First build - Custom Saber from scratch.

[Greenie]

I'm loving this thread. Can't wait to see the final product.

[cannibal869]

ditto that ^^ strong work so far!

[FenixFire]

What university are you at? Most ID programs have dropped the hand prototyping skills for makerbots or cubes. It is refreshing to see that some of the programs are still teaching some of the hand skills.

BTW from a 15 year ID vet, your sketches are not that bad. The only issue that stands out at an initial look are the ellipses, work on them and you are in good shape. Honestly your sketches are as good as most of the first semester juniors that I mentor.

[Miraluka]

I'm super jealous, here. Great looking pieces.

[Rhianolord]

I'll try to get the remainder of the build photos after tChristmas because I'm traveling.

[Rhianolord]

At that point in the build, the grip still needed to have external threads cut into the upper end. But because I had never cut threads using a lathe before, I put off doing that so I could make progress on the next piece, the switch sleeve. Ideally, I would have made this part from bronze, but with the budget and deadline a concern, i had to make other arrangements. I had a piece of 2" round brass bar stock left over from a previous project, so that suited fine. I prefer the darker orangish-brown color of bronze over the yellowish color of brass. I had worked with brass in the past so I was comfortable working with it again. (for those of you that don't know, brass is wonderful material to machine. its relatively soft compared to steel and has a very nice surface finish. i know that brass and aluminum are not technically galvanicly compatibly, but I don't foresee their application for this build to be of too much concern.)


After surfacing the face and supporting the stock with the live center.
IMG_4667.jpg


Roughing down the profile...
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Another view of the part...
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Looking for 1.5" OD... I think thats close enough
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Carefully chamfering the edge before boring the out the middle. (this is the part where I might have to say don't follow my example. A seasoned machinist might argue that I have way too much "unsupported" stock for this particular setup. I made sure the cuts very slow and light.)
05ss_IMG_4677.jpg

[Rhianolord]

Continuing with the switch sleeve... Not pictured are the successive drill bores that I did prior to getting to this point. I believe this is after the first or second pass with the boring bar.
06ss_IMG_4678.jpg


Sorry for the poor quality of this photo, its a still frame from a video I did of this boring pass(bad practice, don't follow my example. Getting up close and personal with a metal lathe is beyond extremely dangerous. The metal lathe is one of the the only shop tools that can literally kill you if something bad happens... anyway, enough morbid stuff. This was just before the finishing pass, so I had some confidence that no issues would arise and I had someone else operating the controls.)
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The keen eyed observer might notice that while this is the same part, its now being held by a 4-jaw chuck instead of the 3-jaw chuck and there are some gouges on the inside of the brass sleeve. Well my friends, this is what happens when your part comes loose on the lathe. After I finished the inside profile, I needed cut the switch sleeve from the remainder of the stock. Instead of leaving it on the lathe, securing the other end with the live center and using my parting tool, I choose the harder and dumber route. I opted to remove the switch sleeve from the lathe and use the smaller 3-jaw chuck(same setup used to finish the pommel's bottom end). I wanted to do it this way so I could hold the switch sleeve and on inside instead of the outside and cut the remaining stock from the other end. Anyway, when I brought the parting tool into switch sleeve, the smaller 3-jaw chuck was not tight enough to hold it and it slipped off. No real harm was done, except for the gouges on the inside.
09ss_IMG_4682.jpg

Here is a close up of the damage. Luckily, this was the end that the emitter would slide into and i had not made that part yet. I would like to note that this did not occur during a filming session. It happened because I didn't check to make sure everything was tightened down properly.
08ss_IMG_4681.jpg

After I re-bored out the switch sleeve, its looking better. I think I had removed an additional .020" to get it down to this point. No big deal really. Live and learn.
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[Rhianolord]

What university are you at? Most ID programs have dropped the hand prototyping skills for makerbots or cubes. It is refreshing to see that some of the programs are still teaching some of the hand skills.

BTW from a 15 year ID vet, your sketches are not that bad. The only issue that stands out at an initial look are the ellipses, work on them and you are in good shape. Honestly your sketches are as good as most of the first semester juniors that I mentor.

I go to North Carolina State University. I am working on my Master's of Architecture degree. While I cannot directly comment on the Industrial Design program, the College of Design at NCSU (which architecture and industrial design are apart of) is very tight knit collection of students and I do have friends in the ID program. Based on my observations, most of the professors and former Dean believe the actual act of building and making is paramount in the design process and physical models are of significant importance. The College of Design has a great shop that fosters that sort of philosophy. The shop has a full wood shop (table saws, band saws, planers, lathes, sander, drill presses, cnc router etc.), metal shop (mills, metal lathes, breaks, benders, shears, bandsaws, 2 CNC mils, CNC plasma cutter, mig and tig welders, etc.) Sorry if that sounds like a plug for the school, I actually work in the shop as TA.

Thanks for the encouragement on the sketches. I don't practice like I should. I make the "bad" excuse that I'm architecture student and don't draw round things that often. Round objects in perspective are the worst.

[CET]

Luckily that little slip up is on the inside. Mistakes on the outside emotionally traumatize me. The other day I dropped an emitter. I cussed and swore as I watched it hit the ground in seeming slow motion. Now that piece has a little ding on the end.

[Quixotic Jedi]

The pommel is made from 316 Stainless Steel. I choose stainless for its weight and anti corrosive characteristics. Its a pain in the A** to machine, but I love a challenge.

It started as a 2" hex bar stock.

I'm curious why you used hex stock instead of round barstock, was that the only material you had available? Could have saved yourself some time turning and not had to deal with the interrupted cutting of the hex. Just my opinion. Your machining looks really good btw.