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Thread: ANH, ESB, TFA Grafex Project

  1. #1

    Default ANH, ESB, TFA Graflex Project

    Not all in one, all 3. I've gone saber building nuts. While I have this project going on, I also re-designed and re-built my Mako MHS RGB saber. New main tube, new chassis, in-chassis rc port. I had to solve some issues. My work bench is very busy right now. Very busy. Tonight I finished Saber 1, which was ANH Graflex.

    I am using Korbanth Graflex 2.0 replicas as the base for these sabers.

    So, this first post is some photos of the first Graflex which is ANH version. This saber is powered by NBIV. It has a RGB accent LED illuminating the crystal, which is wired to match blade color and FOC my way, which is fairly unique. It has a DR Chassis system (Knight), TCSS blade plugs, red button activation, 2 blue accent LED's under the board, accurate screws, milled down glass eye for blade retention, Veco Bass Speaker, B,B,W tri-cree, and the crystal is a real quartz crystal in the chassis chamber.

    All 3 kits ready to roll!


    Build progress:
    Main LED BBW

    NBIV Solders

    Accent LED's under the board

    Quartz Crystal and DR chassis

    Glass Eye with accurate slotted screw above it.

    Fired Up!

    Brass Contacts on pins

    Slotted screw on clamp

    Riveted D-Ring, with hollowed out rivet.


    Quick video snippet of crystal chamber in action. FOC in crystal chamber looks goldish here, in person, it looks white. But you get the idea.

    Last edited by Tom Tilmon; 10-01-2017 at 08:13 AM. Reason: fixed mispells

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  2. #2

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    Looking Awesome!

    Is you 501st crew picky about screen accuracy? I have some possible local 501st looking to commision a saber, I am a little worries they might demand 100% screen accuracy.

    Thanks for posting! I was hoping for some pics of these builds!

  3. #3

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    They're picky, but not too bad. If you have facebook, there is a group called Graflex Addict's Support Group. There is tons of good information there about how to mod these 2.0's tom make them better. The most glaring inaccuracy is the S curve on the emitter; however, its not glaring enough to stop approval in the Rebel Legion. The 2.0 is waaaaaaaaay better than the Hasbro junk, or dare I say Master Replicas. The 2.0 is an outstanding looking hilt, and should work for submission with Rebel Legion. I have seen some of the junk they are approved with, and the 2.0s are certainly a step up from that, as is the K4. I will post more pics of the rest as they come together. Waiting on some parts now, I ordered the wrong clamp switch holder, and that delayed the whole mess. After this weekend, building a box for the TFA one. Should be all done by the end of the month, and ready to roll in November, which is what I was aiming for. Have them ready before TLJ comes out!

    Tom
    Last edited by Tom Tilmon; 10-03-2017 at 11:11 AM.

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  4. #4

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    Finished TFA Graflex tonight. It has Prizm 5.1, RGB main, RGB Crystal (blade matching), 4 accent LED's, lots of accuracy upgrades, fancy red button, and clamp card switches. Those clamp card switches gave me fits tonight, and I still have a lot of adjusting to do. Too tired to post pics or video.

    Tom

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  5. #5

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    ESB is on the bench now, then I have to get RICE working on TFA and ESB. Then box for TFA, saber stands, and this project is done! This project has allowed me to learn Prizm boards, and I love them. Awesome board! I'll be using Prizm for my neopixel build.

    Tom

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  6. #6

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    I had a issue with two of my installs, in that a round rice port plug would have looked out of place on the installs. So, after some advice here, I decided to order some 3 prong micro JST plugs. I installed the female on the chassis, in an area that previously had a similar shaped area that I cut out. I then attached the male end of the micro JST to the USB Cable appropriately, ignoring the positive feed on the USB wire. After I installed the female onto the chassis, I soldered my ground wire to the battery, and the TXD/RXD to the appropriate spots as depicted below (forgive my child-like drawing skills, but you get the point):



    Video of it working:



    Added this to two of the three Graflex 2.0's I'm building. ESB/TFA variants. Tested on both, unbelieveable! Pretty awesome stuff, and the good news is that this solution kept my chassis looking like it was originally. I'm sure I could have adapted it for a normal RICE stereo plug, but what fun would that be? Its always good to try different tactics, you might learn something!

    Tom

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  7. #7

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    Final cut on the ANH version:



    Doing final bits on ESB/TFA now. Almost all done with this project.

    Tom
    Last edited by Tom Tilmon; 06-30-2018 at 02:09 PM.

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  8. #8

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    Finished ESB, perfected RICE interface via micro jst for both TFA and ESB versions! This was a huge project for me, and I learned a lot on this deal. I'm also getting way better at making my own blades! I'm really proud of how they turn out. I use TCSS materials, and VV style on thin-walled blades. The only thing I dislike about them, is from some angles, you can see the graininess of the sanded outside. I use 1000 grit. But man are they bright and diffuse the light evenly. I guess I need to order/try a trans white blade, so I can make a decision on where to go with my neopixel build. I am tearing apart my personal graflex 2.0 with NBIV, putting in Prizm 5.1, RICE, and neopixels! I guess I'll light up my chamber with a cut off neopixel somehow wired in before the blade? I don't know there. Anyhow, here is the ESB Saber!

    Last edited by Tom Tilmon; 06-30-2018 at 02:09 PM.

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  9. #9

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    TFA Version. Big difference from ESB is the shine through glass eye milled down to brass, and the core work to allow shine through. This one also has red button and clamp card activation.



    This project is done. Now onto my MHS build, and then Neopixels in my personal graflex with Prizm 5.1!!!

    Tom
    Last edited by Tom Tilmon; 06-30-2018 at 02:11 PM.

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  10. #10

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    Nice work.

    I am trying to figure out how to wire a neopixel chamber up as well. I am hoping to have a multi-LED type adaptable saber, but I can't wrap my head around having a neopixel chamber and a tricree(in adaptor) in one saber...

    It'll take some thinking.

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