Want to build a Saber, advice/help please!

[Skrunks]

Hi all!

So I've been doing some looking into the MHS system and various blades. I put together a concept hilt for what I want, and since I like longer hilts, this one is a whopping 22 inches long.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d10/Skrunks/SaberBuilder_render.png

I was thinking about purchasing all the stuff for the hilt, then ordering a Hyperblade and Hyperdyne sound board from Hyperdyne systems. I'm expecting the whole project to run me about 500$ Canadian by the end. However, this whole thing is brand new to me, so any advice/do's and don't or any other thoughts would be most appreciated.

[cannibal869]

holy mother of (*&^$)!& that thing is HUGE!!

Wow, since you're new to this...

You're welcome to get whatever sound board you want. Hyperdyne boards and the MR boards for that matter were originally designed to work with LED ladder type blades, but can be modified to be used with the standard single super bright LEDs that most of the sabers here use. It's up to you how to design your saber, but if you've never made a saber before, it might be easier to start with a single LED type blade.

Did I say that that hilt is ungodly long? Is this a display piece or do you plan to duel with it?

Most of the other people here will tell you the same thing though - do a lot of searching and reading on the boards. It will save you a lot of headache (and rib poking :rolleyes:).

Good luck with that...

[cardcollector]

What the?!?! That is huge... each to his own I guess:rolleyes:

I have heard a lot of bad things from Hyperdyne, bad service, not that great of quality, etc. I would use a MR myself...

If you do build it you realize you won't be able to duel with it very efectively.;)

[ComdtJustin]

Wow... 22 inches?! Isn't that the length of Darth Maul's hilt minus blade? And his is a frickin double-sider!

Anyway good luck to you, and definitely follow what Cannibal said. Read till you can't read anymore, then read some more! Lol

[Lord Dottore Matto]

My advice would be to read the links in my SIG, build a few basic sabers and then decide on what electronics to use. IMO, you will not like that render if you ACTUALLY were to build it. The good thing about it is that you can build two sabers from those parts.;)

[Skrunks]

"Isn't that the length of Darth Maul's hilt minus blade? And his is a frickin double-sider!"

Around there, yeah. That's the idea actually, see I like the leverage of a longer hilt. I actually own a nodachi http://eagleswords.com/library/Gigantic66InchFullTangNodachiSword.jpg

Not that particular one, but that's about the size of mine, and I'm 6" 5' and 220 lbs, so I like em bigger, heh.



@Hyperdyne

Honestly, I want a hyperblade. Nothing I can find anywhere seems to even come close to the sheer brilliance of that thing. If someone knows something I don't (which is a guarantee, since I'm a noobie :P). I would 'like' to 'duel' with it, but nothing too intense. It's actually going to be more for show then anything else, since it's going to be my personal lightsaber. As for the sound board, my line of thought was basically 'If I'm going to get a Hyperdyne Blade, I might as well get a Hyperdyne sound board'. I'm no electrician, and it's going to take a good deal of learning to get this all to work how I would like it too. I don't even own a soldering gun or anything. Anyway, that's why I opened this thread, there is a wealth of information here, and I would love some personal opinions about the hyperdyne systems and the pro's cons etc. I've heard about the bad customer service, but I'd be willing to overlook that if the product is as awesome as it appears.

@Design

I very much like the length, but I'm starting to give up on the idea, mainly because my wallet isn't bottomless. Anyway, some opinions on the design? I was playing around with it and came up with some alternatives:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d10/Skrunks/SaberBuilder_render-2.png
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d10/Skrunks/SaberBuilder_render-3.png
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d10/Skrunks/SaberBuilder_render-4.png

And if the long hilt just proves to be too impractical:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d10/Skrunks/SaberBuilder_render-5.png
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d10/Skrunks/SaberBuilder_render-6.png

[Skrunks]

@Dottore

I just read the link you suggested and I think I'll follow the advice :) It would be a shame to shell out the hundreds of dollars buying a hyperdyne blade if I just wreck it cobbling together a saber with no experience :P

I think I'll choose one of the small sabers I designed above.

[Lord Dottore Matto]

Well, I am 6'5" 250 and that is too long for me. BUT, like I said, go ahead and build it! The beauty of MHS parts is that you can always change. I own EVERY type of saber and Hyper blades are not any brighter than my Makotosai or most of my Luxeon sabers. The problem with component LED blades is their lack of durability for ANY dueling. That is not just Hyper's blade, but Makoto's and stock MRs as well. Like I said, it is all in what you want out of the saber. If it will simply sit on a stand and be spun around once in a while, then any of the above mentioned solutions will work, including the Hyper system and if you love it, then go ahead and dive in! Good luck and i realize it is hard to make the decision on what to do when you are new to this hobby.



@Dottore

I just read the link you suggested and I think I'll follow the advice :) It would be a shame to shell out the hundreds of dollars buying a hyperdyne blade if I just wreck it cobbling together a saber with no experience :P

I think I'll choose one of the small sabers I designed above.

Excellent idea! Once you have a little perspective, the decision will be easy.:mrgreen:

[Skrunks]

To be honest, I would like a bright and durable blade. I hear the Hyperblades are on the fragile side, and they're blade heavy, but I can't get over how bright they are. It could be just because I'm new to this whole thing, but the brightness of every compairson video seems to be in favor of the Hyperblade. Plus, that extension/retraction effect is just pure awesome.

