information for new folks

[goldsaberwarrior]

Title of mine doesn't give this justice to what I'm going to ask I don't think but anyways I'll get to what I was going to ask about. For my english class one of the things we're doing is an essay over a process we're familiar with and I'm going to be doing mine over lightsaber construction. I'm the only one in my class who has built a saber from here and as such I'm wanting to give as much info as I can incase some of them want to build their own. What I wanted to ask is what are some bits of information such as videos or otherwise I could possibly send people to if they want more detailed information than what I give in my essay. I pretty much have complete creative control over this essay. Some of the points I planned to cover were, hilt construction, selecting the right electronics, selecting the right blade, and how to do all that without breaking the bank being just a few examples. Also I don't know if I'll be able to use this or not but would some of the other sabersmiths be willing to post a picture or 2 of some of their work just incase I have an opportunity to provide a picture or perhaps incase I'm able to link them back to this thread so they can see a few completed projects. If I'm able to use the pics I will give full credit to the builder.

[snilam]

You could probly use madcows videos that are now available, and im sure you could use any pictures from the galleries which have some build logs. Perhaps FJK could clarify that part.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I have several build topics for beginning builders in the "A to Z Build Threads" section, there is also a complete video log of the construction of an MHS based saber on my YouTube channel.

[Sevinzol]

Ok I'm an old fart, so when I saw the words 'essay' I thought paper. Then I saw 'video' and I thought stand up speech/presentation in front of the class. Or is this some kind of electronic article you are making that can have videos embedded in it (see we didn't have those fancy computer things back in my day, instead we had to skin a buffalo - with a stone knife - and turn its hide into parchment to hand in our homework).

Anyway my question is how long, page length or time wise, is this thing supposed to be? I think you might have too much info to cover. Also what is your audience like? You have to admit saber building is kind of nerdy and if you dive too deep into the details you might lose your audience. You want to hook them in with the thought "I can do that", rather than scare them with 'omg I'm no engineer!'.

You might start with making a Stunt Saber. You can include the history of how the props were made for the movies and how the hobby evolved (classic sink tube, HMS, etc.). I guess I shouldn't be telling you how to do it so I'll shut up now. Wow, the more I think about this, the more out of control it gets.

Good luck

[goldsaberwarrior]

Basically as long as it's at least 600 words the teacher doesn't care. So far it's looking more like an informative piece. I'm going to have to condense some of the information down to get everything in there I wanted to cover. Basically some of the main points I had planned on covering were:
-budget, about how much would one need to get a basic build to some of the more advanced sabers some of us have
-hilt construction: deciding on double bladed vs single and getting your metal shell portion of the hilt like you wanted. possibly going to reference the MHS system.
-electronics selection: Selecting your LED and also getting into sound which will allow for a mention of the Nano Biscotte, Petit Crouton, and also Erv's Crystal Focus. Also covers battery and otherwise.
-blade selection: helping folks get the right blade for their saber for either show or dueling.
-Final assembly: basically covering assembling everything up to the first ignition of the completed product.

That's just some examples. The essay itself has to be about the process of building the saber itself since it's more of an instructional essay. I had planned to get some info out there so folks could get a basic idea of how we do things and provide some information such as perhaps some links to a few videos or something incase they wanted more information than what I provided.

Jay-gon would ye care to give me a link to your youtube channel in here. I'll be sure to check some of your threads in there as well and see what info I can toss in. If nothing else I can get some info out there and draw some attention to the shop and hopefully more saber builders.