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Thread: Slothfurnace's ANH Obi Reveal

  1. #1

    Default Slothfurnace's ANH Obi Reveal

    It's my "holy grail" saber. Everything leading up to this has been practice to me.



    I plan (hope) to make this one a springloaded chamber reveal.



    I have enough stuff from Russreps to do it, and a couple clamps. I also have a chromed emitter and powdercoated booster, which I might make an AFBB out of.

    A nice bundle of wires, a connector, and....



    A Crystal Focus v5 LS version! Erv was so kind as to allow me to test the LS version, so this will the be the heart and soul of my ANH Obi chamber reveal saber.



    GORGEOUS! I cannot wait to get out in the garage to begin the housing for this. I have to clear a couple things off my plate first, but this one has my juices flowing. It's time to get the drawing paper out and start designing the mechanism, start the search for the right chamber crystals, etc.





    The PC is just there for size reference for the CF-LS.

    I had quite a lot of trouble getting my head wrapped around the chamber lock mechanism for this one. I was trying to make it too much like my ROTJ Luke. Then tonight I just scrapped it for a much more obvious and elegant solution, once I get something that works, I 'll post that.



    I started tonight with boring out the Russreplica's aluminum ANM2 booster piece, and fitting it to a hollow tube that also works as my main can and crystal chamber base.
    It's been so long since I did any saber work, lately I am inspired to get back to it though.

    CordaroyFog: you know, its really mean to set the bar that high.

  2. #2

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    [img width=958 height=768]http://www.slothfurnace.com/images/ANHObiReveal/010.jpg[/img]

    The real problem with this saber, is the fact that I have a LOT less space to work with. The outer contour of the clamp, the booster, the grenade, is a lot smaller than the ROTJ Luke due to all the cuts into the shapes. Designing a chamber reveal lock is proving to be challenging. On the ROTJ Luke, I had support rods running the entire length of the rear section, from the grenade piece to the pommel. The ANH Obi has a design that precludes these support rods. I may remove them from the design altogether.



    However, I think I figured it out once I abandoned the "twist pommel lock" method I developed with the ROTJ Luke, and tried to do something new for this one. My plan is to use the Graflex clamp lever bolt as a pivot, and the natural gap between the bars as a slot for a lever that will have a hook on the front that engages a notch in the grenade, and a nub on the back to press with my thumb.



    Here I am milling out a notch in the "top" of the grenade section. To determine the top, I screw in the brass windvane till it stops, and the notch in that points up. Then I mark the top of the grenade, clamp it in the vise and mill.



    This is the notch where I plan to have the chamber release lever catch on.



    I'll machine my latch that pivots on the clamp lever bolt next, since I have to machine that to fit the notch, so that there's as little slack as possible.



    Here's my release lever. I had a plate of aluminum scrap laying around with just the perfect width, perfect hole already drilled in it for the bolt, and I just had to machine it to fit. I also milled down between the bars and partially into the main housing to allow for the spring that keeps tension on the lever, keeping the chamber locked.



    There is excess material on the thumb nub left, I will machine that down as I get closer to finishing this section. I don't want it to stick out TOO far, but I want to be able to get hold of it. All this will be hidden under the bubble strip.



    This is the tooth that locks into the notch on the grenade section. I will probably get this anodized black, or painted a dark color so it doesn't show up as much. The aluminum crystal mount temp piece is there as a doodle, till I get my brass in to make the final part. I need to shorten it, and narrow the inside opening, and make the curve a bit more prounounced before I am satisfied with this part.

    CordaroyFog: you know, its really mean to set the bar that high.

  3. #3

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    Not that it shows up much at all, really, but it should be a dark grey or black. Here it is all closed under spring pressure, not too noticable. I'll need to do a good weathering pass when I am done machining so it matches my original static Obi Wan hilt.



    This is about as far open as the chamber will go with support rods. Without them, I might get another inch of opening. No crystal chamber yet, that solid aluminum cylinder is there to test the latch functionality, and to let me know how much more support I will need to make things as sturdy as I can. I may not have outer support rods at this point. I am entertaining a new design that might not need them. If that turns out to work well, it will help me with the quick detatch bladed section vs. non bladed section setup I have bouncing around in my head at the moment.



