The "Hobbler's" First Saber Design (In-Process)

[Jeb Ardunis]

Alrighty, I figure before I do some reading on exactly "how" to build the saber I'm looking at creating, what better way to start than to post a sketch and get some feedback. While I don't expect to walk away with something exactly as-is, I'd like to get some ideas on what I would need to get started on it.



Okay, so there it is... Now since I threw this together in Photoshop as a rough sketch, the pommel would be hollow with a screen/holes in it to allow for a speaker to be added whenever I can do that. The rubber grips near the pommel might be altered to a custom grip, but we'll once again figure that out. Activator button, if we can move it somewhere to make it look prettier, go for it. Now, the cyan slits you see, I'm hoping to have light come from there, as the blade will be cyan. The cut-ins up top are merely for show, so I haven't decided whether or not they'll house o-rings. The guard, well, if it can be done, I'd love it. My thought on a belt clip though is at a loss. No clue which style I should go with.

Some of you might've read in my misplaced intro thread that I have cerebral palsy, so, I might have made the difficulty way over my limit. Hopefully I can make this saber without too many hitches, although I can't be sure. *lol*

Any help, advice, or whatnot would be appreciated.

[ArkaiHalon]

my suggestions would be to make use of the MHS

use the MPS pommel 4 with insert,
double female with slots, gender changer, a 4 inch double female with switch hole, and a #3 blade holder. As for the shroud, I'm pretty sure you could get some assistance in cutting sinktube to shape. as for the slots to show light, I'm sure Tim could come up with something.

[Jedi-Loreen]

I don't think having so many slots to let light through is very practical, it's going to weaken the hilt too.

Plus the fact that you'd have to have your LED sitting very low inside the hilt for that to even work.

That design won't work with MHS parts.

Your heatsink for the LED is going to end up being below where you have the switch placed. And how deep will you seat the blade? The farther away from the LED and optics it is, the less light will be going up the blade, assuming that you will leave open space between the LED and blade. And what will stop the blade from going in too far, if you did it this way?

I think you might have been better off reading about how LED sabers are constructed first, then come up with a design that would be more practical.

[ArkaiHalon]

the slots could be lit by a secondary blue and green 5mm leds, won't be cyan, but the effect would be the pretty. I do agree that there might be a few to many slots though. And it may be my ignorance, but since Jeb's affected with CP, I wouldn't think this would be a dueling saber, but a sweet belt hanger. I could be wrong.

[Angelus Lupus]

I think you interpreted that design well there. I like it.
As for the slots for light.. would EL wire be a possible solution?

[Jeb Ardunis]

Halon's got the latter point down correct. This is merely a costume saber/mantlepiece. While I'm semi-mobile and could duel rather awkwardly, as I've already figured the physics of the light slits would weaken the frame. (I won't be making a dueling saber for quite some time.) I did try to mention that this design is also a rough draft.

Quite a good mock up, I'd say you have there as well, Halon. Aside the obvious missing slots (which I do understand the wiring/lighting scheme would be tricky...) you've got my idea smack-dab down.

I'd write more, but right now I've got a lot of bad things on my mind, so I'll leave it at that and come back later when I've sorted "life" out.

[ArkaiHalon]

Don't knock it, it's a great design. With fewer slits, I think it could be a reasonable dueler as well. Maybe 6 equally spaced. about an 1/8th inch wide or so. I really look forward to seeing it in reality.

[gundamaniac]

Halon, is that an upside-down Covertec knob you put near the emitter in your render??...Cuz it's a little bit low to be a thumb-screw. And while I'm on topic of Covertecs- Jeb, try a covertec knob for mounting the saber. It's great because it securely holds the saber to your belt. When you swing the handle, it doesn't flop around making clanking noises as opposed to a D-ring. Also, D-rings traditionally mount on flat pommel pieces...the way your saber is currently, a D-ring would both not fit in aesthetically nor would it be practical.

Jeb, you might know this already, but you could contact Tim to see what can be done about the light-emitting slots in your saber in regards to machining them/cutting them into the MHS piece. I'm also inclined to favor Halon's idea for the slots- fewer and wider slits seem more aesthetically pleasing (imo) than a multitude of thin slits, and they would also be easier to machine/cut.

As for lighting up those slots, having them lit up by the same LED that lights up the blade is pretty much out of the question, because then you have to deal with all the issues Jedi Loreen brought up.

If you want cyan, the closest you'll get is probably by using EL wire. I've never actually done work with EL because it seems like too much of a pain to strip properly, LED blades outshine EL blades, and I never tried for accent lighting. Nevertheless, it seems to me that a bundle of EL wire + a diffuser would do the job lighting up those slots. It would be too much of a pain to try and use a strand of EL per slot, IE putting a piece of EL in each slot for individual lighting. Now, if you choose the EL route, here's another thing to consider- the EL wire needs an inverter. So you need to figure out placement of the inverter, plus batteries, plus possible room for a sound card and speaker since it sounds like you want to leave open the possibility of a sound upgrade for the future.

In the end, the simplest way to light up the slots is probably going to be the 5mm LEDs that Halon suggested. It won't be true cyan, but you could probably get a neat blue-green-ish look with a blue and a green LED + diffuser.

[Jeb Ardunis]

I'm really liking the feedback I'm getting here. It's good to see how much information I'm gaining on this just by having a few people toss in their ideas and expertise.

On the slot lighting issue, just to hash it out, they don't have to necessarily be cyan. I could settle for a blue or green, more than likely blue as it's more cyan-like as opposed to green. I'm really leaning toward LED since the wiring aspect of it would be fairly less complicated as opposed to EL. Sure EL could be bunched, but the wiring versus space issue would probably cause me way too much difficulty to assemble.

My hands suck as it is when it comes to soldering, let alone tight spaces. I'm not sure how I'd go about the LEDs being set up as well as the sink so obviously the thing doesn't overheat. I mean I could assemble the saber piece by piece, (ie: speaker in the pommel first, driver, etc, etc.) basically trying to literally build it from the bottom up. I really don't have anyone to help me assemble it once I get the parts lined up, so for now, I'm on my own.

Before I make the issue more complicated than it really is, I'll silence myself and yield to the floor.

[ArkaiHalon]

yes, that's a covertec near the emitter. Seemed like a good place for it.


as for the lighted section, I've got an idea I'll draw up and post in a bit.
I think it will do the job pretty well.