well the wires commin off of an mr soundboard are prettty tinny.Originally Posted by Jedi-Loreen
What 2 little wires are you talking about, Vortex? That's making me think of EL you're talking about, but maybe not.
I have one of those Helping Hands, but mine doesn't have the soldering iron holder and sponge. Those are invaluable when you are working on EL stuff.
Stay away from the Cold Heat tools, they are crap.
BLUE 3- Ready
Nice but I don't feel like paying for something two pieces of tape will do well enough.Cheap... maybe.
RED LEADER Standing by!
Thanks for the feedback everyone. It's nice to feel welcome!
One problem I've been having is that when I originally posted this thread (and when I try to update the list) I got a message saying:
Usage of forbidden word
We're very sorry, your post request hold for moderation.
A site administrator will be notified and will approve your post.
If you don't want this to happen in the future go visit the groups page and subscribe to the 'Bypass words' group
However, the "groups" link is dead. Any ideas? I don't want to have to go through moderation every time I post!
It's trying to link here: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/forum/groupcp.$phpEx
Anyway... aside from that (back to the tools), I have another couple of questions.
1 - What are Vice grips? Are they simply a rubber grip that fits your vice jaws so you don't damage the finish of what you're working on?
2 - Dremel. I've found a few offers on new Dremel packages on ebay that include the flexi tool and other stuff. Is it worth buying new or am I just as well buying a used one and the accessories separately? Do these things really wear out?
I'm looking at this kind of auction:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...0693&rd=1&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...7917&rd=1&rd=1
Whereas one went used a couple of days ago here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...9498&rd=1&rd=1
Incidently Do-Clo, I have one of those "helping Hands" alredy, just not the soldering version. Nifty bit of kit!
Welcome to the forums!
the second listing you posted for 10 euros is pretty good, us currency i believe thats around 125.00, a new dremel motor is usually around 60.00, the flex adapter 40.00, and the bit sets run 35.00, i would go for it. keep in mind that it doesnt have to necesarily say dremel on the side, i have a GRIP brand rotary that i use most often in the shop that is a dremel motor in a cheaper casing. the bits are of a lower grade than what you would get with the dremel but i paid 20.00 new for the set and 36.00 for a 300 piece set of dremel bits to use with it.
one thing i use in building custom hilts you might look into is fiberglass. you will see often ppl using thin pvc cut to make designs or grips on hilts, which turns out looking great but can wear badly over time, and can be hard to find in the right sizes for your desired look. with fiberglass you can control shape, design, texture, strength, thickness, and its rather simple to work with... smells bad while in aplication but once cured is incredibly strong and almost always permanent. you also have the ability to mix color into fiberglass resin before applying it to your project. the benefits here are you get a good color to your parts that is actually inside the material, as oposed to paint which can chip, flake, or peel if not applied correctly and can also fade over time.
when you find the soldering iron you like, go by your local hobby stores that sell woodburning supplies and they should have small sets of tips for use in woodburning that you can put to good use in your sabers. you had mentioned the tips being too large, which is a problem i think we all have run into at one point or another... i have quite a few tips that i bought from the local hobby shop that are needle tipped and can be found either straight or with a 60 degree bend, and they are quite helpful in doing small applications like working with mr switches and sound modules. the packs here are generally 5.00 for 8 various tips. it also might be in your interest to look at both electric and gas powered irons. i just picked up a butane iron a month ago that will accept all the tips im currently using, is small, and works great. i can get about 3 hours of use out of a full tank of butane (same fuel as used in torch cigarette lighters) the iron takes roughly 13 seconds to heat to operating temperature and is about the size of a large ink pen... it is currently my favorite saber tool investment, which i paid 60.00 for from a tool supplier online.
great to have you posting in the forums Bescherman! its always a treat to see a new member that did in fact research the tutorials before posting questions galore... a good number of our members come simply wanting someone to tell them "put this here and that there and it will work" instead of asking questions that will allow them to understand and learn. and let me tell you there are some great ppl here who have been longtime members that have a world of knowledge dealing with hilt design and wiring diagrams.
xwing, do-clo, james3, jtsteph, firebird, ambo, and myself just to name a few are all great guys and between us can and are always willing to help ppl work out a problem.
when i first got into the saber shop i had been out of electronics for nearly 10 years... james3 helped me greatly getting my mind geared back into electrical application and is always there to help whenever i may run into a snag, the guy even gave me his home number so we could work out electronics setups real time. when i started drawing out my last project, a 5w electronics kit from tim with mr sound using one activation switch, james was able to take where i was wanting to go with the hilt and describe to me in 5 min over the phone where i would need to make my connections and why it would work for my application...
once again welcome to the forums Bescherman and lots of luck to you in your upcoming projects, its great to have a new mind and ideas come into the group!
