Seth Skywalkers first lightsaber

[Tom Tilmon]

I think it looks awesome! I love the grips in the exposure. That looks cool with them up high. Very unique saber! I likey!

Tom

[Greenie]

Nice looking saber young Skywalker. Great work on the shroud.


Greenie

[Seth Skywalker]

Nice looking saber young Skywalker. Great work on the shroud.


Greenie

“Young skywalker” I think I like that. Glad that such an excellent saber smith as you likes it! I actually am proud of how the shroud turned out. I think drilling holes will be next.

[Seth Skywalker]

Do you fellows think this is a good place to drill the blade retention screw hole?
[IMG][/IMG]

[TwinMill]

That location could work. I built a stunt saber for a relative not too long ago using the same blade holder
*powder coated in black wrinkle* and iirc, I had TCSS drill/tap the retention hole just a bit lower than shown
on your pic. My thinking was: thicker material - more meat (threads) for the retention screw to grab hold
of / less chance of the hole getting stripped out. Finally, the screw I chose is the TCSS red acetal thumb
screw since she wanted a dark side / sith inspired saber.

[djmehs]

You've got quite a future ahead of you. Like Tom said, the fact you're fortunate enough to have access to the equipment you do and to have such an experienced person to learn from is awesome. Soak it all in! You're also very well-spoken for your age. That's gonna take you far as well!

That being said I love the lightsaber! It looks well designed and the shroud work is impressive.

If I had one recommendation however, the only one would be something that I personally have been having a hard time planning for with my first build and it's the space inside the hilt that you'll be working with. Especially with a chassis. The inner diameter of that grenade section is pretty tight from what I understand, and based on the layout of your hilt, I'm assuming that's where you're planning on putting everything. I'm pretty sure TCSS carries chassis disks that fit inside those sections, but it's gonna be a TIGHT squeeze both length and width and your cram-fu will need to be impressive if my zero years of experience counts for anything.l

If I'm mistaken I apologize. Hopefully one of these guys with a bazillion lightsaber builds under their belt will step in and correct me

[Seth Skywalker]

That location could work. I built a stunt saber for a relative not too long ago using the same blade holder
*powder coated in black wrinkle* and iirc, I had TCSS drill/tap the retention hole just a bit lower than shown
on your pic. My thinking was: thicker material - more meat (threads) for the retention screw to grab hold
of / less chance of the hole getting stripped out. Finally, the screw I chose is the TCSS red acetal thumb
screw since she wanted a dark side / sith inspired saber.

Thanks for the help! Yesterday I was studying the blade holder for the correct place to drill the retention screw and was thinking I should place it a bit lower than I had it in the pic. Trying to find the right balance, if I put the blade retention screw higher up the blade will be more stable but if I put it too high, it probably will ruin either the hole or bend the blade holder a little. Could you show me some pictures of the lightsaber you made that would be really helpful!

You've got quite a future ahead of you. Like Tom said, the fact you're fortunate enough to have access to the equipment you do and to have such an experienced person to learn from is awesome. Soak it all in! You're also very well-spoken for your age. That's gonna take you far as well!

That being said I love the lightsaber! It looks well designed and the shroud work is impressive.

If I had one recommendation however, the only one would be something that I personally have been having a hard time planning for with my first build and it's the space inside the hilt that you'll be working with. Especially with a chassis. The inner diameter of that grenade section is pretty tight from what I understand, and based on the layout of your hilt, I'm assuming that's where you're planning on putting everything. I'm pretty sure TCSS carries chassis disks that fit inside those sections, but it's gonna be a TIGHT squeeze both length and width and your cram-fu will need to be impressive if my zero years of experience counts for anything.l

If I'm mistaken I apologize. Hopefully one of these guys with a bazillion lightsaber builds under their belt will step in and correct me

Thanks a lot for the compliments! I think( and hope!)it will fit. I have every thing test fitted in there. The speaker has space in the pommel and there is room in the grenade section for both the lithium ion battery and the nano. Switch and recharge port on the top section in the shroud covered area.

[Seth Skywalker]

Yay! Tapping and drilling set arriving tomorrow via amazon. I will be doing tht tomorrow!

[Tom Tilmon]

Do you fellows think this is a good place to drill the blade retention screw hole?
[IMG][/IMG]

I have found better success splitting the difference within the blade socket. I try to drill most of mine in about the middle of the blade socket. I have had to put some higher or lower as well. Sometimes, you can get a little wiggle, but most of the TCSS blade holders are milled pretty tight on the blades, so the set screw just holds the blade in. I think what you have is fine, but I think aesthetically, I'd put it further back and out of those "claws" on the emitter. Let them stand alone.

Tom

[Seth Skywalker]

I think it looks awesome! I love the grips in the exposure. That looks cool with them up high. Very unique saber! I likey!

Tom

Thanks Tom! Your opinion matters alot to me.