Upgrading basic lightsabers in the future

[JeedaiJohnny]

Okay, I'm hoping someone can solve the question I keep asking myself.

I have this issue where I take something I'm brand new to (sabersmithing in this case) and try to do too much at once. Right now I'm the hopeful newbie that wants a sound board, anti-vandal switch, FoC, and a recharge port and chargeable battery. ... and I have never soldered ANYTHING before in my life.
Before you smash your head off your keyboard, I've talked myself out of all that except the soundboard and AV switch, and I'm working on the switch. I know you're still cringing, but a lightsaber haaaaaas to have sound. Just has to. I know I'm going to screw it up the first few times, but I'm determined to get it done in the end.

NOW! The question I really have. How much of a pain is it to pull apart a saber and start unwiring everything to add something new? Say I want to add in the AV switch later. Or the power extender and wire in FoC. Is it worth taking my first saber and turning into something much higher end when I am more comfortable with doing this sort of work? Or is this one of those deals where it's easier (if not cheaper lol) to just order the same body, guts, and add the new guts and just build the same saber, just with the additions?

Is it worth pulling out your removable battery holder, taking off the sound board, and putting the board back in with a chargeable battery and recharge port? Or unsoldering everything to add wires from the LED to a power extender and back to the board/battery? Or is it more hassle than it's worth? Especially for someone new like myself? Basically am I allowed to be nostalgic and turn my very first saber into the epic machines that I see posted here on the forums? That can change colours, have CF7.5's in them, and can be charged?

Then there's adding a crystal chamber... but that's a topic for a much more experienced Johnny LOL


Hopefully that made sense! Thank you for any responses

[Silver Serpent]

Had you asked this same question a few years ago, there might have been a few heads smashing on keyboards. Now, things are different. The Nano Biscotte and its bigger brother the Petit Crouton are both fine boards to start with. The Nano is a little more beginner friendly, since it has fewer things to hook up, and most of the solder points are all on the same side of the board.

Out of the things you've mentioned (AV switch, sound, FoC, recharge), the sound board is the most difficult to do. Adding in the other items is not terribly difficult once you have everything planned out. Consider purchasing the extra parts for FoC and recharge, even if you don't want to add them in right away. I'm a big advocate of keeping your first build simple.

To answer your question: it's relatively easy to upgrade a saber later. You built it, you can rebuild it. You can make it better, faster, stronger, etc.

I would definitely save the crystal chambers, color changing, CF7.5 builds, etc for a later time. You'll certainly be able to upgrade your first saber, but I'm betting you'll want to build a second (or third, fourth) saber before too long. Watch your wallet, this hobby adds up quickly.

[Bark]

Unfortunately in my opinion, the answer to your question is totally dependent on how comfortable you are doing the work. "Is it a pain...?" The answer is...depends. If you pick up soldering quickly, it's easy. If you don't pick it up, not burning yourself, other things around you, or your house down is a victory, let alone doing the work at hand.

Speaking for myself, I jumped into doing a Tri-Rebel B-B-W Petit Crouton first thing. I have the electonics sorted now, but I still need all of my body pieces and the internal chassis. Firing up the board to see the pretty lights and hear the awesome sounds was great though, even if it was just a mash of wires and components lying randomly on my work table. Before I started, I lurked here, planned my build, and watched a ton of YouTube vidoes on saber building, wire splicing, and soldering.

The only previous experiences that I had soldering were when I was a teenager geek and built a fiber optic NCC-1701-D. That soldering job bordered on horrible but functional with a slight chance of fire. Years later in my twenties, I swapped out the LED emitters to a Harmony 800 universal remote control. I got better and did the work in a poor to fair, functional but not a fire hazard way.

My current work on the saber is downright awesome, IMO. I really don't see a short occurring unless the saber gets submerged in water.

So to go back to your point, it depends on how quickly you pick it up. Madcow just posted a really good video on a basic saber here. I think my next builds will be to do a couple of these stunt sabers just as a children's toy. You could probably work to master this first. If you really want to get a saber with sound first thing, like me, you could try this and this. Just start with the simple wire soldering first before trying to work on the LED and sound boards. Ultimately, it comes down to practice, practice, practice, but you have to be patient with your progress, i.e. channel Yoda, not Luke (Ep. V).

[JeedaiJohnny]

Had you asked this same question a few years ago, there might have been a few heads smashing on keyboards. Now, things are different. The Nano Biscotte and its bigger brother the Petit Crouton are both fine boards to start with. The Nano is a little more beginner friendly, since it has fewer things to hook up, and most of the solder points are all on the same side of the board.

Well at least I had that part figured out right. The board in my "wishlist" is the NBv.2 It's what seemed to be recommended most for a first time builder.

Out of the things you've mentioned (AV switch, sound, FoC, recharge), the sound board is the most difficult to do. Adding in the other items is not terribly difficult once you have everything planned out. Consider purchasing the extra parts for FoC and recharge, even if you don't want to add them in right away. I'm a big advocate of keeping your first build simple.

Figures, the one thing I left in would be the bigger pain lol. I thought it would be, but I just can't imagine having a saber without sound. I'm not doing stunt duelling for videos soooooooooo..
But you make a really good point. I'll probably buy both switches, the chargeable battery/port and the power extended. Just so I can at least see what I'm working with and see if the NB manual makes a little more sense with all the parts in hand. I've already read the thing twice anyhow.

