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Thread: Finally finished my graflex!!!

  1. #1

    Default Finally finished my graflex!!!

    It took me MONTHS to get this done. It's a Luke Skywalker Empire Strikes Back built from a vintage Graflex. After multiple failed efforts to install two different Nano Biscotte soundboards which just flat-out didn't work (and I still can't figure out why), I decided to give up on the whole "custom soundboard" thing and just go with a basic Master Replicas Force FX soundboard (Anakin Episode III). To do this and still have a small enough switch to hide under the red button, I used a Pololu logic board to convert the small tactile switch to act as a latching switch.

    The LED is a Luxeon Rebel Star, Royal Blue. It runs on four AAA batteries.

    I wish I could find somewhere to place a speaker grill so I could get more volume out of it, but I can't think of anywhere to do that, so for now I'm dealing with a pretty quiet volume on it. Still, it's awesome to have it complete!

    This also marks the FIRST build I've done entirely on my own, including all the electronics. I do owe a huge debt of thanks to Tim (Lendo Avery on here), my electronics Jedi Master, for instruction, advice, patience and supplies through the process. Despite the frustration and inordinate number of hurdles I had to leap to finally get there, I feel pretty darned accomplished!











    Last edited by The Grey Elf; 01-13-2014 at 08:56 PM.

  2. #2

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    It's solo pretty

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darth Avarice View Post
    It's solo pretty
    Hahahaha...nice.

    Thanks! I just noticed I had my top half on backwards--the "rabbit ears" should point the other way. Fortunately, an easy fix.

  4. #4

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    Where did you pick up your graflex?

  5. #5
    Jedi Padawan Starwinder's Avatar
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    Very nicely done! The ESB graflex is my favorite - something about those screws in the grips
    --------------------------Cadence--------------------------

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darth Avarice View Post
    Where did you pick up your graflex?
    Ebay. It was about $150.

    Quote Originally Posted by Starwinder
    Very nicely done! The ESB graflex is my favorite - something about those screws in the grips
    Mine, too. For me it's the second red button in place of the glass lens. I told someone over on FX-Sabers, you just don't want to see the insides. I've not yet learned the art of chassis-building, so right now it's just a mass of wires and an insulated board crammed into the hilt. But it's been done for several days now and has held up to a lot of swinging and clashing, so I think it's pretty stable.

  7. #7

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    Love it. Hey if you want to get a bit more volume out of it, you should drill holes in the screws holding the d-ring on. That works for me.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Renaissance Jedi View Post
    Love it. Hey if you want to get a bit more volume out of it, you should drill holes in the screws holding the d-ring on. That works for me.
    Someone over at fx-sabers.com suggested that, too. How do you go about doing that, like drill a hole straight down through the shaft of the screw? I'd be afraid of not drilling straight enough and damaging the screw.

    Right now I have long enough wires in it that the speaker is pointing up into the hilt instead of down towards the pommel. That allows the sound to come out of the four side slots on the clamp. That gave me a bit of extra volume, but not as much as I'd like.

  9. #9

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    You do need to drill straight down through the shaft of the screw. I use a drill press to achieve this. It is a bit tricky to do this with a hand drill, but it is possible if you do not have a drill press. You could also drill through the screws in the grips, but that might not be advisable seeing as those screws are so small.
    Last edited by Renaissance Jedi; 01-18-2014 at 11:14 AM.

  10. #10

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    I wouldn't drill through the screws,I'd make a ring of holes in the bottom of the saber but,most people would be like,"No,you'll ruin it!" I'd stick with that if you want more sound but only if your comfortable with that

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