    So a few points here. I needed some way to keep the pommel cube ring from rotating. Not that it would spin freely, but they tend to move over time. So I used a 1/8 endmill to cut a slot down into the inside surface of the ring. This slot engages the raised 6/32 setscrew I use to secure the pommel to the booster. I also took the steel pommel endcap, and cut a larger hole through it, and angled it so as to be sort of a speaker amplifier.



    Tonight, I am machining out my main canister for the battery tray. I have to cut this away so the two 18350 batteries have a spot to sit. This also lets me get down to the other side of the can on the inside to mill out a flat spot and drill and tap for the recharge port, which I will do later.



    Battery tray version 1. Hopefully I won't have to do a version 2, since this is a lot of work on one piece.



    Batteries are heatshrunk still, don't worry, they're not going to ground out against the aluminum. I think I will enlarge my battery tray a bit more. I have another millimeter or two I could shave off the back, as long as it doesn't show a gap through the booster section, it will be fine. I want plenty of room in here for wire, solder, and heatshrink.



    With just enough room for the speaker and MicroSD card. I may machine a delrin speaker enclosure and scoot it back into the screw cap of the pommel a bit more.

    CordaroyFog: you know, its really mean to set the bar that high.

  4. #4

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    My brass for the crystal chamber finally arrived, and here I am cutting a radiused face into it for the crystal mount using my Holdridge Radius cutter mounted on my tool post on the lathe.



    I need a new short cutting tool though, this one is chipped. But it will do for now.



    I also drilled a temporary hole through the middle and concave radiused the inner corner.



    Here I have an assortment of crystals to pick from for the chamber, I think I'll go with the top middle one.



    After an evening of milling, drilling and tapping, I got the three 4-40 support rods evenly spaced, the three LED holes set, and the channels for the wire. I also had to keyhole mill the slots for the crystal.



    I'll probably do a lot more work on this, but I like where it's headed. I'll need holes for wire conduit, possibly some more decoration, but I do love the curved face of the mount.



    Normally, I use flat plates to do my "radiator fins" for these crystal chambers. This time, I wanted to do something a little more challenging. I want to try making domed fins, carrying the curve from the crystal mount all the way through the chamber. To do this, I need to make several of these radiused blanks. It's a process that involves facing off the brass rod, using and endmill to cut my 3/8 internal hole, setting up the radius cutter, getting it in the right spot, making my concave radius, taking the radius cutter off the tool mount, setting up the part off tool, parting off the blank, facing off the back of the blank. Rinse and repeat four times (or more) and then I have to transfer my hole pattern from the crystal mount to the blank. Once I am done with that, I have to flip them all over and cut the convex radius in a process yet to be determined. It's tedious work, but I have a feeling it will pay off. Right now they're quite a bit thicker than I need, but that's to allow for working with them easier. It's really hard to chuck thin things up into my lathe. I'll need to make a radiusing jig to bolt each one to so I can get to it with the radius cutter.

    CordaroyFog: you know, its really mean to set the bar that high.

  5. #5

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    Well, my jig worked finally after a few revisions, and I was able to get inner and outer radius cuts on my fins. These will be pretty thick. I might thin them out afterwards, once I get more of the assembly done.



    These won't go all the way around the chamber in the final build, I'll have a window cut into them so you can see the crystal, much like the other fins I have done. Next up, getting some brass tubing that fits the 4-40 threaded rod, and milling flats so the spacers fit flush into the fins.

    CordaroyFog: you know, its really mean to set the bar that high.

  6. #6

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    Looks great so far.

    http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...0Saber%20Hilts

    From Wikipedia: "Internet Explorer slows down GIFs if the framerate is 20 frames per second or higher and Microsoft reports that Google Chrome and Safari also slow down some GIF animations."

  7. #7

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    OMG!!!!!! You are amazing Sloth, you know that right? Oh and by the way, you're amazing!

    This is just too cool and with a CF-LS to boot!!


    Welcome to saber building. You've taken your first step into a larger world.

    "Don't get the idea that your [lightsaber] is a quick little project to be slapped together." - Luke Skywalker

  8. #8

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    Always an inspiration...

  9. #9

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    Once again truly phenomenal work! I eagerly wait to see what you’ve got planned out for this one.
    Yub Yub Commander.

  10. #10

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    I just love these new radiator fins, can't wait to see the finished chrystal chamber.
    and everything else, I think I don't have to mention that it looks amazing.

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