Scratch build questions

[mr fixit]

I would like to build a saber from scratch. My plan is to use my lathe to make a hilt. I need to know what ID tubing to start with. How large does the ID need to be to fit the batteries and electronic board into?

[minorhero]

I am building a saber using both mhs parts and bits of tubing from bicycles and wood turned on my lathe. The central steel tube has an outer diameter of 1.25 and an inner diameter of 1.19 inches. I wouldn't want to make one with a smaller diameter then this, it's just big enough for a 18650 battery and a sound card on top. Bigger would provide more space. Do you plan to use any mhs parts at all such as emitter, pommel, etc? Is this a wood lathe or metal lathe you will be using?

[rlobrecht]

MHS v1 parts are ID 1.25" and OD 1.45".

[mr fixit]

I am building a saber using both mhs parts and bits of tubing from bicycles and wood turned on my lathe. The central steel tube has an outer diameter of 1.25 and an inner diameter of 1.19 inches. I wouldn't want to make one with a smaller diameter then this, it's just big enough for a 18650 battery and a sound card on top. Bigger would provide more space. Do you plan to use any mhs parts at all such as emitter, pommel, etc? Is this a wood lathe or metal lathe you will be using?

Metal lathe. May buy an emitter, just depends on how industrious I feel. Was thinking for sure buying the electronics.

[minorhero]

If you can I would stick with either an outer diameter of 1.25 or an outer diameter of 1.45. The reason being that its very easy to use mhs parts in either of those dimensions if you decide you need to do so. Many mhs (though not all) will slide right over a tube with an outer diameter of 1.25 allowing you to layer pieces and make some pretty cool designs. Using a diameter of 1.45 will allow you to take advantage of the mhs activation boxes if you choose to do so but will also allow you to use the sleeve material to create shrouds which is a pretty important design consideration in many sabers.

Your chassis is also something you will want to give consideration to upfront if you are making your own body. Making everything fit inside a saber is not necessarily easy. Just switches and 2 18650 batteries take up a significant percentage of internal volume. If you know for certain you are going to have say a sound card, a battery pack, and a speaker. I would go ahead and order those from the store now and when you get them in you can get a very good idea for just how much space they will take up and how you will need to arrange them. If you plan a crystal chamber you may want to sketch out how much space it will take up as well.

[k6gad]

Take a good look at the MHS chassis parts... they will make it a lot easier to mount your electronics. They have two basic sizes got different id. I wish I had started there it would have made my life a lot easier.....