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Thread: Desigining a lightsaber.

  1. #1

    Default Desigining a lightsaber.

    So with my graduation from college coming up, a lot of changes are coming my way. New living spaces, a new career, etc. I figure that having reached this milestone in my life I should treat myself in some way, and since I no longer have the money to routinely invest in video game equipment. I might as well invest it in something that will keep me moving (hence why not a lightsaber). I originally thought of just buying a saberforge apprentice line as a stunt saber, but after hearing about the shoddy service I have since reconsidered. Instead I've thought to just design a saber of my own. My goals with the design were simple. First, keep it within the traditional dimensions of a standard lightsaber hilt. 2. make the hilt easy to wield in a one-handed or two handed fashion, with an emphasis on blade control, and grip. Third was to design a lightsaber that kept to the basic, traditional elements of the Prequel and Original hilt designs, but diverged enough to call the design my own (something that i could wield if i or my character was a jedi). My initial design, came out something like this.

    SaberBuilder_render.jpg

    I played around with a few other designs...

    SaberBuilder_render2.jpg

    SaberBuilder_render4.jpg

    SaberBuilder_render5.jpg

    SaberBuilder_render6.jpg

    SaberBuilder_render6b.jpg

    SaberBuilder_render7.jpg

    before returning to the original. after tweaking it with some feedback from r/lightsabers my final design (save for variations in the ribbing, and the covertec vs a d-ring pommel) came out to this:

    SaberBuilder_render3b.jpg

    I'm still trying to figure out how i would install electronics into it. but I feel that at least have a base that i can build off of going into the future. What do you guys think? How might I improve this design? What blade color do you think would fit it? (I'm feeling torn between amber, white, and blue personally, but I'd love your thoughts)

  2. #2

    Default

    Hi AeolusDrift,
    I'm only a saber-newbie, but you've come to the right place. I just assembled and wired up my first saber, and these forums can be invaluable. It pays to surf some of the stickied topics and check out the TCSS YouTube videos.

    I dig the design. It does have a classic lightsaber look. Here are a few things to consider from a rookie.

    -I know this is obvious, but don't hesitate to ask questions on this forum! It's a great resource as I've already said, and the community is very helpful.
    -Do you want just light or light and sound? I really wanted light AND sound, so I went with the very popular Nano Biscotte V4 sound card. Plus, with a little extra work & wiring you could go with a Red/Green/Royal Blue (RGB) LED for any color blade. But it depends on what you want and can afford. If you want more advice about just a lighted saber, I know there are better folks on here for that info.
    -The ribbed/grenade extension has a slightly smaller inner diameter compared to the grip and gear extensions you have behind it (1.15" ID vs. 1.25" ID). That can matter when you're trying to fit wiring, a chassis/soundcard & speaker inside. I'm not saying "don't use a grenade section, just know that it has a little slimmer space.
    -Chassis (whether built with TCSS chassis parts, or bought online or made yourself) can be very helpful, but do take a little more space than you think. Based on where you have the switch placed in your current design, I think you might have to put any soundcard and/or battery towards the middle or front of the saber. You can probably still have the speaker in the pommel.
    -Do you want to use a wired recharge port or use removable batteries? Again, wiring a recharge port takes just a little more work but it can make charging up the saber easier. Plus, it means you probably won't have to unscrew your pommel (or other parts) to access your internals as often.

    Good luck!

  3. #3

    Default

    Welcome to the Forums.

    Part of your process is figuring out what you are going to want to put in it - type of sound card, etc. Though it may look nice on the outside, it may be totally unworkable for you to wire up internally. That’s always part of the “design process”.
    TCSS MODERATOR
    All n00bs READ these first (PLEASE)!!!:
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    "Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before... you want blindingly bright, super loud, running 1138 blinkies off of the cheapest sound card you can find AND you want all of it to run on a battery the size of a dime, and run for a very, VERY long time. That one cracks me up every time..."
    My email: fjk_tcss@yahoo.com

  4. #4

    Default

    Welcome to the party, Aeolus!

    What jumped out at me was you not knowing what color you wanted for a blade. From one beginner to another, a pico crumble might be good for you, with a red/green/royal blue LED. You only have one sound font, but you can cycle through all the potential color combos. It's what I used on my first build because I too could not decide on a blade color.

    It's the least expensive soundcard, it doesn't require any extras like a power extender, and it was relatively easy to wire considering I'd never worked a soundcard before that.

    Good luck and may the force be with you!!
    Player: I feel your anger, master.
    Darth Baras: A blind, deaf, comatose, lobotomy patient could feel MY ANGER!!

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vereous View Post
    Welcome to the party, Aeolus!

    What jumped out at me was you not knowing what color you wanted for a blade. From one beginner to another, a pico crumble might be good for you, with a red/green/royal blue LED. You only have one sound font, but you can cycle through all the potential color combos. It's what I used on my first build because I too could not decide on a blade color.

    It's the least expensive soundcard, it doesn't require any extras like a power extender, and it was relatively easy to wire considering I'd never worked a soundcard before that.

    Good luck and may the force be with you!!
    Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I'd prefer to go with a single color to preserve the brightness and fullness of the blade. Upon further reflection I think I'd like to settle for a bluish white.

  6. #6

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    Welcome to the forums AeolusDrift. First question: I'm a diver, and I have drift dived the shipwreck Aeolus. Is that how your screen name came to be?

    I think the biggest issue you're going to have with that design is where your switches pop down through the hilt. That will really limit the space you have available for a proper chassis system. I think others are trying to say:

    You must think of your internal system first. For instance, if you are using a MHS V6 Chassis, which is a good choice for a first build. Your switch would have to be further forward to keep it out of the way of the chassis. I just installed a saberforge whose switch was mounted way too low in the chassis, and it created a huge obstacle on the install. I solved it, but it wasn't ideal. There I was having to deal with someone else's faulty design. Since you are designing your own saber, put that switch further forward to make room for a proper chassis; whether that is TCSS Disk chassis (which will include speaker holder, battery, board, and possibly RC Port), or a MHS V6 Chassis. Good luck on your design/build.

    PS, watch all of madcow's videos on the TCSS YouTube Channel. They help accelerate the learning curve immensely. I'm probably older than Madcow, but as I'm watching his videos, he is as good as my father was at explaining things in a way you can easily understand. Everytime I'm watching Rob Petkau, he does remind me of my father.

    Tom

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  7. #7

    Default

    Seconded. Watching Madcow explain things using simple, confident language makes it easy to grasp. Like watching Bob Ross paint.

  8. #8

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Tilmon View Post
    Welcome to the forums AeolusDrift. First question: I'm a diver, and I have drift dived the shipwreck Aeolus. Is that how your screen name came to be?

    Tom
    No, not quite. A bunch of my friends irl used to go by the gametag of ether and hadesshadow respectively, so after years of going by interceptor online I decided I wanted to have a name more fitting in the mythological theme. I came across the name aeolus from an old space-sim series called freespace, where one of the ship classes was actually called the Aeolus, . the "Drift" part is more symbolical to how i see my self in the world, a single sole drifting on the winds of fate. Aeolus being the name of the Greek god of the wind, became a natural fit. Hence the origin.

  9. #9

    Default

    Oh well. I guess I'm still the only diving/starwars saber nerd. I hope you understand what we're saying about your innards. Design from inside out.

    Tom

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

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