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Thread: Proteus

  1. #1

    Default Proteus

    Introducing Proteus.

    This is my first commissioned saber. Since this was only the second time I built a saber, and largely before I did any research here at TCSS. Making this hilt ended up being a losing proposition for me, but it was more about experimenting than it was about making money, and the owner's contribution was really research funding more than anything.

    The request was to base the design on a few ancient African swords, and include the colors and theme of Barbados. Since this was made on a tight budget, there was a challenge in materials and technique.

    It was important to it's owner that the grip be braided blue, gold, and black. He originally wanted it to be leather, but we quickly realized that was out of his budget. We settled on using cotton tapes which I braided over a cardboard tube, then coated in several layers of polyurethane. The pommel is a brass bell epoxied to a brass compression ring. Since I had access to a bucket brass compression rings this was a nice source for design elements that would keep the budget down.

    The etched portion was inspired by the trident motif of the Barbados flag with the pelican and fish motifs from the coat of arms. The design was kept simple as this was meant to be on a budget, and because I would cut the stencil out by hand. Some of the imperfections and residue were left behind to give it an older, more used feel as part of the owners parameters. The brass button housing is a machined bit of brass bar stock made chiefly using a grinder and a sanding drum.

    To keep as close to budget as possible this was planned to be a "dumb" hilt, but I crammed in a battery pack to light up the button and activate a basic sound card for ignition/hum and extinguishing. That put the hilt a bit over budget, but I had the parts on hand from other experimentation and decided to just toss it in.

    I learned a lot in this build from both the experimentation and the cost constraints. It has given me a lot of ideas about future projects I've had in mind and will no doubt be invaluable to those projects. I have at 3 more projects in the design stage, and there are aspects of this build that will contribute to each of those in a big way.

    Last edited by jbkuma; 03-20-2018 at 04:20 PM.

  2. #2

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    That's a mighty fine piece of work jb. Nice job.

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Greenie View Post
    That's a mighty fine piece of work jb. Nice job.
    Thanks! If nothing else, I think it's pretty unique! I was honestly a bit skeptical of parts of the build. He really wanted it, so I gave it a shot and I'm pretty happy with it, all things considered. Given a larger budget I'd liked to have given it some more detail, but I guess that's what the next project is for ;D

  4. #4

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    Hey that is nice! Test saber or no, this came out awesome!
    Also personally I like switches mounted high on the hilt, well done sir.
    I like the pommel too, found parts are great fun

    -Darkmatter73

  5. #5

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    very nice job on the weaving, it looks hard to do.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darkmatter73 View Post
    Hey that is nice! Test saber or no, this came out awesome!
    Also personally I like switches mounted high on the hilt, well done sir.
    I like the pommel too, found parts are great fun
    Thank you! The switch was determined pretty early in the design process and just looked pretty good there so it stayed. I tried to design it with the potential for an upgrade later, so the switch and port are located so I can still get 2" of blade in if the owner decides he wants an upgrade later. I've got a couple options for sound, but we'll cross that bridge if he decides to go for it later.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sevinzol View Post
    very nice job on the weaving, it looks hard to do.
    Thanks! It took a few tries to get it right, and I tried a couple different patterns to find something that worked well. After doing it and redoing it a few times I got the method down, the key is to take time and keep careful track of the pattern. Doing it over a cardboard tube meant I could pin it down when I was getting close to the end and when I was tightening it up. I happened to have a cardboard tube that perfectly fit over a 1.25" ID tube, so it has served me well in prototyping and now in this build.

  7. #7

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    Sweet bro! ...good looking saber. Also like the weaving.

  8. #8

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    There a nice Tibetan vibe in the pommel too. Interesting and beautiful!

  9. #9

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    I enjoyed it before I read about the creative ingenuity that was involved. That made me enjoy it even more.

  10. #10

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    Thanks, guys!
    Quote Originally Posted by DoodaMaffs View Post
    There a nice Tibetan vibe in the pommel too.
    I actually got the bell from a Hindu religious shop. It happened to be the perfect size.

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