My new chassis - documented with pics
The last thread I started, about PVC hilts and decorative fluting, got some nice responses, so when I decided to gut the saber and rebuild the insides to be more neat and durable, I decided to document it as well.
I've seen plenty of posts showing sleds/chassis but I hadn't seen a step-by-step so maybe this will be helpful to someone. This was all done with simple tools; a drill, a bench grinder (you could use a file if you don't have a grinder and you're patient), a hacksaw, a sharpie, needle-nose pliers.
I started by finding some fender washers that were the same diameter or bigger then the inside diameter of the 1 1/4" PVC tubing that I used for the grip section of my hilt. Here's a pic of the washers I found, some 6-32 threaded rod bits, and a piece of PVC I'm using to check the fit.
The washers are just a bit too big - this is good because I want them very snug. So, off to the bench grinder. I'm rotating them slowly as I grind to take off material evenly. Goggles, mask, and cut-resistant gloves here, folks... work safe.
Once the washers just slide into the PVC, its time to drill some holes for the chassis rails. I place nuts on the washer and locate them (I did it by eye) where I want the rails to be. Note that the nuts are positioned so that they don't overhang the washers - this is important so they don't stick out and drag against the inside of the PVC. I marked where the holes will be with a sharpie. Stack the washers, drill the holes - this will give you matching holes on both washers.
Use drill bits intended for metal here. If you try to use the ones you had kicking around for making holes in drywall for hanging picture frames or whatever, you'll be at it all day. A drop of oil on the tip of the bit helps too.
Once you have your holes, you can put the chassis together - on each rail you have a nut, the washer, another nut, and then repeat on the other end. Some thread locker (loctite, whatever) will keep the nuts in place.
Some heat-shrink on the threaded tubing might be good for avoiding shorts, but I don't plan to have exposed circuits so I'm not worried.
So that's all great, but then I figured out that there wasn't enough inside space to cram three single AA holders. I know I was being ambitious, but... well, anyway, I decided to make another chassis using the same steps, but long enough to hold a 4xAA battery box. No biggie, I cut longer pieces of 6-32 threaded rod. They are the length of the battery box, plus two times the stack height of the end hardware. Each combo of nut-washer-nut is 1/4", so the rods are the length of the box plus 1/2".
Now its time for some cram-fu. The tolerances for the battery box in the chassis with any sort of holding apparatus (I'm thinking zip-ties) are very tight. Thankfully the inside nuts for the rails grip the box quite snugly, I almost don't need the zip-ties. Here's a shot of the box zip-tied to the rails.
And once I get it attached on all 4 corners, I pop the batteries in and test the fit. I've made the mistake before of only doing test-fitting with the holder, not with batteries, and that caused problems since the batteries can extend past the corners of the box. Looks good:
I've wired up an econo-board with a tip42 transistor and a micro-puck driven Cree LED. Using tight runs of wire, I zip-tie the board to the rails on the back of the battery box. The wave sensor is hot-glued. I made a notch in the washer to pass wires through, for the switch, LED, and speaker. The magnet for the crappy speaker that came in the Hasbro saber nestled nicely in the inside washer opening, so I hot-glued it there.
I put a D-ring on the pommel end of the chassis to help pull it out since the fit is so snug.
That's about it - now the saber guts, aside from the switch and LED, are contained in one unit that is easy to slide in and out for battery changes or repair.
Fun stuff.
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Originally Posted by jgunn
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