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Thread: NeoPixel build part list

  1. #1

    Default NeoPixel build part list

    Hi,

    Need a sanity check before pulling the trigger on the major parts of this saber as its my first.
    I'm Australian, so much of what I could find locally was prioritized. Unfortunately for my budget... a lot of it wasn't.

    Parts: Items in bold already purchased

    Saberforge arbiter hilt.
    2 x skinny white NeoPixel strips (the 144 led per metre variety).
    Vaders Vault Photon Blade 34".
    Plecter Prizm 5.1
    Nitecore 18650 3400mAh battery (found here http://www.ausbatteries.com/lithium/...n-battery.html )
    3x TCSS Foam tube for 1" thin tubes.
    2 X TCSS 12mm momentary white LED switches.
    3.5mm R.I.C.E. Port Style 2.
    20mm 4ohm 2W Bass Speaker
    18650 Battery Holder Wired (This particular version apparently fits the longer protected 18650's and is found at SulpherCityFoundry).
    2 x GX16 10-pin connector for blade, hilt and charger(if possible).
    390ohm 1/4w resistor.
    470µF electrolytic capacitor for the strips as per plecter instructions.
    Blade film (thin walled)
    A 3d printed chassis that I've been noodling with in software, but won't be finalised until I can get my hands on the actual parts.

    So that's the list so far, not sure if I'm missing anything in particular.
    So with the Arbiter hilt's guts giving me only 28mm to work with I've opted for the 20mm speaker.
    Will obviously have to drill a hole somewhere for the RICE port. Thinking almost exactly opposite and between the 12mm switch location.
    Also considering ordering one each of the TCSS amber and blue enhanced blades just to see what best produces the colours I'm looking for - might also be fun to capture some footage in 4k via my sony a6500 of all the different effects of the three blades for youtube etc.

    A quick mockup of the internals using blocky geometry.


    So my questions are currently:
    What am I missing?
    What gauge wire should I be working with?
    Is charging via the hilt blade connector a possibility with the 10-pin?
    And finally how critical is an ESD safe soldering station? Built pc's on carpet before and survived so... are there more risks here or is it just an abundance of caution?

    Cheers!
    Last edited by RarestSquirrel; 11-12-2017 at 05:39 PM.

  2. #2

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    Really like the blade diffuser TCSS sells for my neopixel blade so I’d consider that. Now, maybe it’s just me but I’m holding off (with extreme difficulty) any further builds until they start stocking their neopixel adapters. Hopefully they get them soon

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Meatsweats View Post
    Really like the blade diffuser TCSS sells for my neopixel blade so I’d consider that. Now, maybe it’s just me but I’m holding off (with extreme difficulty) any further builds until they start stocking their neopixel adapters. Hopefully they get them soon
    I think the VV photon comes with diffuser film already, which is handy. Spose grabbing two more for the other blades would be smart - but whats the difference between the diffuse and film?
    As to the neopixel adapter, I'm under the impression that said adapter will pretty much just be blade power and data, not charging and the like. There's also the slight issue of waiting vs shipping times in the run up to TLJ's premiere that I'd like to have this ready for.
    Shipping things to Australia unsurprisingly takes an annoying amount of time.

  4. #4

    Default

    The blade diffuser is a white rigid insert that does a good job removing the corncobbing of the leds. I preferred that over the blade film when I was testing diffusion techniques, but it could be a matter of preference. In terms of the adapter, you could get whatever adapter you want, but my thinking is for future builds I’d like to keep the same standard adapter and not have multiple set ups, that’s why I’m waiting for the TCSS one.

  5. #5

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    The TCSS difuser, if nothing else, is by FAR the simplest way. A couple meters of gift wrap really helps finish the job. It's very difficult to photograph the difference but it's pretty dramatic.

    Early on I standardized on aviation connectors. This allows me to charge and program my hilts through a blade socket adapter, as well as use an adapter to change to an RGB setup.

  6. #6

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    Blade diffuser it is then! Saves a few bucks, shiny.
    Cheers.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by jbkuma View Post
    The TCSS difuser, if nothing else, is by FAR the simplest way. A couple meters of gift wrap really helps finish the job. It's very difficult to photograph the difference but it's pretty dramatic.

    Early on I standardized on aviation connectors. This allows me to charge and program my hilts through a blade socket adapter, as well as use an adapter to change to an RGB setup.
    So you use gift wrap, the diffuser and no foam? Do you sand the outside of the blade as well?

  8. #8

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by jbkuma View Post
    The difuser IS foam. http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Fo...bes-P1336.aspx

    I don't sand anything.
    Oh, so you don't use the hard diffuser tube? I've tried it two ways:

    - 7/8 trans-white with 2ft of giftwrap and a super-tightly wound wrap of packing foam over standard width neopixel strips (10mm)
    - 7/8 clear with the hard diffuser tube and much looser wrap of foam over the skinny strips (6mm)

    The trans-white blade w/standard strips has a pretty noticeable shadow whereas the clear blade with the hard diffuser looks much better with some subtle shadowing where the foam wrap edges show through. I started my blade project before the tcss foam tubes were available.
    Last edited by SA22C; 11-13-2017 at 09:51 AM.

  10. #10

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    My best blade was using white foam (not the tube) and gift wrap in a clear blade. Wrapping the foam in gift wrap will even out the shaddow. I have never used the skinny strips. I had a strip go out due to a poor solder joint and with the clear gift wrap the whole blade illuminated and at first I thought one of the strips was just under-powered or some other strange thing going on.

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