Obligatory noob parts questions

[Jedi-Elf]

Hey all, hope this is in the right spot. I have my MHS hilt and I know basically what I want out of the finished saber, but I thought I should ask what parts and electronics you would recommend for the desired effects. Also if there should be enough room to fit everything into the hilt for what I want it to do. The hilt is just over 12 inches long if that helps.

What I want is a sturdy blade that will hold up for fairly realistic and intense dueling, good loud sounds that are as accurate to the movie sounds as possible with sensors for motion and clash, and a bright, evenly lit blade (I will definitely be going with an LED of some kind). I would also like to have the blade retention screw be as inconspicuous as possible, possibly recessed slightly. What would you guys recommend?

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

You will want a 1" outside diameter 1/8" thickwall battle blade for intense dueling - they are stronger under 'extreme' dueling abuse than the 1" o.d. thinwall show blades.

You do not indicate a colour preference but by your name I assume you want a Light Side coloured LEd so would recommend either a green P4 or Luxeon rebel LEDs...human vision generally perceives green as 'brighter' than other colours for most people and the green p4 and rebels are very visually bright when properly driven.

It is certainly possible for the blade retention screw to be recessed in order to be less conspicuous...for that you will want to use an internal set-screw instead of an external thumbscrew. You can drill and tap its hole into the bladeholder yourself or have Strydur do it for a small fee as a service. I recommend an 8 32 drilled and tapped blade retention hole but where would depend on your bladeholder design...some allow blade retention setscrews to be hidden under o-rings but others do not.

Good custom soundboards are a bottleneck in the hobby right now so your best chance for good loud sounds atm is to use a MR/Hasbro FX soundboard cannibalized from a broken MR/HFX saber. They will drive the green P4 or rebel well. FYI those boards are not available in the TCSS store but are frequently available on evilbay or at FX sabers.com. There WILL be a TCSS soundboard forthcoming in the future which we expect will be superior to FX sound so another option would be to build a 'stunt' saber or use a Hasbro 'economy' [toy] soundboard now and upgrade to superior TCSS sound later when available...your choice. If you DO go with a FX or toy soundboard replacing the speaker with the TCSS premium speaker willl definitely improve the sound volume.

Good Luck with your build.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

To Onli-won you listen....good advice he has given you.

[Jedi-Elf]

Thanks for the advice Onli-Won. Yes, I do intend to use light-side blade colors and green is my main preference, although I am thinking about also having a blue blade as well. I have read that using a white LED with colored filters will not give as bright or true of a color so I am thinking about going with interchangeable LED's. Is that something which is very hard to do? Chances are that I will be trying to find someone to help with or just do the electronics work for me since I have ZERO experience or knowledge of such things and no access to the proper tools, but I want to know that I will at least be able to switch out the LEDs myself without frying anything (or myself).
You also mentioned that the style of blade holder/emitter I have makes a difference in regard to the blade retention screw. I have the MHS # 16 style emitter (the one that looks like Obi-Wan's from Episode III).

[Tahm]

TCSS offers a few different options for quick connectors (the most basic should be fine) If you get a few of those you should be able to unscrew the BH, disconnect one led/heatsink combo, and swap it out for another of a different color with little effort.

As for where to put the retention screw I would place it on the bottom side of the blade holder (IMHO that would be the most conspicuous place for it) if you want Tim to provide that service for you he will need the BH, Heat sink, aswell as the piece that the BH will attach to. Otherwise it may end up in the wrong place.

[TimeRender]

I'm not exactly sure exactly where Tahm means when he says the bottom of the blade holder, but blade retention screws work better when they are placed closer to the top. I would put it on the section between the flared rim and the grooved choke.

[Tahm]

Here's what I mean.



So if the saber is laying down length wise (kind of like this picture), the side with the switch is on top. I would put the screw on the bottom side of the saber. (Because it probably wouldn't be seen as much.)

But TimeRender is right you would want the screw towards the "front" (right side of the picture)of the blade holder not the back (left side). The bigger diameter will allow for more threads.

...I hope that clears up what I meant.

[TimeRender]

Actually it works better for most blade holders regardless of the OD. It allows the screw to better leverage the blade against the inside of the holder. The exceptions to that rule MAY BE blade holders #12 and #17, on which you want to put your screw as close to the top as possible but before the beginning of the diagonal cut. Don't quote me on that though, as I have never actually used either of those holders yet. Better to ask a member who has.

[Jedi-Elf]

Thanks guys. I think I see what you mean about the position of the screw. That should work just fine.