Could it be!
WOO HOO!!!! Welcome to TCSS!!! This is soooo refreshing.
Red 5 "Move Dangit! I gots Snitz to blow up!"
That little beauty comes in handy. i have one of those and i use it all the time when soldering. It works well when painting small objects too.
"I see you have constructed a new lightsaber, your skills are complete."
Re: Welcome to the forums!
Thanks so much jjshumpert. I really appreciate the offer of help and am very grateful of the warm welcomes I've had so far!
The Fiberglass thing: I've had a little experience working with fiberglass before when repairing kayaks and my surfboard. Nothing that needed to be neat or even artistic though! It's a really interesting avenue for creating my own ornate hilts. I find myself drawn to more "Sith" looking hilts. This link has been posted before but I LOVE this guy's work: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/ADVANCED-LI...Q3amesstQQtZkm
I believe that a lot of that might be done with fiberglass.
The woodburning tips sound like a good possibility. I assume they jjust fit onto a standard soldering iron then? I did a week and a half of temp work at a company that manufactured electrical cables and spent about 2 whole days soldering there. I got quite a hang of it! We were using soldering irons with a separate power unit and interchangeable tips. Woodburning tips might be a good substitute since I already have a load of soldering equipment.
Rotary tool: I'm still sussing out what is the best buy. I've seen the threads where others recommend some of the non-dremel brands they use. I wan't too sure about buying a non "Dremel" branded tool incase it was a big greasy turd! Some of the cheaper ones don't have the RPM to match Dremel (only 10,000 - 20,000 for example).
The one second link I posted is actually in Pounds and is (unfortunately) the starting price! £10 plus £9 postage is only $37 USD. If the price stays low I'll buy it though! I've also found the Stylus for £65.98 w postage ($130 USD) but it only goes up to 25,000:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dremel-Stylus-...QQcmdZViewItem
And a new MULTI PRO 395 VS for £56.98 w postage ($112.020 USD): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DREMEL-MULTI-P...QQcmdZViewItem
Anyway, I don't really expect anyone to "tell me" what to do. I'm just posting the links for reference.
I'll definately be needing help with any wiring tht is non standard. My electronic skills and understanding is very basic. I'll come asking when I need help! I've submitted a thread under "LED Hilts and Wiring" about glow Staffs but I'm waiting for it to pass the moderation process. There's some electrical questions in there already! I'll post the link once it's up.
Cheers again, and hi! Bescherman
Bescherman,
I am not totally sure why yet but yours and only your posts keep tripping the spam filters. So bare with me for now and I will approve your posts as fast as I can while I try and figure this out.
Tim
The Custom Saber Shop
Welcome to the forums!
most of the irons i have are described as wood burning irons. i have a few that are cheap from wal-mart, some weller, and the new butane rig is a thompson, all of which have threaded tips that will interchange between the 10 or so i own
the rotary tool i use most is basically the first model of the dremel multi-tool in a bright orange casing, and came with really cheap bits that broke almost as soon as i would put a load on them, but the motor itself is made by black and decker. as for the rpm range i have no clue since it was printed on a box that is long since gone, but i can tell you it has a numbered dial on the side ranging from 0 to 6 for speed adjustment. between 1 and 2 is great for sanding, 2 and 3 with a cone grinder is good for folowing up on cuts made with a cutoff wheel or drillsaw bit, 3 to 4 is usually the range i will run for sinktubes, 4 to 5 falls into your routing speeds for making switch recessions or punching holes with a expansion bit, and at 6 a new sanding wheel will burn its way right thru a 1.5 sink tube in about 10 seconds...
if you like the stuff from advanced light weaponry i would sugjest getting yourself a couple of packs of basketweave fiberglass cloth and a small can of resin, make yourself about a 6 inch square of cardboard and glass on about 8 to 10 layers worth of cloth/resin to use as a practice board. the cone shaped grinding tool is excelent for doing fine detail work on glass hilts imo. and if all else fails and you cut a line to deep or just dont like it on a hilt, its fiberglass after all and you can always fill it in again. the only thing you wouldnt want to do in a final hilt is use a body filler, and if your going to have any deep channels or grooves in the hilt then wrap a 1.25 sink tube in glass for structure, but otherwise ive made hilts that were nothing more than fiberglass and electronics and i use them in training more than i do any of my sinktube or mr hilts... they are imo the best feeling in the hand and the ballance can be adjusted easily to fit the user
Cheers Tim. I promise I'm not using naughty words.
Incidently, I didn't mean to quote his jj's whole post. I just quoted it as a reference but forgot to take it out! I'll edit but it will have to be appreved again!
Could the spam fileter be anything to do with the setup of my account? The activation email didn't dome through and you had to activate it for me.
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