I have had in my possession for several years now, a saber that was sent to me for an upgrade from an old friend at FX-Sabers. Shortly after receiving this saber and another that is in bad shape, I lost contact with him and haven't heard from him since. This was several years ago, so long I don't recall when it was. With the extra time off from work due to the viral pandemic, I decided to get it out and actually get it working again.
The first thing was to find a place for a new switch...this saber previously run a Master Replicas/Hasbro Force FX sound board and as such, required a latching switch to operate. It was previously fit with a simple slide switch on what I'd usually consider the "bottom" of the saber. (You'll see that later). Since my plan was to install a simple board with better sound, i.e. an old used Crystal Shard 1.0, I had to come up with a new switch location and decided that the 8-32 screw that was holding the shroud in place would be a good spot for it:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/51kzeR.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/Fzbz0K.jpg
I had previously went through my parts bin and found a chrome 16mm yellow ring switch and intended to use it, but as usual with building sabers, the plan changed.
I decided the next step was to wire up the led....this one uses a different and kinda weird color combination....it's a Cree XPE2 GREEN-AMBER-WHITE. My intention was to make yellow blades when I ordered these leds' but when I received them, instead of the Red-Green -White's I had ordered, I got these. Rather than send them back I held onto them with the intention of using them in something, and this saber seemed to fit.
I had one small issue with fitting the led into the led housing....it was designed for a Luxeon III red led and lens, so there weren't enough threads for the lens to fit properly:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/kvFtC1.jpg
Because the triple led's we use today have a shorter lens height, it would have been too easily knocked off the led star. To fill the gap between the lens and the lip on the outer housing, I used an old trick I learned from LDM and cut a small piece off from a piece of thin-walled blade stock I had on hand and split it to form a C-Clip:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/4xXvSd.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...921/SjAyhm.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/f0ZNcv.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/M5ixdb.jpg
With that taken care of, I moved on to setting up the battery and sound board . This saber is a little nicer than my ATS sabers, so I opted to use some MHS chassis discs to hold everything in place. Once the battery chassis was assembled, I wired up the board:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/CAOsk4.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/Yonby5.jpg
The recharge port for this one is in the pommel where it was originally.
The pommel was machined to hold a speaker so I did the same thing that was done before....I don't like using hot glue if I can avoid it, but there was no other way to secure the speaker.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/Dhx5Sw.jpg
I used a new TCSS premium style speaker for this since the CSv1 doesn't have a higher power audio amp like later versions.
The electronics ready for install:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/AqUjQL.jpg
The switch nut pre-installed over the wires:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/RSR48G.jpg
You can also see the resistors for the blade led.
A close-up of the wiring on the CSv1:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/VaGZ3C.jpg
This board looks like it has a pad for an accent led, but it's not....just another ground pad on the board, so I used it for the switch led and sent the positive for that to the board positive so the switch lights up when the kill key is removed.
After having it assembled once, I realized the blade led colors didn't come anywhere near to making a shade of yellow as I had hoped for, but rather a bright shade of lime green, so instead of changing the resistors and trying different combinations (I don't have the pots for doing old school style color mixing anymore) I decided to change the switch to a green ring style I had in a parts bin. It's a 12v led, so it won't be all that bright, but it works.
Wiring for the original yellow ring switch:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/UDioTk.jpg
I left the wires for this and the blade led somewhat longer than necessary to allow for the chassis to be slid out for SD card access.
The finished saber:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/OxBCdI.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/tVg5if.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/G3sjAL.jpg
The green ring switch:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/U3Sdz0.jpg
This one actually has a better finish to compliment the saber's overall used and dull look anyway.
The custom kill key that came with the saber:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/P8OUTB.jpg
It may not match the blade color anymore, but I don't have the heart to try and change it, since it's survived with the saber this long.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...921/yeMTyM.jpg
Covertec knob placement...I noticed after assembling the saber that it is clocked off center from the switch hole I drilled...should've had it installed on the hilt when I drilled that hole. It also may have been that way all along, I don't know. :angel:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/gvSQO0.jpg
This is the location for the original slide switch...now it allows for sound to vent and for viewing the switch wires.... :rolleyes:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/a6Tgiu.jpg
The saber originally was assembled with all stainless screws, I swapped out the emitter screws with brass ones.
Powered up:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/KeIcax.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/e19kSD.jpg
That shade of green doesn't look too bad against the patina'd brass.
It's actually pretty bright:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/nK2Q4M.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...921/YVHtWB.jpg
It's shown here with one of my older clear blades. I popped a new one made for another saber on after these were taken and it was more evenly lit than these pictures show.
SDcard access for the CSv1:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/QydPQO.jpg
Remove this screw to slide the pommel out.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/X34Gj1.jpg
The chassis slides out just far enough to reach the end of the hilt.
Actually removing the card may require needle nose pliers or a good set of tweezers:
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/2TN3gf.jpg
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GnzHBwCniY