To answer your question: it's relatively easy to upgrade a saber later. You built it, you can rebuild it. You can make it better, faster, stronger, etc.

I would definitely save the crystal chambers, color changing, CF7.5 builds, etc for a later time. You'll certainly be able to upgrade your first saber, but I'm betting you'll want to build a second (or third, fourth) saber before too long. Watch your wallet, this hobby adds up quickly.

Well that's good to know. I tend to get nostalgic about my beginnings lol. And it's nice to know that I could transform a more basic saber into something even more one day and have it grow with me.

Yeah, I'm in love with saber lore and crystal chambers especially. But even I know that may be more than what I can do for now. I already have such a limited space to begin with, why make it more complicated on my first run?

yeah no kidding about the wallet. I watched this build go from $0-$350 reallllllly quickly when I started adding the blade, PCing, and drill and tap services

[Silver Serpent]

If you want to practice soldering before you start on your saber electronics (and I recommend you do), then pick up some perfboard and some thin stranded copper wire, and practice practice practice. I personally prefer the 60/40 leaded solder, as it melts much easier than the lead-free. A quality ESD soldering station with adjustable temperature control is really nice to have, but it's a lot of money to start with. You can get the job done with the cheap soldering irons as well.

Unless you stop after your first saber, you'll find yourself spending as much on new tools as you do on actual saber parts. I know I have.

[JeedaiJohnny]

Unfortunately in my opinion, the answer to your question is totally dependent on how comfortable you are doing the work. "Is it a pain...?" The answer is...depends. If you pick up soldering quickly, it's easy. If you don't pick it up, not burning yourself, other things around you, or your house down is a victory, let alone doing the work at hand.

Speaking for myself, I jumped into doing a Tri-Rebel B-B-W Petit Crouton first thing. I have the electonics sorted now, but I still need all of my body pieces and the internal chassis. Firing up the board to see the pretty lights and hear the awesome sounds was great though, even if it was just a mash of wires and components lying randomly on my work table. Before I started, I lurked here, planned my build, and watched a ton of YouTube vidoes on saber building, wire splicing, and soldering.

The only previous experiences that I had soldering were when I was a teenager geek and built a fiber optic NCC-1701-D. That soldering job bordered on horrible but functional with a slight chance of fire. Years later in my twenties, I swapped out the LED emitters to a Harmony 800 universal remote control. I got better and did the work in a poor to fair, functional but not a fire hazard way.

My current work on the saber is downright awesome, IMO. I really don't see a short occurring unless the saber gets submerged in water.

So to go back to your point, it depends on how quickly you pick it up. Madcow just posted a really good video on a basic saber here. I think my next builds will be to do a couple of these stunt sabers just as a children's toy. You could probably work to master this first. If you really want to get a saber with sound first thing, like me, you could try this and this. Just start with the simple wire soldering first before trying to work on the LED and sound boards. Ultimately, it comes down to practice, practice, practice, but you have to be patient with your progress, i.e. channel Yoda, not Luke (Ep. V).

Thanks for the response Bark!
Unfortunately I have never soldered anything.. but that's not stopping me for believing I can learn and do it.

Like you I've been reading manuals, reading topics here, and watching YouTube videos for a couple of months. I wanted as much as I could before I even posted here once lol.
I definitely have seen Madcow's videos. He's actually the entire reason I found the sabersmithing community. I stumbled upon one of his videos when YouTubing if I could remove the blade from my Hasbro Darth Vader. I've watched all of his videos about... fourteen thousand times since LMFAO and it's inspired me to research the community and now, finally, want to make a solid attempt at joining it.
I plan on buying a soldering iron and some wire soon before purchasing the parts from Tim. Just so I can practice a little and see how well I take to the craft. If I spend some time at it and feel comfortable, then I'm buying the parts. If I burn down my shed.... well maybe I'll purchase an Ascend or Badaxx from genesiscustomsabers!

[JeedaiJohnny]

If you want to practice soldering before you start on your saber electronics (and I recommend you do), then pick up some perfboard and some thin stranded copper wire, and practice practice practice. I personally prefer the 60/40 leaded solder, as it melts much easier than the lead-free. A quality ESD soldering station with adjustable temperature control is really nice to have, but it's a lot of money to start with. You can get the job done with the cheap soldering irons as well.

Unless you stop after your first saber, you'll find yourself spending as much on new tools as you do on actual saber parts. I know I have.

I'm in the process of trying to find a soldering iron right now. Problem is I have no radioshack (me being Canadian and all) and I don't want to buy online.. just rather have it in front of me so I can start practicing. Home Depot and Lowes have soldering irons, but none of them actually SAY that they are ESD safe. Now.. being new to this and never buying one before, I don't know if they're supposed to say it, or they all don't say it because it's well know they all pretty are at this point.. Just trying to be careful before spending my money.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Watch the language. This is a family friendly Forum.

[JeedaiJohnny]

Sorry!!! That slipped

EDIT: HAHAHAHA I just frantically read through my posts TWICE trying to find and fix the slip up... before reading and realizing that you already fixed it.

[Silver Serpent]

It's certainly possible to use a standard soldering iron. Just take precautions, be sure you're grounded, don't wear wool and shuffle around, and you can get by.