My first saber and some questions

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03-24-2017, 09:01 AM
Darth-Liquid

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My first saber and some questions

Hello everyone from Germany!

I am planning to build my first own lightsaber and have been reading, watching Madcow‘s videos and collecting ideas for some months now. I still have some questions I couldn’t find answers for, so I'll just show you my parts and ask them here.

Hilt:
LED Blade Hole Style 12 with Heat Sink V4
MHS Choke Style 2
MHS Ribbed Section
MHS 4 inch Deep fluted double female connector
MPS Pommel Style 4
MPS Clip
MPS Insert Style 7

Electronics:
Prizm Sound Module V4
28 mm Bass Speaker
Li-Ion 18650 Battery
TriCree XP-E2 RrBG with Star thermal pad(s), 18 deg Lens and Lens Holder
Recharge port / 2,1mm Power Jack
16mm AV Short Momentary Switch (Red Ring)
SPST Momentary tactile switch
Resistors: 0.47 Ohms 0.5W (Green and Royal Blue), 1.2 Ohms 3W (Red)
20mA DynaOhm for the AV switch
Wires, Heatshrinks

Chassis:
Stainless 4-40 all thread
½“ OD Spacers
1“ OD Spacers
¾“ OD Spacers
Acryl Discs for the recharge port and the pc/18650 (they are suddenly gone from the store…?)
Stainless Steel 4-40 Hex nuts

Misc:
Battery recharger
Prizm V4 SD Card
34 inch TCSS show blade
Retention Screw: 8-32x3“ black thumb screw (and drilling service)
Machine recessed 16mm AV Switch Hole service
Switch 22 mounting hole service (for the SPST switch)
Drilling service for the recharge port
Powder Coating
Kill Key
Blade Plug
Grease for the threads

The biggest Problem is that I can’t order the Li-Ion batteries since I live in Germany. I have found a few shops where I could order some, but I’m not sure they have the correct protection. Since it‘s my first build, I would like to have that included in the battery already. Is PCB the same as PMC or is it something different?
I have also asked Jqsabers, since they were recommended here before, and they will look into that problem, so no answer on that right now.

Now my design question: Since I’m not sure if the Prizm would fit into the speaker mount v6, I’m going to build a chassis (I saw Madcow’s video with the Nano Biscotte, and the bigger Prizm doesn’t look like it will have enough space).
Again, I‘m not sure about the space available in the deep fluted section. Will it be enough space to fit everything, since a single 18650 battery already takes up about 2.7 inches?

If not, I could also use a MHS Extension v3 with 1.5 inches for more space. I tried to visualize the chassis with the Extension via paint (the speaker holder and the 18650 have the correct lengths), and that seems like it will be just enough, so I don’t think it will work without it… I find it hard to decide without ever having used one of the parts, so I wanted to make sure and ask you guys.

The length of the saber would go up with the extension, but I could compensate that a bit by changing to the ribbed/choke combo, which is about one inch shorter than the separate parts I think. Although I would prefer it without the extension, if it can’t be done that way, so be it. :)

Next is the wiring for the RGrB Tri Cree: Since I am going to mix the colors and use only one 3.7V battery, it should be wired in parallel, right? (I did actually find many answers to this, but I want to make sure I understand it correctly.)

I think that’s it for now, I hope I haven’t forgotten anything.
I’m really excited and look forward to your answers! Thanks!
03-24-2017, 09:37 AM
jbkuma

The Prizm will come with an SD card, so you don't need to order a separate one.
03-24-2017, 04:39 PM
Rampant

I am not sure if this is accurate in your drawings, but just for a reference, the speaker holder, recharge port and 3.7 battery need at least 4.5". And, if you are using the chassis discs, you will use a metal disc at a joining point between two hilt pieces, so I don't think your mock up would work -- you would need more than the 4" deep fluted extension to house your entire chassis. Well, unless you drill out the metal disc...
03-24-2017, 05:22 PM
Generic Jedi

The battery, PRIZM, recharge port, and speaker may not fit in the 4" fluted extension, but if you put the battery in the ribbed extension, everything else should fit in the 4" fluted extension.
03-24-2017, 05:59 PM
Rampant

Quote:

Originally Posted by Generic Jedi

The battery, PRIZM, recharge port, and speaker may not fit in the 4" fluted extension, but if you put the battery in the ribbed extension, everything else should fit in the 4" fluted extension.

I think that would depend on the switch location. Given his mock-up, it seems like that might crowd the battery inside the ribbed section. But if he moved the switch to the fluted section, that should work.
03-25-2017, 06:51 AM
Darth-Liquid

I didn't see that the prizm comes with an SD card, so that can be removed from the list, thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rampant

I am not sure if this is accurate in your drawings, but just for a reference, the speaker holder, recharge port and 3.7 battery need at least 4.5". And, if you are using the chassis discs, you will use a metal disc at a joining point between two hilt pieces, so I don't think your mock up would work -- you would need more than the 4" deep fluted extension to house your entire chassis. Well, unless you drill out the metal disc...

Regarding the drawing, you are right. Neither the height of all parts, nor the length of the chassis discs and the prizm are measured out. I only took the correct lengths of the speaker holder and the battery to see where I would end up, since they decide the overall length.

I didn’t think of the chassis disc to hold the chassis in place, if I would use the extension v3 behind the deep fluted connector, I could only pull it out about 1 inch, correct? Then, how about putting the extension v3 between the pommel and the deep fluted section? That way I could secure the chassis between the deep fluted and ribbed sections, and would have enough space to remove it. Or I use the disc between the extension and the pommel (with speaker mount v4 instead of 5), like Madcow did it in his video (basic saber with sound style 2).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Generic Jedi

The battery, PRIZM, recharge port, and speaker may not fit in the 4" fluted extension, but if you put the battery in the ribbed extension, everything else should fit in the 4" fluted extension.

I also didn’t think about putting the battery into the ribbed section and the switch in the fluted section, sounds like a good idea. But it seems like I would have to replace the 16mm AV switch for another small momentary switch. When putting the switch in the fluted extension, as Rampant suggested, the space between the recharge port and the 16mm switch in the MHS builder looks really small for the prizm to fit between them…
And I would have to build another chassis for the battery inside the ribbed extension, which would greatly decrease the available space for wires, and the resistors. Not a big issue, but another thing I would have to consider.

All in all, if my suggestions further up won’t work too, I think I would change the deep fluted section with something larger, like a 5“ fluted section. Since it’s my first build and already not that simple, I wouldn’t want it to get more complicated. But still, it is something to consider for the future!

Thank you for your answers!