Need help with blueprinting your saber designs?

[xwingband]

To all those out there that want to get a hilt made by a machinist or a place like www.randomsabers.com or just want to get a nice blueprint made I can help out.

I'm an architecture major and have AutoCAD 2006. I can CAD you up your design. I'll do it for a minimal fee. Even $5 means a meal to me and in my off time I can spare an hour to draw up your design. All I'd need is a sketch and an overall length. If you're interested send me an e-mail or catch me on IM.

[Jedi Ranger]

Hmmm.....sounds interesting. I will keep this in mind. In the meantime, do you have any examples of your work?

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http://www.members.shaw.ca/Dahak/

[xwingband]

Sure, I have some but not much. This is the CAD blueprint of the saber I just posted in the picture thread.



It was a friend's design to start with but he was having trouble getting any interest in it to start with so I changed the design to that.

I guess I can show some CAD drwings of houses but otherwise I don't have any other saber designs although I assure you I can do them. Sabers are easy compared to drawing sections of walls with all the right beamwork...

EDIT:
When we were trying to get 10 to go for the run of the stunt saber above some still wanted a slightly different design and I made another slight modification just in case we really needed those people on the edge. Here it is: (this took 5 minutes more to make from the above)

[Mi Gin Gonn]

this gets me to thinking xwingband...i've always wanted a nice ROTJ-style hilt but didn't wanna fork out a couple hundred bucks for a MR or a Parks Arc Wave. i know there are blueprints of it online, but i'd probably wanna modify a few things.

once a CAD is made, what is the machining cost (ballpark figure)? Strydur, you're the guy with the lathe & stuff, got any info on this? rough estimate of course, i know prices for custom stuff vary greatly.

also, how hard would it be to have a ROTJ-type hilt made for converting into a LED saber? i don't wanna mess with the FX ROTJ, it has that hideous ugly big neck on it & is oversized all around anyway. should i have a piece of aluminum custom machined, or just buy a Parks Arc Wave & gut it? questions, questions, sorry...[:I]

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

[Strydur]

You need to remember that if you want a LED saber wit a 1" blade you have no choice but to have a big emitter end on it. I wont make sabers that look too close to replicas...dont feel like getting sued.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop

[xwingband]

Well, I have a non-CAD drawing I've accumulated in my searching of a Luke RotJ saber. I could CAD it up. CAD is great because you could send it straight to a CNC machine. As for the neck that's really unavoidable. I've got an idea though if anyone wants to hear it.

For ballpark figures, randomsabers does stunts for $50-75 and LED/EL ready sabers for $75-125 at the simplest design, but again Styrdur is right they won't touch screen designs for fear of getting sued.

If you got a local machinist to do it it would probably be similar. Raw stock of solid aluminum is $30 @1.25 diameter and $40 @ 1.5. Then their hourly rate is usually $30. So if your design is tough and takes a while it will cost more. There is a huge learning curve to operating those machines so don't complain about the cost either.[V]

[journeyman171]

Hey,

Do you have a number i can call you at? I have a bunch of questions but i don't want have to type them all out when it would take like two seconds to ask you.

Tim

[xwingband]

Sure, I'm not about to put my number up here though. E-mail me or IM me for my number. I'll be around my computer most of tonight so I should be able to get back to you rather fast.

EDIT: Nevermind I'll just use the e-mail button to give it to you.

[Mi Gin Gonn]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Strydur

You need to remember that if you want a LED saber wit a 1" blade you have no choice but to have a big emitter end on it. I wont make sabers that look too close to replicas...dont feel like getting sued.

Tim
The Custom Saber Shop
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Oops, I should have specified it didn't have to be a 1" blade. In fact, I was thinking more along like how that guy DrumShenanigans on the other board uses just raw nylon for a blade. Since that's what I use as a diffuser anyway & my polyc blades aren't sanded, it would look the same.

The reason I mentioned the Arc Wave is 'cause I love that hilt, it's got everything I like about the ROTJ saber & lacks everything i don't (that bronze/gold piece, yuck, I honestly thought it was a goof from MR when they put it out until I looked closer at my old VHS copy of ROTJ I grew up watching). Obviously Jeff's been making them for some time without any trouble from Lucasfilm. To call it an "original" creation is stretching the limitations of that word a bit, though. I'm no lawyer, but if you change the dimensions slightly I'm pretty sure you can get away with copying designs.

But I was wondering if any collectors here owned an Arc Wave, & if so how difficult you'd think it'd be to convert to LED. Strydur, you got one? C'mon man, fess up...[8D]

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

[xwingband]

Is the EL to LED conversion even possible? The reason MR to Luxeon conversion works is because the basic electronics are the same. You'd have to gut the Arc-wave completely (if it's even possible). Honestly at $275 you'd be better off getting a true to specs Luke RotJ milled out.

Since you seem intent on this idea I'll throw my idea to get the LED blade secure. The arc-wave gets away without extra securing because it's EL with the monoplug extending further in and the little screw they added. I got this idea from looking at my old Hasbro Qui-Gon saber. It was a part inside the blade meant to keep all the different pieces lined up.



Imagine a part made like that out of clear acrylic. The ID of that would match the OD of the blade. It would screw into the emitter and the extension up would offer some stability to the blade. Any thoughts? That was a quick paint job but I could CAD it up showing how it would go on the saber emitter.