Hello saber building community, I think its about time I stopped lurking and finally posted some content.
Ok so I've wanted to build something along the lines of a Graflex, but I didn't want to have it look so cumbersome that a Graflex does. I wanted something more of a streamlined saber that would be comfortable for dueling, but would also look great on my shelf for display. after going through many designs and researching into what I envisioned I stumbled upon Madcow's Nuevo Graflex. Needless to say I was in love at first sight with it, as I am with much of his work. The overall design was pretty complicated and wasn't really suited for dueling, with the separate rotating body, but the outward appearance was something I really wanted to mimic.
I really liked the milled grip slots, the crystal chamber (also another thing I have wanted to do for a while), and the forward placement of the activation switch. These ideas became the mainstays for my saber design.
After a bit of fiddling with the TCSS MHS builder I came up with a design that I thought would suit my needs well.
The Blade-holder style 20 was exactly what i was looking for. I quickly realized that some modification was necessary if I was going to put a box about where the 2 inch extension was. The new style heat-sink was definitely going to have to be cut down or routed out to fit my planned illuminated AV switch in. (Unless the switch fits nicely into the box with little sticking into the hilt. I'm planning on using the shorter Illuminated AV switches and a Box style 4.) The smaller switch that im planning on using for an AUX switch is a small tactile switch, so it should be able to fit into the extension around the heat-sink nicely.
I knew that if I wanted to have the activation box so far forward I would probably have to drill and tap into threads of the MHS parts so once everything was in the front, it stood a chance to be stuck there from damaged threads, unless I was careful drilling.
The front had been designed and engineered pretty definitively so i moved onto the crystal chamber. I truly love SlothFurnace's chambers and radiator plates, so I decided to use this build to test out my schools new metal shop (I'm still in college so I don't have many tools of my own.). I created a few designs of a crystal chamber that looked nice but was also strong and capable of dueling, so I decided on making the chamber as the anchor for the chassis, made from the TCSS parts, that would house the LiIon setup along with the speaker, PC-L, and the in-hilt recharge port. Taking another cue from Madcow i wanted to make a chassis that locked into the hilt securely, but was easily accessible by the removal of the 5-inch extension and pommel.
The only problem I could think of as to why this wouldn't work, other than my developing skills in cram-fu, was that the TCSS chassis disks made for the ID of regular pieces might not fit once I place the grips through the milled slots of the 5-inch extension. I'm worried that the rubber of the grips will reduce the ID of the extension and the disks won't fit.
So I really only have a few questions after all that.
1) How far into a piece does the "new Style" heat-sink protrude? and how much would I have to alter it to be able to accommodate an AV switch?
2) How much of the switch does Activation Box 4 take up on the smaller illuminated AV switches? and if it takes up a bunch do you think if I would have to modify the heat-sink?
3) How will putting Graflex-style grips through the milled slots affect the ID of the extension? And will it be enough to make the Chassis disk style 2 not fit properly in the extension?
Thanks for any answers in advance. Also any constructive criticism and build innovations, ideas, or links to sabers relative to what I'm trying to do here are greatly appreciated.
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