1.25" black anodized emitter setup

[Novastar]

It's nothing special design-wise, but I think everyone here who knows me understands I don't like junk sticking out of the hilt, and I don't have ANY allegiance to being "film accurate" with a saber hilt.

I like to make short hilts (read: 9" to 11")... with nice forward hand "choke points" wherever possible... with rubber emitters/pommels to lessen "dropped saber shock"... with decent brightness... and still try to pimp out the hilt as best as possible with sound, resonance cavity, 36mm (or greater!) high-quality speaker, etc. etc.

If you want it ALL... this is the best I can come up with.

Here's my new Plecter board (v1... no jam--yet!) saber with a K2 green powered by 7.2v Li-Ion. I'll post more photos later, as I messed up the batt pack by doing something stupid--using a METAL kill switch. Avoid that, please. Learn from my dumb mistake... I did.



Manipulating the saber is fantastic. Best choke point on a saber yet. Well.. for me. Very bright K2 green, looks good with any diffusion, lockup trigger button is in the PERFECT place, and finally I've made a saber that is a snap to take apart and repair should anything go wrong...

[Enolmano]

that is indeed a nice lightsaber, novastar!
You've combined it all to a really nice saber!!!

btw, why doesn't I have money for erv's board...

[neophyl]

Looking good there Novastar. Thats exactly where Ive got my auxilary button located too on my toast. Works well as you usually have 2 hands on the sabre when blade to blade anyway

[Corbin_Das]

Granted, having it all is best, but it's not likely you're going to get the sound board, Luxeon driver, brightest LED (which requires more voltage), recharge port, and whatever other bells and whistles into a 1" OD by 5" long saber. It just won't happen with the current components available to us.

Personally, after durability, I prefer brightness. Sound is cool, but that would be for more of a show piece in my opinion, though a dueling saber is cool if you have sound, but not essential for ME. For serious dueling, I want something that's extremely durable and without any sharp points or edges you might catch your hand on. Having it be really bright (AKA overdriven 5 watt green or maybe a Tri-Lux) is just something I like.

Take my Killer Penny saber. It was never meant to be a dueling saber. It's more of a show piece or a display saber that I might make a custom plaque or stand for. It has too many protrusions to be a good dueling saber IMO. Also, the heatsink in the neck section is too thin to make a really durable saber for the SERIOUS dueling I sometimes enjoy.
As such, I opted for the brightest blade I could get. We considered doing a Tri-Lux at one point, but the design wouldn't allow for it. I therefore went with a overdriven 5 watt green. A Cyan would have been bright too, but our eyes are most sensitive to green, plus I felt the color went well with this saber.
AceRocket (the machinist that built it) and I have discussed the possibilty of adding sound at some point, but for now, that's not going to happen. I'd either use an Ultra board or a Plecter Labs board I think.

So that's MY take on what I like in a saber. Yeah, it's cool to have the inground pool, home theater, tennis court and Helo-pad, but you're not going to get it all in a small appartment.

Corbin

[Ashron]

As much as I like bright sabers, and sound, I would not mind seeing some smaller hilt pieces. The first saber I am making was 13.5” long. (emitter 3, ribbed extension, hilt 4, and pommel 5) kinda big even in my large hands, then again I guess that why we have sink pipes .

[Hasid Lafre]

Mines 13" long or so and I need all that space for everything Iam cramming into it.

In fact its damn near 13" even, wait.... 13" even or 13" odd. What sounds better?

[Novastar]

Well, I personally know that it is possible to have the following:

* 10" to 11" hilt (less without a rubber emitter and extra speaker cavity "dish")
* Programmable sound (Erv's board, Crystal Focus)
* High-quality 36mm speaker
* Small "empty" space for resonance cavity (about 0.5")
* Very bright LED (K2, Lux V or whatever)
* 7.4v Li-Ions (18650, side by side)
* Auxiliary button (for lockup, blaster, force, etc.)
* Recharge port (I used a stereo port)
* POSSIBLE to have 1 or 2 "pretty" LEDs (such as low batt or whatever... but I didn't actually do these yet)

All the while considering:

* Hand-soldering by a guy with little experience (me)
* Electrical tape as "wire-covering"--not using more 'professional' heatshrink
* Very few custom-machined parts (only 2, the black anod 1.25" emitter and the MHS 2 sink tube part)
* Still pretty strong, durable saber with rubber guards
* Recessed power switch
* Nearly every part is "non-specialty"

I am about 90% certain that given custom machining, special wiring design and maximizing EVERY millimeter of space, the hilt could be 9" or 10" with all of the same parts listed above.