Adding weight to my MHS Hilt

[HaydenF]

I recently made a hilt for my custom saber, just recently receiving the parts. After assembling it, I noticed that it was pretty light, being just over a pound. Obviously a empty hilt will be light, but not much more weight is added once the electronics are installed, as the other main source of weight for the hilt would be the 18650 battery. I'm using a thick walled blade for the build as well, so the weight is shifted towards the blade end over the hilt end. I was wondering if there was any good way to add weight to my hilt to counterbalance the thick-walled blade, and have a balanced saber. Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Ridire Fíréan]

Hey @HaydenF ! You might try incorporating a steel sleeve into your chassis, or maybe some steel washers at the end.

Also, if you used plastic TCSS Chassis Parts, you could switch them out for the metal ones.

Another thing to consider would be locating the battery as close to the pommel as posible; it won't help with overall weight, but it will help bring the balance point rearward.

Good Luck on your build! Let us know what you come up with!

[HaydenF]

Where could I find a steel sleeve that will fit inside the MHS v1 ID?

[Ridire Fíréan]

Hey @HaydenF ! These guys have all sorts of tubes!!!...

https://www.onlinemetals.com/

Just look for tubes that have the same O.D. (Outer Diameter) as the I.D. (Inner Diameter) of your particular MHS Part!

Remember that the greater your tube's Wall Thickness, the heavier the tube will be, but conversely, the smaller your I.D. will become, and therefore the less space you'll have to fit your components inside!

So, for instance, if you wanted to put a steel tube into a MHS part with an I.D. of 1-1/8", you could get a length of 1-1/8" O.D. steel tubing...

https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/buy/...less/pid/14770

... and your new I.D. will have dropped from 1-1/8" down to ~127/128".

Essentially you will have lost 1/8" in Internal Diameter, and you'll have to make certain you can fit your components within a ~<1" I.D. tube.

If you have access to Fusion360 (Free Trial or Paid Subscription) you can use that to model your parts and components and move them around to see how they will all fit together.
Don't have Fusion360, but want to learn how to use it, check out Lars Christensen's YouTube videos...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5bc9c3S12g

...HE'S AMAZING!!!

I draw all my components either by hand or in Illustrator, often both. It's a great way to putz around with ideas and is invaluable in making certain you are not wasting money on components that won't fit together.

A quick cheat, is to put your hilt together in the MHS Builder, click on the "Cutaway" button, PrintScreen copy + Paste into Illustrator, size the image to a known dimension (say the O.D. of the Blade Holder), or the known length of a particular component (like a 4" Extension), using a couple of lengths and diameters to double check your resizing, then print the image off a few times at 50% Opacity and you can doodle right on the prints with your mechanical pencils to organize your components' layout.

Don't forget that tubes are round! End Views and component widths are essential in determining whether or not a component will fit where you thought it might in a Side View!

I hope this helps you some! Good Luck on your mock up! And on your final build too!

p.s. Another route you could try would be to add Steel Rods to sections between MHS Chassis Discs where space was available.

[jbkuma]

I've weighted hilts before by putting copper coils the pommel. You can buy thick gauge wire at the hardware store. Copper has a pretty good density, is readily available, and easy to work with. Steel/iron is a bit lighter and harder, but cheaper.