Things I've learned while making my first saber

[Rhyen Skytracker]

One thing I have found out. If you order the wrong part or forget a part, Tim will work with you. If you catch the mistake before he ships is he will help you out. One mistake I used to make was the momentary/latching switch problem. (Most times I didn't know what type of card I would use until the last minute) I ordered the wrong one and realized it in time, emailed Tim and he gladly swapped it for me. I have also forgot a part and he added it to my order and just billed me for the extra part. Now that is customer service.

[FenderBender]

Ill play. Put the heatsink/led/optics in BEFORE drilling any thing on the emitter or hilt that you want to line up.

Go slow.

If you get frustrated, making an MHS pommel into a deadly missile wont help you. Take a deep breath, a break and a drink then go back with fresh eyes and lower blood pressure.

Don't rush.

Plan the wiring out ahead of time. Know how much room there is to work with and where everything is going to go BEFORE you solder the first wire.

[Novastar]

I wouldn't say recharge ports are not for first-time solderers... but... you certainly need to understand how the port is working to charge the battery cells.

I'll add:

* Use quick-disconnects. Best places (minimal!) would be on the LED... on the speaker... and probably for the batteries. If you have more, great for you--but remember... no matter what Q/Ds you use--they will take up space.

* PLAN. It's been mentioned before, but plan, plan, plan. If an item is 2" long... "pretend" it's 2.25" long.

* Lay out the inner wiring next to your constructed hilt. Play around with how far certain electronic parts should be able to "stretch out" to simulate if you (for example) wanted to be able to pull the battery pack out slightly & change the cells... or disconnect X or Y or Z.

* Whenever possible, if you have switches that need to be connected... find ways to place them at EASY ACCESS points within the hilt. That means don't drill the switch hole into the center of a hilt part that is 8" long... you'll have a hard time getting the switch in there since your fingers can't reach!! Again... this is whenever possible. If it isn't possible... oh well--life = hard.

* Whenever possible, use some kind of chassis to hold your electronics "in a solid way" while inside the hilt. This way--if you ever decide to slide it all out en masse... you can. This isn't always possible (for example, my Flange III sabers = not really ideal/possible).

[Anavrin]

I'll add one I've seen:

Don't Mix Batteries. Don't mix different charge levels or brands. They will eventually bleed, and Battery alk does bad things to metal and electronics. No, this is not fluff they tell you to make you buy only one brand or more of it, it's sensible electronics welfare stuff. I've seen three sabers damaged like this–not destroyed by any means–even their electronics were okay as nothing got past the padding installed in them–but can you imagine if it had been next to a sound board or a speaker? *Shudders*

And for the love of pete don't hand your saber to people without a blade or plug with the batteries in. That happens every few cons I go to and the thing is almost invariably pointed at someone's face *headdesk*