Total nood, First build, need experienced eyes on this before I purchase the parts.

[jedirice]

Hello everyone! Long time lurker, first time posting. Back in 2015, in preparation for the release of The Force Awakens, I came across The Custom Saber Shop and decided I wanted to build my own lightsaber to have for the premiere. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford a complete saber, nor did I have the time/money to build a complete saber back then. So I settled for buying the parts for a shell with the intent of buying and assembling the internals later. Well, I finally have the money for the internal components and want to have someone experienced take a look at this before I make my purchase so that I can be sure I am doing this correctly and will have a functioning saber.

To begin, here are the parts for the shell of my saber as it stands currently, in the order they connect together:
- MPS Pommel style 3 v2
- MPS Insert style 6
- MPS Clip
- 4" Deep fluted double female threaded connector
- Black machined button for Covertec clip
- Double ended male threaded connector style 2
- 3" Double female threaded connector
- Activation box style 19
- 16mm Anti Vandal Short Momentary Blue Ring Switch
- Black momentary switch
- Switchcraft 2.1mm Power Jack
- MHSV1 Blade Holder Style 24
- 8-32 x 3/8" Stainless Steel thumb screw
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As you can see in the attached photos, at the time of purchase I paid for the services to drill/tap the necessary holes for the activation plate, switches, recharge port, covertec button, and retention thumbscrew. I originally wanted a style 9 activation box, but those were out of stock when I bought all of these parts. When all is said and done, I do not intend the black momentary switch to be functional. I think I'll just leave it as an accent.

Ok, now that you know what I am working with, lets get down to business!
First of all, I have very little skill or practice with soldering. As such, I intend to make use of the Modular Wiring System (MWS) as much as I can for this build to minimize the need for soldering. Though, I realize I can't entirely escape the need for it with the way I want this to be built. I also plan to use only TCSS parts.

Here is a link to my wishlist of parts for this build: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Vi...e-525400ecc974

Now, obviously the AV switch and recharge port I originally bought will need to be replaced with MWS wired variants. Because of how close to the threading the AV switch sits, I don't think I have a choice but to buy an LED module with the flat v4 style heatsink as there likely isn't enough room for the longer v3 heatsink. I despise the use of AA or AAA batteries and would prefer the use of a Li-Ion battery pack. This means that there is not a pre-wired MWS speaker available and I will be required to solder the wires to the speaker myself. I also want to include sound in this build so I'm planning to purchase the pre-wired MWS Nano-Biscotte v4. Lastly, choosing to go with a Li-Ion battery and put sound in the saber means that I now need to build a chassis to hold them both. The pictures of the MWS pre-wired NBv4 as compared to the header & wiring harness seemed to make it look like I might need them both to avoid extra work or having a loose wire. If this isn't the case, please let me know, but for $3 I felt it was worth the extra money just to be sure.

Obviously the chassis has to sit in the bottom of the saber, which for me means the pommel and 4" fluted extension. Subtracting the threaded length of the 4" fluted extension piece gives me slightly over 4" of space to work with. Here is my concept for the chassis build. I grabbed as much info as I could about the dimensions of all the pieces and I believe my measurements are correct. The chassis concept was created using an excel spreadsheet with each cell indicating 1/16" of length/thickness. Please let me know what you think as to whether or not this will work.
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As to wiring, since this is an MWS build, the wiring should be relatively simple. A JST connector will need to be soldered to the speaker and will connect to the green wire speaker connector on the NBv4. A JST extension will be connected to the yellow wire connector on the NBv4 which will then run to the connector on my MWS short momentary AV switch with the inline resistor. A JST extension will need to be connected to the Orange/Red wire connector on the NBv4 which will then connect to the LED connector for the MWS short momentary AV switch. A JST extension will need to be connected to the Red/Black wire connector on the NBv4 which will then connect to one of the connectors on the recharge port. Another JST extension will then need to connect to the other connector on the recharge port and run back down to the Li-Ion battery.

Obviously, since the JST extensions are 7 inches long I'll probably want to consider cutting and splicing the wires to shorten them which will mean more soldering. Not to do so will mean a lot of extra wires bundled up inside the saber shell. I can worry about that once I have the whole thing all connected together and working though.

Please tell me what you guys think. Do I have all my ducks in a row? Am I missing anything? Did I make a mistake somewhere in my planning?

[jedirice]

Lol, and yeah, of course after all that I totally misspelled "noob" in the title of the thread. Go figure.

[Tom Tilmon]

Nice looking saber, I really like your switch box set up. Are you gonna use a set screw to secure the chassis into the hilt?

PS: learn to solder. Practice on scrap wire, boards, etc. Soldering is relatively easy, once you get a little practice in. Soldering can open up the whole world and end the hours of staring at pre-built wiring options. You can get easily past that in about a day with some practice. Helping hands are enormously helpful when you are learning. Have a good iron, good solder, and flux.

Tom

[jbkuma]

Lol, and yeah, of course after all that I totally misspelled "noob" in the title of the thread. Go figure.

Aww, man. I was looking forward to lending my experienced eyes to total noods!

I really like the look of this saber. As Tom said, learning to solder can be really satisfying. I have the dexterity of a bowl of jello and I can do it, so I'm sure you can too! The Aoyue 469 is a great starting solder station and it's only $30. If you want to practice you can find nice project kits for around $20 that will build simple circuits with interesting functionality. If you live near a Micro Center they often stock both.

[jedirice]

I hadn't thought about using a set screw to hold it in place. I didn't think that would be necessary though. The style 4 chassis disc has that lip on it that should hold it, and thus the entire chassis, in place in the threaded section between the 4" Deep fluted extension piece and the Double ended male threaded connector style 2. Do you think I would still need to add a set screw to hold it in place as well?

I do already have a soldering iron that I bought cheap a long time ago. I don't even really remember why I bought it or what I did with it, but it has been collecting dust for probably three or four years now. I don't know if there are any hobby stores near where I live that would sell that kind of stuff. Radio Shack I sure would have but they closed all of their stores in my area. The nearest Micro Center to where I live is about a 5 hour drive away.

[jedirice]

I went ahead and purchased the parts for the chassis. I'll test it out and see how well it sits in the bottom half of the hilt and decide from there whether or not a set screw is necessary.

[EXILE]

Like your build. I am a new builder as well and have done tons of research and reading and video watching. I have a question for you in the way of Activation box style 9 and chassis building. Does the momentary switch live outside the chassis on its own while the recharge port is in the chassis Build?
Thank you in advance.
P.S. I am not even sure where I will get your reply that's how new I am.

[jedirice]

The Style 9 activation box has holes for both a momentary AV switch and the recharge port, so both of those are external. For my first build I didn't want to have to disassemble my hilt in order to recharge my batteries. That was why I was looking at the style 9 activation box. Since that was out of stock when I bought those parts, I went with the style 19 activation box which is essentially the same but has a slot for a second momentary switch. I took the activation plate off to better illustrate. In the picture below, from left to right on the activation plate, I have a gold colored Blue ring LED momentary AV switch, a Black momentary switch, and the recharge port. The wires for the battery will run from the chassis up through the hilt to the recharge port and then back down the hilt to the chassis again to connect to the NBv4.
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