G.O.T.H. 1st Saber - Red Shadow (starting)

[Starwinder]

Aw man, this is lookin great! The colors on that activation box are sick!

[Johannes Huber]

Hi!,

Looks fantastic! I've been looking forward to seeing this ever since you put up the design.

Johannes

[Kevin Starwaster]

Interesting chassis tube. Didn't really think of using an oversized tube cut like that to fit into the ribbed section.

Currently I'm reworking mine. My saber is totally non-functional ATM because I wasn't happy at all with my chassis work and I ended up breaking most of the wiring working on it. (note to self, screw on the blade holder LAST to avoid twisting the LED wiring to death) Only recently started up on it again and the only PVC pipe I could find to fit into the extension is slightly too small (about 1" OD) so I was going to use that but with a ring of shrink wrap as a shim so that it would be more snug.

[Darth Ryo]

Thanks a lot for the kind comments guys

@Johannes:
that bezel idea with the switch really saved me a lot of pain! It couldn't fit without it, so thanks again

@Kevin:
This PVC chassis is really a first try after seeing that the paper tube was too week and ugly, so i really did this one by guessing, cuting again and again untill it was entering fine in the ribbed section. I could actually build another one, better looking now that I know exactly how to shape it.

FYI, here is what I've used "1-1/4" x 12" Slip Joint Tail Piece One End", they came from your own Home Depot so you shouldn't have any issue finding them
So I had to sand the tube in order to fit into the main section, indeed the OD of this tube is slightly larger the standard MHS, but after a bit of sanding, it fits perfectly.
Then it is pretty easy to cut, and with proper measure, you can have one chassis fiting both standard MHS and 1.15"OD ribbed extension.
Another nice point is that the bass speaker fits well into that tube, a bit of hot glue and thus a holder isn't needed.
Hope it helps

[Silver Serpent]

I'm loving the work-in-progress photos. Keep it up! This is gonna be a lovely saber when it's finished.

[Kevin Starwaster]

Thanks a lot for the kind comments guys
@Kevin:
This PVC chassis is really a first try after seeing that the paper tube was too week and ugly, so i really did this one by guessing, cuting again and again untill it was entering fine in the ribbed section. I could actually build another one, better looking now that I know exactly how to shape it.

FYI, here is what I've used "1-1/4" x 12" Slip Joint Tail Piece One End", they came from your own Home Depot so you shouldn't have any issue finding them
So I had to sand the tube in order to fit into the main section, indeed the OD of this tube is slightly larger the standard MHS, but after a bit of sanding, it fits perfectly.
Then it is pretty easy to cut, and with proper measure, you can have one chassis fiting both standard MHS and 1.15"OD ribbed extension.
Another nice point is that the bass speaker fits well into that tube, a bit of hot glue and thus a holder isn't needed.
Hope it helps

I was actually still toying with the idea of using a thick walled cardboard tube as I have one that is the perfect size but I did have some concerns about long term durability as the ends frayed a bit from the act of inserting and then removing the tube from the hilt a single time. Plus paper is too good a heat insulator and it just didn't seem like a good choice when I had PVC available.

[Darth Ryo]

I've yet to try chassis disk, but so far I'm a big fan of PVC chassis.
It's really fun to build one (as fun as I'm gonna build another one for this saber, in order tro try another configuration with those new smaller speaker that could fit into the ribbed extension)

Anyway, just received my Blade Plugs from Darkside Engineering and couldn't resist to post a pic (those are really amazingly good looking :P)

[Darth Ryo]

Hey all,
Been a while I didn’t update this one, been busy (and it was pretty cold in my attic… now days are better to enjoy working there again hehe).

So, while waiting for Igniter R4 board and other components to arrive, it was time to make a first attempt at the shroud..
Here is what I’ve done eventually:



Still need proper polishing (I’ve yet to learn that) and painting, and there are a few little mistakes to “correct”, but overall I’m quite pleased with the results for a first try.
The shroud is actually “extendable”. I can indeed adjust each side position with thumb screws at the bottom.
I actually thought of something retracted when carrying the weapon, and that would “extend” in time of combat (like being in a more aggressive stance).

Overall it looks like that:


And now a few more pics for those who like them (that iPhone5 quality, sorry, didn’t take time to make better pics):



Retracted

Extended


I have more sleeve material at my disposal for other attempts, but I’ll stick with this one for now, happy with it.

I’m still in progress of totally reworking the chassis, which is going to be far better than the first one. However I still need to order those 20mm speaker. More to come “soonish” then

[joshm74]

Dude, sick sick sick shroud work! I love it! That thing looks mean

[Starwinder]

Lookin awesome so far Ryô! Really like the idea of an extending/retracting shroud. Great work and looking forward to seeing this completed!