Attachment 9118Here are the early stages of my latest saber. I've been toying with using bamboo for a while. After several attempts to make a one-piece hilt/blade holder and watching it split with vigorous swinging, I came up with this. I wanted something that I could slide apart to access the SD card and recharge port. It has an inner sheath of bamboo with a copper shroud that also houses the blade holder. The bands of copper at the back hold everything nice and tight and keep the bamboo from sliding all the way out. It's easy to slide open and closed and locks tight at either position. I'll probably add a set screw just in case.
For the chassis, I'm using a 1 1/4" sink tube blade holder. I had an older version heat sink lying around, the aluminum ones. I turned it backward and the two 4-40 screw holes that were meant to hold the LED work nicely to anchor the chassis rods. The heat sink will also show through the hilt. The one problem with this build was that the interior diameter of the bamboo is only 1 inch. Some 1" nylon washers work great as chassis disks. I can fit an NB, a single LiIon (18500), a recharge port, and one of the new mini speakers. Not sure what to do about a switch yet. I might hide a mini tactile switch under one of the copper bands. The LED is a Lux Rebel Amber. I with I had room for a crystal chamber. I'll make the next one a little longer. This one is only about 10" long.
The hilt is still rough. I need to clean up the edges on the bamboo and copper, and buff/polish/weather the copper shroud. I'll post pics of the chassis when I can.
Test fit of parts with blade holder and the heat sink showing through.
Hilt Closed
Hilt Open
Base End
Emitter End
Enjoy.
D
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