Tons of questions.

[steamboat28]

I know there are loads of tutorials and videos and threads here to help beginners, but I had a few questions I couldn't find answers to, or that I just needed a second opinion on. If this is in the wrong place, please feel free to move it, but I'm curious about the following:

• If you could only build one lightsaber, is it worth it to splurge on the highest quality parts, or to stay within a smaller budget?
• Is there a way, besides just ordering a part, to get the dimensions of MHS parts so I can pre-prep some ideas on wooden shrouds?
• Is there really a difference in the speaker types?
• As a first time saber builder who can follow a wiring diagram pretty well, should I start small or go ham?
• I want to build an internal crystal chamber with chassis parts. I've heard the metal disks don't fit completely into the mhs parts; how does that work? I've seena lot of designs for them, but no videos or diagrams about how they actually fit into the saber.
• How do I know when my parts list is complete if I'm building from scratch? A lot of the helpful lists on the forums are either out of date or not the kind of project I'm after.

Thanks for putting up with newbie questions. I probably have more I'm not thinking of, but I didn't want to be too annoying.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Welcome to the Forums.

To answer your questions:

1. The beauty of working with the MHS stsyem is you can “add on” a bit later.
2. The outside diameter of most MHS parts are 1.45”, if you are going to use other parts, I would wait until you have them in hand.
3. Yes, a little.
4. Start small, it’s easier and less painful to screw up a $50 board than screwing up a $150. Board.
5. Some disks DO fit inside, you just have to make sure the disks you pick fit the interior sections you are fitting them into.
6. If you’re building from scratch?? As in not building MHS parts from the store? If you post what you’re trying to do, the experienced people here will likely be able to help you out.

[steamboat28]

6. If you’re building from scratch?? As in not building MHS parts from the store? If you post what you’re trying to do, the experienced people here will likely be able to help you out.

No, I'm building from the MHS parts in the store, and modding after.

Thanks for the help and the warm welcome!

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Your best bet would be to post a picture of your proposed hilt and what your planning to stuff in it, and we can tell you how realistic your plans are.

[steamboat28]

This is what I'm thinking so far. I am very, very, very open to suggestions.

All I really want is some sound, some lights, and room for a small quartz point inside. I plan to get a thick-walled blade for dueling, too, if that helps matters.

[Jediseth]

Welcome! I would ask on rather you want to go big or go small. Are you good with soldering? If not I would learn on some cheaper soundboards so you don’t ruin a CF on your first attempt. You can put a crystal chamber in line with the blade even with a Nano sound board. #2 disks should fit in your body and extension parts you purchase at the TCSS store. My experience is the boards are all pretty easy to soldier once you’ve done a couple.

[Tom Tilmon]

So, chassis disks, including enough room for a crystal chamber could easily fit in that saber with a bit of modifications. Have you seen madcow's video on building fixed chassis? If not, here it is.

I found TCSS Tutorials very helpful in expediting the learning process about the potential and uses for various TCSS parts. I basically took this idea from Rob's video above, and built a saber with crystal chamber using the same chassis system. The only mod you would need to make to your current saber design is to add a 2" double female and a gender changer (double male). The gender changer is how you secure your chassis into the hilt on the video above using the disks Rob describes. The hilt, your main hilt piece then screws onto the gender changer. Again, watching the video above several times is key.



Tom

[Tom Tilmon]

My results adding the crystal chamber to Rob's chassis style with TCSS disks:

Here were my results on a Nihilus-esque MHS saber I built. Fixed chassis, and simple crystal chamber. The hard part on this build is that your switches must be above the chassis, and before or in the blade holder. Here is the Nihilus chassis with simple crystal chamber:


Tom

[steamboat28]

I've been watching those videos religiously for a week now. They're so helpful! Also, the other video you linked? That saber is phenomenal, and the chassis is essentially what I'm after. Thanks!

Are the gender changer and the female extension necessary for space, or to hold the disks? In other words, can I exchange that 7" MHS hilt 1 for a similarly-styled extension at a shorter length, or do I need all that length for what I'm doing?

[Tom Tilmon]

To fit the Crystal Chamber in there, and RC Port, and Board, you will need that 7" section. Its very tight. It can maybe be reduced to 6" hilt section, but you are killing yourself for space then.

The 2" female is needed to give you a female end off the blade holder (giving room in blade holder for your heat sink). The switch(es) must fit in that 2" section for this style of chassis to work. Then the metal chassis disk, I think its Disk 5 fits in that female 2" section. The Gender changer then slides over the chassis and screws into the 2" female section to secure your chassis disk into place in the 2" female.

I could have maybe tightened this up by reducing the hilt body by an inch where you see the wires coming out of the crystal chamber to go to the board, but, man that would be tight quarters to come right out of the crystal chamber tubes and onto your board, but it could be done. If you used a 6" hilt piece, and the 2" female, you would only increase the length of your design by 1" to accomplish this. Of course, if you could figure out a way to connect the RC Port externally in the 2" section, that could allow you to shorten your chassis even further, because you wouldn't have the recharge port taking up the inch or so it takes. So there are ways to tweak this design from Madcow even further. You almost need to order all the parts, including extra chassis disks and metal disks to put it all together via brainstorming. I ordered a bunch of different metal disks and a bunch of NBIV/18650 chassis disks to brainstorm this chassis out. That way you know what you're dealing with. Build the chassis first to your liking, then engineer your switch/rc port locations, then build the saber around the chassis. Build from inside out. That is how I always think about it.

Thank you for the compliments on the Nihilus-esque saber, I had a lot of fun building it. I build it for one of my Garrison mates, and it was hard to cut that one loose. I have the parts to build another one now that will be a bit more technologically complex. Similar chassis design, better crystal chamber, better board, and neopixels. Its going to be awesome.

Tom