First Saber, PVC, Few Questions =)

[Aeonaxx]

Hey all,
I have been lurking around for around 6 months now, and I have decided to build my first saber! =D

But I wanted to double check to make sure I have everything before I place an order, hate to forget something then have to put it on hold till I get the part.

Basic for now im going PVC for the hilt. so this is what I have come up for what I need. I hope...

Blade -
3/4" Thin walled Polycarbonate 40" long
Shouldered 3/4" thin walled blade tip with reflective disc
8-32 x 1/2" thumb screw

Lighting -
Luxeon Rebel Star (Red)
Luxeon star heatsink
Luxeon Rebel Lens Holder
Collimator Lens 8.7 deg viewing angle
4-40 Nylon Screw (for the heatsink)

Power -
Push on/push off switch with black button
4AAA Battery Holder with JST connector
2.2ohm 5w resistor
2 Wire quick connector

Hilt -
Pvc



If I am missing anything or anyone has some suggestion let me know =)

Thanks

Aeo

[Lord Dottore Matto]

Standard "1 inch" PVC has an ID slightly bigger than 1", so a 3/4" blade will not work for you. You want a 1" blade. Also, a 4aaa pack will not fit inside the PVC with batteries in it, so opt for a 2aaa holder and forget the resistor. You can safely run a red rebel with 2aaa's because the Vf is virtually identical.

[Aeonaxx]

Cool deal thank you, I knew asking before I bought anything was a good idea! =D. and the 2aaa's will be enough power to make the rebel bright? or will it have a softer glow to it?

-Edit- Saw the Rebel Red runs at 2.4v so 2x 1.2v aaa will be good, duh! lol

now I do like the 3/4 in blade so if I wanted to go with one I would need to grab a 1" to 3/4" Reducer correct?


Thanks again my Lord =P

Aeo

Standard "1 inch" PVC has an ID slightly bigger than 1", so a 3/4" blade will not work for you. You want a 1" blade. Also, a 4aaa pack will not fit inside the PVC with batteries in it, so opt for a 2aaa holder and forget the resistor. You can safely run a red rebel with 2aaa's because the Vf is virtually identical.

[engineer3.14]

Aeon-

Just my $.02, but I'd go to the hardware store and do some measure of different PVC pieces and see what you can come up with.

For example, everything I read for a PVC saber I built said that the 1" blade would fit loosely in 1" PVC pipe. However, we I got my pipe, I found the blade was too large to fit in the pipe, thus I had to sand it down quite a bit. Different PVC fittings (even of the same type) will vary in tolerances.

what helped me was going down to the hardware store and rummaging around to see what fit nice, and what I could get to work.

[Arsies]

Well, I can't talk about all pvc pipes, but electrical and water pipes of the same measure have different internal diameters, so bet option is to buy your blade first and THEN go to your local hardware store to see wich one fits better with it, and later see how you can fit it with your hilt.

I'm in europe so we use milimeters, but in my case I often use 32mm water pipe (1,25 in) to fit a 25 mm blade (1 in), that's my blade holder, then I use a sleeve to attach my blade holder to a 32mm (1,25 in) electrical pipe that has bigger ID so I have more room to fit the electronics.

But I used too 25mm (1 in) electrical pipe to fit a 20mm blade (0,78 in, so i supose you can use a couple of coats of aluminum tape to fit a 3/4 in blade wich is slightly smaller), later you can insert your 25mm (1 in) pipe into a 1,25 water pipe to make your own 3/4 blade holder.

My first buildings was more or less 50% of my time in the hardware store with size samples just looking wich pieces was the best for me. In my case as I needed to buy 2 meters of polycarbonate tube and cut it, I just went with a small piece of blade to test.

[Aeonaxx]

Awesome, everything has been noted,

Besides the pvc stuff, everything else looks to be good I presume?