Contempt - an MHS saber. (PIC HEAVY)

One of my first memories in the saber building community was stumbling on to Rob (madcow) Petkau's YouTube channel. I sat an watched almost every single one of his videos and I was absolutely amazed at the creations he produced. While I most certainly would never be able to afford commissioning a one-off saber from him, seeing his work inspired me to build my own sabers.

My favorite saber design that Rob came up with is his Krayt Rogue design. It's simple, tool-like, and looks like something a grayer Jedi would use. I'm a couple builds/installs into this hobby now, so I wanted to try to make something similar. The saber I came up with is obviously inspired by the Krayt Rogue (as well as his Nord Steel designs). My chassis building can use some work, but I took design cues from Rob's tutorial on using the TCSS chassis discs. Since I've completed this saber, I've started using 3-D printed chassis, but that's what this hobby is about - continuously trying new things to create a higher quality product.

I just want to thank Rob for the inspiration and for everything he's done for the saber building community.

Also, I have no idea how Rob does his "high-on-the-hilt" switches. I'm sure it's more elegant than the method that I came up with, but mine definitely got the job done and I intend to use the same method again.

So here it is: Contempt.

Specs:
- MHS parts modified by me. The powder coating was done by TCSS, but I did the extra machining and the finishing on the uncoated parts.
- CFv9 with CEx.
- RRGrB Quad Cree. (Reds wired in series for that extra punch on reds, oranges, and yellows)
- 7.4v 18500 battery pack.
- SE 28mm base speaker.
- Custom chassis made with TCSS parts.
- HM-13 Bluetooth chip for R.I.C.E. Thanks to shtokyd for the tutorial (http://therebelarmory.com/thread/869...r-sound-boards).
- Etching done by me. I actually made the patterns and cut them out of vinyl to mask the part, but I spliced together pieces of Skyrim's textures to do it. Thanks to Goodman's tutorial (https://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=39721.0).

Pics:
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psqracctyk.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6dbndvg4.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...pst1fxl1wp.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...pscflp1g3g.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5ustjqoi.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psezph0qqn.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...pse796lhqy.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5cwcdlqc.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psxl4g1nlx.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...pshnqoihgk.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6lvoxqvr.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psh22yziw7.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psqdptiv9x.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5k8ridwv.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psxopfyiht.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psz4plojez.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7eodqvfc.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psn9qcgubf.jpg
http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psy6irskao.jpg

Nice work.

The way Rob does his switches is something “proprietary” and not overly easy to accomplish, which I do mention in one of the rare videos I did for the Shop where I covered Madcow-esque switches. ;)
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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Forgetful Jedi Knight

Nice work.

The way Rob does his switches is something “proprietary” and not overly easy to accomplish, which I do mention in one of the rare videos I did for the Shop where I covered Madcow-esque switches. ;)
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any chance of a vid link?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Play3er2

any chance of a vid link?

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Just go to the section where the videos are listed here on the forum, it’s in there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Forgetful Jedi Knight

Nice work.

The way Rob does his switches is something “proprietary” and not overly easy to accomplish, which I do mention in one of the rare videos I did for the Shop where I covered Madcow-esque switches. ;)
.

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Yep, I remember when you made that video. The method I came up with to get the switches on the other side of the heat sink is probably less eloquent than whatever he does, but it works. lol

Love your etching....
Awesome saber!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by k6gad

Love your etching....
Awesome saber!

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Thank you! I think the lower grip turned out pretty good. The shroud etching got a little deeper than I was hoping for, though. Lesson learned on that one. Haha

The light and dark contrast, along with the etching look so awesome! Very old republic Sith style!

how do you get your etching so deep/dark and yet still clean? I've tried everything from salt water, vinegar, to almost pure ferric chloride and i can't get a deep etch without destroying my parts. Also what did you use to cut your shroud? It looks like a really detail cut.


Thanks!

The honest answer to your question is: I don't really know. I'm not quite as happy with the etch on the shroud (I left it in too deep), but I was impressed with how well the grip piece turned out. This was the first time I've done any sort of etching, so I'll just tell you what I did.

I basically followed Goodman's Tutorial (https://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=39721.0)

I used MG Chemicals Ferric Chloride Copper Etchant Solution. I got it from Amazon in like a 4L container. Mixed with water in a 2 parts acid to 1 part water solution. I filled pretty large Tupperware container about half-full. I wanted a lot of room for the parts so they don't touch the side.

Rather than use tape like in the tutorial, I cut vinyl stickers to act as my resist. If you have access to a vinyl cutter, this is really the way to go. You can draw up what you want and cut it exactly to size. It worked great for me.

I plugged the end of the grip piece with rubber stoppers. This is what made that part easier. It floated. Basically just put it in the acid solution and kept moving and spinning it with a pair of plastic tongs. I don't remember how long it took, but it was less than 10 minutes. Significantly shorter than the tutorial suggested.

For the shroud, I cut that with a dremel. I was following the Custom Saber Shop tutorial that Rob did and used the paper cutting method to get my pattern onto masking tape, and then just followed the pattern with the dremel. I used files to clean it up. I don't know though, when I look at it, I just see all the imperfections and asymmetry, but I think we're all more critical of our own work and see more of that stuff than others typically do.