New to the hobby but have some awesome plans!

[Yorginsnarff]

how the heck did you render that shroud?! (nice shroud, btw)

[SpartanVillage]

Thanks! When I built the saber in the builder program, I just added a plain extension piece off to the side, saved it as a jpeg, then photoshopped it. Here's what the straight on view should look like with the switch in the ribbed section:

Saber 2.jpg

Another change-up to the build is the LED. Unfortunately TCSS was sold out of the Tri-Cree B/B/W LEDs (was going to run both blues together in series) so I found another LED at LEDSupply.com listed as the Cree XLamp XP-E2 Color High Power LED Star where all three diodes are already wired in series and light up together. Definitely looking forward to how it'll look.

[Yorginsnarff]

man that's a DAMN FINE saber! Hope it turns out really really good

*Showers you in luck and good tidings

[SpartanVillage]

Thanks! I have some machining experience and time using mills so I'm hoping I can make the shroud look better than the photos. Guess we'll see...

[Yorginsnarff]

ahh I have experience on a lathe and mill also, but I don't have the tools ;-;

[SpartanVillage]

I'm in the same boat however I have a drill press, band saw, and bench mounted belt sander. Thinking about picking up a milling vise for my drill press to convert it into a vertical mill.

[SpartanVillage]

Okay so I've been doing a lot of reading on LED wiring and whatnot. Needless to say, I want this thing to be crazy bright...just like everyone else. As I stated before, the LED I'm running is a B/B/B Tri Cree and comes setup to be run in series. However from my understanding, parallel is what you want to get the most power to each die. I'm thinking about removing the contact bridges and running it in parallel. What do you guys think? LED is pictured below (not the same color but same kind of LED):
1434135747creexpe2-red-3.jpg

[Ty_Bomber]

Hate to break it to you, but if that led is wired in series, your AAA pack won't be able to power it. The leds will have to be run in series. Those leds in series will require 11 volts to fire and your power supply only puts out 4.8 volts.

You can remove the jumpers, but not easily. As Jay Gon mentioned in another thread (on another forum) you can use a lighter to heat the bottom of the Star and pull them off, but be prepared to be frustrated.

Also, with any high powered led, you want a high powered battery pack. Li-ions are so prevalent because of their higher discharge rate and longer capacity.

At the very minimum, you have to remove the series jumpers and wire your leds in parallel. If you want decent run time (even on a stunt) I recommend a single 18650 li-ion battery.

[SpartanVillage]

Yeah I've been doing some more research and discovered that I'm definitely going to need a Li-ion battery to get this thing bright enough. I picked up some solder wick to soak up as much of the solder on the jumpers to remove them. Shouldn't be too bad since it doesn't look like there's a ton of solder holding them on.

Do you have a suggested parts list for what I'll need to run a 18650 li-ion? I'm really new to all this so any help is appreciated.

[Ty_Bomber]

Well, that depends. If you want removable cells-for swapping batteries on the fly- I would get the following:

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Tr...rger-P346.aspx

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Tr...pack-P517.aspx

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/18...lder-P886.aspx

This setup may be more your speed. I like removable cells because plugging your saber into an outlet for 6+ hours sucks all the joy out of life. If you want in hilt recharge, however, get the following:

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Sw...Jack-P822.aspx

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Ki...le-5-P808.aspx

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Pa...tery-P853.aspx

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/37...plug-P890.aspx

If cost is a factor, the first setup is preferable, obviously. I like the first option for numerous reasons, even with a sound setup, but for a stunt, its ideal (IMO).