Jay-gon Jinn's Chrome Saber 30 (CS-30) Build (U.S. 2.1, illuminated AV switch)

[Jay-gon Jinn]

So, since FX-Sabers is down (again....) I thought I'd post a build topic here for a change!

This saber will be using a customized 5" double threaded female adapter, and a couple of custom powder coated parts done by Tim.

Here's the render:


Here's the parts:

As usual, Tim did a fantastic job on all the custom work, from the grooves on the 5" ext. to the custom powder coat job on the blade holder, the ribbed/choke combo, and the pommel (which was the original from CS-24 that didn't look right with that saber when it was completed.)

This saber will simply use a couple of Trustfire protected Li-Ions to power it.


That's an Ultrasound 2.0....might be a 2.1 though, after having had Zook repair it with PIC and memory chip of another toasted board, though. The switch is red, and the blade led will be a Luxeon III Red/O.



Now that I have the parts here, I'm not too sure I like the blade holder with the choke....looks kind of...off....to me. I may get another one to swap out with that one. Maybe a style 12, or 17. If I use either one, they'll be powder coated to match the saber, and I'll add a chrome shroud to it.

I'm also still working out the design for the sleeve. I'm thinking I'll do a double window on the rear grips, but I'm not sure what I'll do just yet on the other end of. Meditate on this, I will.

[Rafalema]

I love this desing.

It has everything... It has a red LED, a ribbed/choke combo and that bladeholder.

This is your new best build

Is this saber already for someone or..?

(Can the US 2.0/2.1 be powered by 7.2/7.4v Li-Ion with R/O lux III? 'Cause the 2.5 can't..)

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I love this desing.

It has everything... It has a red LED, a ribbed/choke combo and that bladeholder.

This is your new best build

Is this saber already for someone or..?

(Can the US 2.0/2.1 be powered by 7.2/7.4v Li-Ion with R/O lux III? 'Cause the 2.5 can't..)

I may change the blade holder...still not sure about that.

Yes, it's my newest...sitting on the bench as I type this, unfinished.

It is for me....you know I can't discuss sales of anything on these forums.

and yes, the US 2.0/2.1 can handle the extra voltage from a 7.4v pack just fine....it gets warm, but doesn't overheat.

[Rafalema]

Yeah, no sales here.

Just wanted to ask, because it is a nice saber, but I couldn't afford it anyway at the moment..

Do not change the bladeholder.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

The first thing to do on this is cut the chrome tube to the correct length, and angle it:

I set the saw's angle to 31.6 degrees. This worked best for the length of tube I had on hand for this. 45 degrees would have been my first choice, but the tube was too short.

All done:




It will fit on the 5" extension like this:


I need to de burr the edge of the angle cut:

I used a 120 grit sanding drum on the rotary tool for this. I'll hit it with some 400 grit paper by hand to further smooth it out:


Now to mark the tube off for the grip window cut outs:


I had Tim cut the rear grip grooves within a 2 1/2" span on the part, but didn't mention where to start them from on the extension. He started them in the perfect spot, really:

Exactly the width of the tape...5/8" which is also the depth of the threads in the extension.

I want some of the black to show on both ends of the grip, so I'll cut it a bit wider than the 2.5" the grips are spaced in:


I measured the width of the ribs and came up with 5/32". I added that to either end of the window's width, and transferred the measurement:


And taped it off:


I'll add a 1.2" extension that I keep just for this purpose; putting a sinktube sleeve in the vice:

This keeps the tube from being crushed out of shape by the vise.

Now I can start cutting!

I'll use the reinforced cutting wheel on the rotary tool:


I'll do the long side cuts first:


Then I cut the short cuts on the ends, and the cross cuts in the corners:




I rotated it in the vise and did the other side:


Now I needed to remove more material from the corners. I'll use the cutting wheel for that too:



Now I'm ready to round out the corners!

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Yup, double post!

I rounded out the corners of the sleeve:

I use an oscillating (up and down) motion for this to even the wear on the drum...otherwise, I might end up with a cut sanding drum (been there, done that!).

I rounded out the first corner:



Then did the other 7:

With all of the corners rounded out, I'll need to straighten and de-burr all of the cuts. I'll use a hand file for straightening the long edges, because using the rotary tool would be too easy to take off too much material:

When this is finished, I'll go over it again with some 400 and then 800 grit paper by hand to smooth all of the edges so there will be no cut fingers when handling the saber.

