Building my first Graflex...now what?

**erlomd** · 01-14-2016, 09:56 PM

Hi guys, this is my first post here...so let me get right to it...

after selling my MR Anakin AOTC fx saber, Im having somewhat of a sellers remorse...asking myself questions like: "why did I have to sell it?" and "I could have just made it better with an upgrade kit of some sort". But after much thought, I really would just rather have the ol' Graflex saber that no matter what saber I come across, It just will never posses that certain finesse and classic lines that Anakin built a long long time ago...but I digress...

I recently saw that Park Sabers and The Custom Shop are selling empty Graflex replicas to do with as thy bidding will (and at ~$200, its a steal compared to what the going rate for a real Graflex is going for on the ol' eBay).

I decided (after much youtubing around) that I want to build my own Graflex to my specifications. Im very very new to the world of LED's and Lithium ion batteries, sound cards and so forth. But, I'm pretty handy soldering and wiring so putting it together shouldn't be a problem.

with a little searching around the custom shop here and various other websites, I have a pretty good idea of what I want within the saber which will include a Cree-Tri-XP-E2 LED (all 3 in royal blue or whatever is brightest) a sound card and a 2W 28mm Bass speaker hoping to put a Vaders Vault Photon blade or whatever will fit in the blade housing that will emit a rich bright blue hue (I know that the graflex has limitations to the diameter of the blade which it will accept).

The rest is a guessing game really...so I wanted some insight as to what will make this saber come to life with the above mentioned parts...what LED housing to use? wiring setup for a ultra bright dayblade (i think its called a sun crusher)? what battery to use? chasis? resistors, converters, radiators, fans, flux capacitors...etc.

I would like it to have the regular on/off, motion & clash sounds as well as the clash light in a different color (white?)...if the blade pulsates a little, that would be a nice touch as well...the top button will be the on/off switch and maybe a long press to de-activate the sound if at all possible.

any help here would be most helpful! I really don't want to just buy the saber then send it off to someone else to finish it...although as nice as that is, I just would like to build it myself.

getting these things to come together and work as planned is somewhat of an art and I know that. That's why I came here!

**Silver Serpent** · 01-15-2016, 06:01 AM

If you want sounds and effects and such, the Nano Biscotte is a great entry level board that will do everything you're wanting. For the Flash on Clash effect in white, you'll want your Tri-Cree to have one white die. Two Royal Blue and one White is a good option.

The Photon blades work best with blue or royal blue LEDs, but they glow green due to phosphorescence. You could get a second (normal) blade to have a blue blade, and you won't have to change anything inside the saber. Just swap blades.

**erlomd** · 01-15-2016, 09:23 AM

Thanks Silver Serpent! I was looking at that Nano Biscotte and it seems to fit the bill on what I'm looking for...price isn't that bad also!
do you know of a rechargeable battery to hook up to that LED? or will any of them work?

I wanted to at least order the chassis discs, rods and all else internal electrical for the build including (if possible) an LED mount?

So far the build list is:
-2W Speaker
-TRI-CREE LED (2 royal blue and 1 white)
-TRI-CREE 3 Star Lens
-Nano Biscotte

**darth_chasm** · 01-15-2016, 09:43 AM

3.7v will work. Make sure to download the manual for the NB. It has a lot of useful info and will answer most questions.

**Silver Serpent** · 01-15-2016, 09:48 AM

Any of the single-cell 3.7v li-ion packs will work. I would definitely try to use one of the 18650 or 18500 cells if you can fit it into your hilt.

**erlomd** · 01-15-2016, 10:50 AM

Great!!! just added that to the parts list
-18650 3.7v Li-ion 2600mAh rechargeable battery

do you guys know if I will need an LED driver? like a Buck Puck? does this enhance the LED's? I see some people using this on sun crusher/dayblade setups

hopefully this all fits inside the saber...I heard that its not an exact replica of the original graflex...its a bit narrower and that it's actually built to accept electronics...someone else here stated not to buy the graflex chassis disks that TCSS has because they are too large and will not fit inside the graflex 2.0 replica...Im going to be assuming that inside the new replica is more of a standard saber body...lets see...

**rlobrecht** · 01-15-2016, 11:01 AM

The 18650 doesn't have enough voltage to drive a buckpuck. You'll need a resistor for your LED. Check out this thread for details.

**erlomd** · 01-15-2016, 11:06 AM

Thanks! ill read all about it!
so...a buck puck does increase the brightness of the LED's then...thats why it would require a stronger battery and resistors? sorry I'm new to the sport! in the meantime, ill check out that link! thanks again

**Sith4Life** · 01-15-2016, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by erlomd

Great!!! just added that to the parts list
-18650 3.7v Li-ion 2600mAh rechargeable battery

do you guys know if I will need an LED driver? like a Buck Puck? does this enhance the LED's? I see some people using this on sun crusher/dayblade setups

hopefully this all fits inside the saber...I heard that its not an exact replica of the original graflex...its a bit narrower and that it's actually built to accept electronics...someone else here stated not to buy the graflex chassis disks that TCSS has because they are too large and will not fit inside the graflex 2.0 replica...Im going to be assuming that inside the new replica is more of a standard saber body...lets see...

Also it a 7/8 inch heat sink and blade holde FYI