D's Bamboo-Copper Saber

[dgregory]

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

[dgdve]

I really like the choice of materials here! dgdve approved!

[Batosai]

this could become a really cool saber.
can't wait to see more

[IndustrialAction]

Put your image links in between the html image codes "[img]""[/img]" (remove the quotes). You'll get posts like this...













Also, look in to using a free photo host like Photobucket. They'll host your images and give you the forum formatted codes that you can paste right in to your posts

Nice build so far

[dgregory]

updated the images in the first post

[dgregory]

Got the chassis built and test fit in the saber. I used 1" nylon spacers for the disks. Not being machine made, the center hole through the bamboo is not perfectly straight. The nylon disks gave the chassis some flexibility but still kept it stable enough to hold all the parts. I had plenty of space lengthwise, but that 1" diameter was quite a pain. The NB and the mini speaker were the only way to make it work. The speaker holder is a piece of a 1" curtain rod. It had perfectly placed holes to attach to the chassis and the mini speaker fit inside with the addition of a rubber washer.







Once it's all assembled, the bamboo sheath slides back and forth nicely. Pulling it down reveals the recharge port and gives access to the SD card.





Now I just have to make the copper cap for the base and figure out where to put the switch. Then sanding and polishing and it'll be done.

[Kyaryo Ysoyav]

That looks great...I want one

[MandoJoe]

Seconded. I want one too. This is quite fantastic.

[dgregory]

Made some more progress on this saber. I've got the chassis wired up and everything works great. My screw up for this one (there's always something) was to solder the wiring harness on backwards in an attempt to get it to fit into the bamboo sheath. I needed it on the bottom of the NB. I didn't want to turn the card over since I've already messed one up slotting it into chassis disks that way. Everything works, but the colors of the wires on the harness were quite confusing when it's on backwards...

Anyway, all I have to do now is add the switch and pretty it up. I'm going to install a long pole tactile switch near the base. I'll remove a channel in the bamboo so it can slide back and forth without hitting the switch.

Here's the chassis/blade holder combo and the wiring diagram.


Here's the chassis with the copper shroud attached and the blade ignited.


The underside of the chassis/shroud.


The carved up copper end cap on the base with gaps for sound around the edges. Still gotta polish that maker's mark off there.

[dgregory]

Managed to get this saber together. I really struggled with the switch placement. I was planning to use a tactile switch under one of the copper strips. But sliding the bamboo over and around it changed my mind. Instead I shortened the chassis between the battery and speaker holder and installed the switch in the pommel.

The saber works great. I didn't end up needing anything to keep the bamboo in place. It's snug and takes a bit of a pull to retract it and expose the recharge port and SD card. The copper bands have a little give when you squeeze them, making it a nice comfortable grip.

I had to add a scrap piece of sink tube around the blade holder to make it snug inside the copper tube. But other than that it's a solid hilt.

I'm never doing a 1" diameter chassis again. Ugh.