Then I'll test fit it on the hilt, and post those pictures after the camera's battery re-charges.....

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I got the sleeve all cleaned up and de-burred and ready to go:



Looks pretty good....now to move on to the CT wheel:

I marked it....then drilled it:


I tapped the hole for 8-32 threads, and installed the wheel:

Done!

Now to drill for the switch hole. I'll start by marking off depth of the threads, and then the center of the hole:


I drilled a couple of holes first before moving up to the required 5/8" bit...I used an 1/8" and then a 3/8" first, then stepped up to the big one:



I de-burred the hole using the rotary tool and sanding drum, and test fit the switch:

It was right about now that I realized I had the hilt turned in the vise just a couple ticks off center, resulting in a "leaning" switch:

Bummer....I hate it when that happens! I put it back in the drill press, and drilled the hole a tick to the other side, and also used the sanding drum on the rotary tool to open it up a bit more. Now it isn't quite so bad:



I guess that'll have to do.

Next, I drilled for the recharge port:

I used a 3/16 bit at first for this, because the depth the battery pack goes in required that the hole be located partially in the chrome sleeve. By drilling a smaller hole first, I was able to center the 5/16" bit and cut into the chrome too. I wasn't thinking ahead quite far enough when I decided to have the grip windows extend beyond the grip grooves like they do. No biggie, it looks okay like this.

Now to make the recharge port mounting clip:

This is a small piece of a 1 1/4" pvc sink tube extension. Not to be confused with 1 1/4" pvc pipe. It is basically a plastic version of the chrome sink drain extensions I use in the Chrome 1 1/4" series sabers I build. I drilled and tapped it for the 5/16-32 threads and screwed in the port. I then cut the tube section directly opposite the recharge port to create a c-clip and test fit it:

This slides into the MHS hilt and when the recharge port hits the hole and pops through, the c-clip snaps into place and prevents the recharge port from being pushed back into the saber when a plug is inserted. It also makes the nut totally unnecessary, and gives the charge port a flush look:

I think I can start on the wiring now!

[Knighthammer]

Keep the pics / walk through coming - looks awesome to me. (and training )

[Jay-gon Jinn]

For the wiring, I'll start with the switch:

I'll use white wires for the switch leads, because I feel like it.... I started by adding the first one to the common tab:


The next wire went on the Normally Open, or NO tab:


For the switch led, I'll use a gray wire for the negative:


The positive will be purple:


I finished it by heat shrinking the connections:


To install it, I fed the wires through the hole:


Slipped the nut over the wires and down into the hilt:


And tightened the nut:


Voila:

The switch is installed! Now to wire up the board!

I'll use one of my soundboard mounts, and thread the wires through the holes in the center of the mount:


Next, I started soldering the wires:




Now's a good time to test it, before I fully assemble it:

I added a pair of protected Li-Ion Trustfires, and it powered up. I then hit the button to activate it, and it worked...until I went to shut it down and remembered one tiny detail...these boards a re picky about the switch that you use, so I added a capacitor (50v, 1uF) to the switch circuit:



Much better! I scrolled through the menu just fine, and set it up for the Luxeon III Red/O led, and all of the other settings, too.

Now I can finish the wiring:

I'll leave the wires for the switch led off for now....

I also used some foam mounting tape to mount the board to the cradle:


Now's a good time to drill for the extra sound vents:

I marked off where the shroud edge is on the extension, and then drilled some holes in between the ribs:

With that done, I went back to wiring the saber up, and assembled the led on the heat sink:

Plugged it into the newly attached QD and started up the saber:


I figured I'd need a resistor for the switch, and just to be safe I used a 220 ohm, 1/4 watt and soldered the connections on the board, putting it in parallel with the main led:

Cool...not bad...it actually matches the color of the blade led very well.

The resistor for the switch is under the board:


Here's the finished wiring on the board:


Now to button it up:


Added the lens assembly:


The blade holder:


and here it is, basically finished:







There's a couple things left to do, and I'll get to that tomorrow. I'll also be taking final pictures and shooting a video, hopefully!

[Rafalema]

What a beauty... The US was mounted so neatly and everything..

This saber is perfect. Perfect I tell you.

Good choice with the LED.