However, if someone has a Luxeon alternative that's just as bright/almost as bright, I'd be more then willing to hear it. I basically want the closest to the movie as I can get.

[cannibal869]

Might I suggest you search "makototsai" and see some of his latest creations?

I'm fairly sure that the LEDs that he uses will completely blow away any hyperdyne blades for brightness and as far as I can tell, he's generally held in higher regard, not only for his generous sharing of knowledge, but also for his business practices.

But are there single LEDs that are just as bright? Perhaps, but they will require more extensive planning and work due to the power and cooling requirements. Now in a hilt that long, size won't be as much of an issue, so indeed, it is possible, but for a noob, it will take a lot of work and experimentation. Exactly how bright do you need the blade to be? Have you actually seen a hyperdyne in person or some of the other sabers in person for that matter? Or are you just going based upon the pics and youtube videos? I can tell you that pics of the blades tend to exaggerate the actual brightness of these things.

But seriously, search for some of Makototsai's recent videos. I guarantee your jaw will drop.

-C

edit: Here I did part of the work for you - you want to look for his V3 stuff...
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=8795
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=9063&highlight=makoto

[Skrunks]

I actually did look up the Makototsai blades, and right now, I'm wondering where I can get my paws on one! Heh.

Honestly, I'm going to work my way up. I'm going to go with the noobie turtorial and build a very simple saber, and slowly work my way up, collecting tools and experience and such. But I love the brightness of both the Makototsai and Hyperblades, and having electronics outside the hilt frees up from for more battery space :P. I want mine to last long, so when I put the effort into making the better sabers later on, I'm gonna stuff them with as many batteries as I can. Assuming that I can just add more batteries, since you know, I'm a noob, so I don't know if I can actually do that, lol.

Anyway, yeah, Makototsai = awesome. Where can I find em?

[Firedrops]

yeah, go for Makototsai's blades instead, just as bright as hyperdyne's, has scrolling effects, and WAAAAY more duelable.(without getting damaged, of course)(cheaper too)
if you want a super powerful single LED you might wanna get a UltraSound, and overdrive some LED with it(i'm not too familiar with those LEDs)

[Skrunks]

Anybody know where I'd be able to get a Makoto Tsai blade?

[Jedi-Loreen]

Perhaps from the man himself? ;)

[Paar Ad]

Well look at it this way. At least, he can get all of the electronics he wants in there. ;)

[FenderBender]

Compensating?






;)

[djobitwan7]

I heard there was some 10W & 15W LED's now and those looked bright to me. I've never seen it in person. I only have a MR Mace (stock) and a Lux V Luke: ANH by Master Yoda on FX-sabers. I built a simple Lux III (Green) from here and that lit up quite good too. From what I know, it all depends on what electronics you put in and install it the correct way. Personally, I'd prefer to have all the goodies inside the hilt for my Mace LED's are starting to wink out. I must convert that soon as well.

[Skrunks]

I've revised my battle plan so to speak. For now, I'm just gonna build a regular ol saber or two, work up the experience, then move on to a saber with a 10 Watt LED, in preparation for next years costumes. And for the saber I originally posted in here, I'm going to wait a while and just custom build it out of a vacuum tube or something somewhere down the road :P

[Jonitus]

I can testify to the brightness and durability of the Makatotsai blades and the nice sounds from his sound card. I got a red blade and sound card for a hilt that is a mod of the Starkillers I built recently.

Ordering from Makototsai was very easy and the price was good for what you get. I had it three weeks after ordering. No problems. Only caveat is the voltage requirements - 4.5V MAX. I have to be creative with parallel wiring my battery solution (Li-Ion) to not over-volt the electronics.

I couldn't tell you how Mako's system compares to a Hyperdyne. I've never owned a Hyperblade. I do know the Makototsai is very bright. I say it is on par with the base of a Lux III Red/Orange...the entire length of the blade. Not "daylight bright", but it illuminates a dark room very efficiently.

[Skrunks]

I own a pair of Lux III red/oranges, and while they're bright, I want BRIGHTER!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

>.>

<.<




So I saw someone mention the idea of a nuclear powered saber on a different thread somewhere. Anyone know how that's workin out as a power source? :D

[draftnbyu]

i just orded a complete hyperblade system with sound board. after that, will be a makoto and then,,,,,,,,,the CF based saber. i dont get why everybody talks about price with hyperblades. if you want, get it. ive seen sabers on ebay go for $1200 and above ( they have CF in them ). For that amount of money i could build me 3 CF sabers.

[Jedi-Loreen]

But would they be custom machined sabers from well know sabersmiths?

No.

[Darth Abominor]

The deamon is in the details, hence paying ungodly coin for little things that make your saber yours, and yours alone. I am not one to blast out $1500 on a 'toy', but if I won the Lottery tomorrow I know for a FACT that one of the personal gifts I would give myself would be a $3000-$4000 lightsaber that rocked the hell out of most of those out there. :mrgreen:

A CF with personalized sound fonts, super powerful LED and massive power pack, lots of accent LEDs and switch lights, crystal chamber with tons of wacky details, the works. *sigh, one can dream*