0-scrap and simply walk out... not saying anything.. the looks on there face. i relay wish i had somebody else there to record it.. was a priceless moment. i don't thank ill ever be using there crappy slider type switches again

[Danz409]

HURRAY at last. project COMPLETE! at least for now... once i get my parts in ill probably try to sell this and work on a smaller version simuler to this. was a fun build and enjoyed it very much! i hope everyone else enjoys building sabers and hope some things have been gained from this thread. i tried my best to make it interesting. more to come soon!

here is a look at the finished product.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/Genaron3-1.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/Genaron4-1.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/Genaron5.jpg

also some videos i made along the way too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul0ak4N3CQ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YINBMbacd3k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgRlZT_Wnmk

[Sairon]

Nice re-build, very steampunk.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

Very nice. Good job.

[Danz409]

Necro bump! ok. sorta.

update on the progress on this saber. as of now its in a billion peaces in my saber parts container. sadly the grip tape i used just wasn't sticking well. also the copper tape. tho looking nice. was tarnishing. and changed the look. and the cool grill type design i incorporated tho looks extremely nice. isn't so durable. the fragile aluminum mesh is quickly and easily brutalized by putting the blade in and out of the holder. and as promised. ill be rebuilding it!

so ill be re-re-building my original saber. in a smaller more compact size! with more durable parts! more stylish parts to go along with the steam-punk style and yet not be as fragile as nitro-glycerin

(dunno if i should continue the build on this tread or start a new one and post a link here to it)

[Danz409]

oh. and for those fallowing this sabers life. or those who missed. heres the progression


Un-named

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberupgrade3.jpg



Genaron-Beta

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/Danzsaber.jpg



Genaron-1.0

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/Genaron4-1.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/Genaronsig.jpg



Genaron 2.0 (or possable name change)

ideas still in the works

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/genaron2-1.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/lightsabersteampunkish.png

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p2/danz409/lightsaber%20project/saberdesignidea.jpg

[RevengeoftheSeth]

Your new incarnation looks to be shaping up nicely, and looks much more durable this time ;)