Fitting things into a Graflex hilt

[A Pieroway]

My Graflex hilt is coming along.... 4 years going, off and on, and currently working on version 0.7 (i.e. i kept changing the design as i found new ways to put things together).

I'm posting this to let people know of two things I've discovered that might help others in the Graflex build process.

1. Travel sized cans of hair spray (aerosol version) fit perfectly into a Graflex hilt, come in two sizes a short and a long, and easily hide the sound card, Li-ion battery, recharge port, and speaker, if your cram fu is decent. With the right HDD spindle, the spindle will perfectly grip on to the lip of the can. The only hard part is getting a clean cut off the end of the can in order to allow you to get the battery, board, etc in. I put my recharge port at the bottom of the can where there is a very convenient dimple to allow the kill switch to not poke out.

cram fu.jpg

2. If, like me, you want to be able to remove the core without dealing with wires dangling, connectors, or craming the wire and connectors back in, etc. then you can do what I did. Use a set of custom made pcb boards - one to have four pogo pin connectors and to be attached to the core Crystal chamber and battery/sound board container (see point 1) and the other board to be fixed in the head of the hilt near the LED and blade holder.
With the pogo pins you're assured good contact as long as the core components aren't all loose in the hilt. And, with the use of circle contact points, they will always line up, regardless of how you insert the core.

pogo.jpg

I know that one of the most frustrating (and fun I think) things about building sabers is fitting things in the hilt. And to me its all about the realism of the core components.
I don't own a metal shop, and have limited tools, so its taken years to find or build the items that make it all come together in a way I like.
TCSS is a wonderful place, but often the forums leave it to the builder to fumble around (rightly so, for the most part) but it helps to have others tell their stories with LOTS of pictures.

I hope to finish this thing eventually so I can get on with version 2.0 using the 2nd Graflex hilt i have, both of which I picked up back in the 80's as a kid when the demand wasn't so high.

Al

[Silver Serpent]

That circular contact point and pogo pin setup is genius. I assume you did the custom board etching yourself?

[A Pieroway]

Yes, I made the PCB boards myself. Had to learn a new skill, which is always fun.
I have a drawer full of pogo pins left over. The minimum order size was 100 pins. That wasn't expensive, but I did pay for express shipping which was.
If anyone wants me to send them a few to try it out I can drop them in the mail easy enough, saving you having to order your own. They come in dozens of different sizes, shapes, and lengths, so I bought the ones that work in a HDD spindle.
I can post the printer files on dropbox if anyone requests them to give them a starting point. They're done up in Corel Draw, but I can print them out and let you do them in whatever editor you want using the paper copy as a template.
Al

[Cire Yeldarb]

Very clever! I actually took some pictures of the inside of a wireless microphone some time ago (it had a similar pin/ring setup) as inspiration, but never figured out how to accomplish it. Great job figuring it out!

[A Pieroway]

First lighting test. I still need to add more to spice up the CC look.
Blue looks nice.

image.jpgimage.jpg

[NaasadTal]

That is gorgeous! Not sure how much more "spice" you were planning, but I'd say you don't need much.

[bill_fimm]

That is AWESOME looking. I am brand new to this and am putting together a Graflex 2.0 kit.. you, my friend, truly are making a CUSTOM saber..soooo nice dude.

[A Pieroway]

When it comes to doing up a Graflex, the innards are the only part you can get creative with.
I want to do a MHS or other fully custom build where the hilt will be the creative part, and the insides will just be sturdy, not pretty.