Narada - Custom CF saber by Vader's Vault
Hello Saberland!
The Powah™ is back at the Vault and we are thrilled that we are finally able to show off this beauty!
Senzan is the oldest person on our build log, and we are grateful to have such a patient and understanding customer as he. His saber has been through several design changes and soundcard changes etc, that when the final design choice was settled on, we were excited to get started. Like most of my Sabersmith brethren, we get lots and lots.....and lots, of design requests that utilize some of the plethora of talent at Deviantart. Unfortunately, as beautiful as some of the renders/drawings/sketches are over there, most of them are just un-buildable as they are drawn. It seems there is a disconnect with what most people expect out of a real prop from what is drawn in pretty pixels. No matter, if it is possible (and we like the design), we often relish the challenge!
The render that Senzan sent us was one that we had seen cross our email screen perhaps a dozen or more times in the last year. It is one that probably everyone here has seen as well. To be honest, while I like the front half of the design render, the back half of the saber left a lot to be desired IMO. It seemed unbalanced with the front half of the saber. Almost as if the artist had the spark of inspiration for the emitter end and just kind of rushed the rest of it to complete it. Good thing for me and my own creative needs, Senzan only really cared about the front half
The original render - Dual Pulse:
The design render, like most of them, only included one perspective, so it didn't give me a lot to work with in the way of the other views of the saber. This is where form follows function, VV style. I was perplexed at first on how I was going to attach the offset emitter shroud without ugly visible screws. Then it hit me upon closer examination of the render. The artist had provided the answer within his drawing, probably unwittingly. The body shroud in the render shows a groove going lengthwise to the body and bisecting the LED/switch area. I have done this same design cue many times and I love it, but this is the first time it actually serves a function. The emitter shroud is cut slightly past the diameter of the blank piece so that the edges "grab" into the grooves and hold the piece in place. To keep the emitter shroud from rocking itself free I placed two socked cap screws fore and aft under the shroud to keep it from rocking back and forth. This resulted in a seamless attachment of the shroud that allowed me the aesthetics I wanted without sacrificing security. It's quite rigid and though it can be "pulled" off, it is in no way loose and can't be shaken off.
I finished off the back half of the grip by mimicking the profile of the side of the body shroud, finishing it off in a "tail" accented by 4 x 4-40 cap screws. This is then bordered with a textured rubber grip pad trimmed to fit around the shroud. A nice weighty pommel neatly balances the look and feel of the saber. For bling, I again used the render for guidance and place the 4 accent LEDs in the location they are shown in the drawing, using a red, green, blue, and purple 3mm accent LEDs flushmount under the body shroud. An Amber AV switch is mounted in the place of the 'blue' greeblie on the drawing. The recharge port and aux switch are located opposite of the AV switch.
Quick Specs:
Custom machined hilt inspired by the "Dual Pulse" render
Handcut aluminum overlays with offset attached emitter shroud
Amber AV switch flushmounted
4 accent LEDs
Textured rubber grip pad contoured to the body shroud
LEDengin 10W RGGB mixed for Bin 1 Cyan with orangish/white FoC
Crystal Focus 4.3 on custom chassis with swivel speaker mount for easy SD access
Pics:
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbdPmUCuzCk
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