Rebuild of Adjudicator

[Sloda Foade]

I built Adjudicator back in 2010, my first lightsaber.
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It had 6 AAA NimH batteries, an Obi Wan 2010 toy Hasbro lightsaber sound board with clash and swing sensors driven by a 5V regulator. The output to drive the LED was through a relay and a 1000mAh buck puck. Originally it had a cyan LED, but I didn't like that colour so it has alternately been either Green or Blue.

I have been diagnosed with incurable but treatable Multiple Myeloma and over the past 5-6 years have been undergoing treatment and I am now in remission. Due to the damage done by the disease and treatment, I now need to walk with a walking stick, so I figured if I am going to have to use a stick, I may as well have a really cool one, hence the re-build of Adjudicator.

The new build removes the 6 AAA batteries and replaces them with a single 3.7V Li-ion 18650 battery. As was this is going to be a walking stick, I figured that I needed to be able to use the light for night walking without the sound board being active. I used one of the speaker chassis holders v5 and had to 3D print my own chassis discs to hold the battery and sound board. This made the internal set up so much neater and far smaller.
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Old setup on the left, new on the right

I also printed a chassis ring for an illuminated tactile switch for the sound board, and a chassis ring for the recharge port.

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The original saber was pretty boring with plain brass overlays, so I decided to do some salt etching on the brass to give it some character. Also I don't like the way the 16mm anti vandal switch stick up so high from the hilt, so I am trying a plastic addition to try and make it look not so bad... I hope.

More to follow.

[Sloda Foade]

I forgot that the forum only allows 5 pics per post, so I'll try and add the beauty shots here. I originally wanted my saber to be like one from ancient jedi times, like KOTOR. I wanted a clean looked after look, not abused and beaten up. Something that was cherished and prized as the jedi's only possession.

The close ups of the etching

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The emitter overlay has a Krayte dragon head on it. The etching wasn't as good as I had hoped, but not bad for a first attempt. I used blue P&P paper which took the image fine, but I couldn't get it to transfer to the brass. I tried an iron and a heat gun which was either too cold or too hot and wrinkled the film. I taped the hilt up tightly and put it in the oven for 15 minutes a time then took it out and rubbed hard to transfer the image. I did this 3 or 4 times before removing the P&P paper. I then touched up the holes and missing bits with a PCB etch pen I have had for decades.

On the main hilt body, there is the jedi symbol of the spit sword along with the name "Adjudicator" in Aurebesh. The knotwork at the pommel end is a throwback to my Irish roots.

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Saber lit, pics are before I removed 20cm from the blade to make it the correct size for me. I will also have to remove the black block ring from the pommel in order to have a comfortable handle for walking.

All in all I am mostly happy with the new Adjudicator, and have learned what to do and what not to do with the etching for next time.

Thanks Madcow for your tutorials and the inspiration of your sabers.

I hope you like it and am open to comments and constructive criticism.

[Greenie]

Man! That brass etching is real nice. Sorry to hear of your health issues but that's an awesome saber for a walking stick.

[Sloda Foade]

Thanks Greenie, it is the first thing I have etched in about 20 - 25 years when I used to etch my own PCBs for electronic projects. It didn't turn out as good as I wanted. I would have liked the etched edge to be deeper, but the P&P started to peel off the brass after 25 minutes so I had to stop there. It has added some "depth" to the history or character of the saber and should be a talking point when I am out and about. Hmm, wonder if I should etch my wheelchair?

I didn't know whether to mention my illness, other than to inform why I needed a walking stick. I have accepted it now and just try to get on with life. I have pain killers which mostly work and just have to realise that I can't do some of the things that I used to. It helps to have hobbies such as building sabers, 3D printing, animation etc. to keep me occupied and my mind on other things.

[Quixotic Jedi]

Awesome etching, great rebuild!! Oh, and if you host your pics on flickr or photobucket you can add links to as many pics as you want in the forum.

[AckAck]

Wow! Very nice. Someday I would like to have that kind of skill.

[darth_chasm]

Very nice!

[LyleStyle]

The fact that it also functions as a postural support doubles the awesomeness. Beautiful.

[Cire Yeldarb]

Love this saber! So Great!

[Sloda Foade]

Quick update on Adjudicator.
I was having trouble charging the Li-Ion battery and was unsure why this was so, as the circuit seemed to be working properly. I decided to strip the whole thing down and re-do the wiring. I still don't know what was wrong, but I simplified the wiring a bit, and cut down on the number of connector plugs used and tested the ability to charge at each step of the rewiring. All working fine now. Might just have been a short which I couldn't see. Happy now.

While doing this, I realised that I didn't like the new plastic shroud around the switches, so I removed it. I think it looks sleeker again. What do you think?

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