Sink-Tub/Pop-up Assembly saber

[Rookie162]

Alrighty, so I'm a poor teenager and made this kitchen sink saber hilt:





This is a 1 1/2" sink tube with a 1 1/4" plastic (chrome finish) pop-up drain. Grip is kinda crudily put together with old wiper blades and electrical tape, but eh I'm satisfied. It's about 25 cm, or 10", long. The 'button' hole is a 1/2" diameter (I think) with a 1/4" gap in the base-plate at the bottom

My question to you all is whether or not this setup will work with a
Lux III LED electronics kit (4AAA batt. pack),
a 1 1/4" sink tube blade holder
and a 1" OD Corbin style battle blade, double wrap. (36" long)

I've look through a LOT of the build/tutorial threads here, and I still don't feel confident enough to buy those three things. I'm worried mainly about getting the battery pack and the blade to fit, but I might as well clear up the overall question first. I'm also a little worried about being able to properly machine/solder all the appropriate pieces. For instance, instead of soldering the wires together could I use wire connectors (the little plastic caps that have threading on the inside).

If there's anything wrong with buying those parts for this, maybe I need a different or new piece, or I've got it all wrong and I'm way in over my head, please please please let me know.

P.S. I don't mind if you give me advice without pictures, but please don't get technical with a hole bunch of electrical lingo... links to what I need are always nice.

P.P.S. I also realize I posted this in the wrong thread... although I am asking if these parts are right.... Anyway, if a mod/admin sees it fit and is gentle I would appreciate if this was moved to a thread more suiting.

[Crystal Chambers]

I'm new to this but from the reading I've done...and I recommend to do lots, this will work fine. You can always upgrade your hilt later.

You will need to do or have some soldering done. It's not really that hard and you can find tutorial on youtube.

You need to add a blade retention screw to your list, maybe a thumb screw will do. If you can't drill and tap the hole for this screw there is a service available here at the store to have it done. You'll find that in the same menu as the parts under services.

There are measurements of almost every part on their pages, either in the part description or tab labeled dimensions, just scroll down.

I'm a little unfamiliar with this type of sink tube and see that you have two measurements there.I'm guessing the top that appears to be where you want your blade holder and the majority of the tube is 1.25" and the wider bottom is the 1.5. I would of thought this was a 1.25 sink tube but regardless it appears that you have the right blade holder and battery size.

[Rookie162]

I may not have been clear enough, but this is a 1.25" drain in a 1.5" sink tube, snug in place with electrical tape at two points (lower and higher)

[Jedi-Loreen]

Where would you put your switch?

[Rookie162]

I'm thinking in the side hole ( below the top threading, best seen in the bottom picture). It goes all the way through, since there's a 1/4" gap in the bottom. It's just plastic, so reshaping/sizing it won't be much of a problem.

And the retention screw can easily go in a spot in the top threading; there's already a flat surface to drill through.

question about the drilling though... is threading necessary? Or do I just take an appropriately sized drill and make a hole?

[Jedi-Loreen]

You can't put a switch up that high, the blade holder goes there, if you're talking about those rectangular cut outs. I'm not even sure how well that's going to work in plastic, since you have to screw the blade holder into the plastic pipe to hold it in place. You'll have to figure out another place for the switch lower down.

I thought you might say you'd put it in that little side nipple thing, but I don't know if you could get that to work, either.

You need to tap the blade retention screw hole because you use a screw with finer machine threads, not self-taping type threads. You can't use a screw to put threads into the aluminum blade holder.

I don't even see a blade retention screw on your list, but you'll need one to hold the blade in.

[Rookie162]

You can't put a switch up that high, the blade holder goes there, if you're talking about those rectangular cut outs. I'm not even sure how well that's going to work in plastic, since you have to screw the blade holder into the plastic pipe to hold it in place. You'll have to figure out another place for the switch lower down.

I thought you might say you'd put it in that little side nipple thing, but I don't know if you could get that to work, either.

You need to tap the blade retention screw hole because you use a screw with finer machine threads, not self-taping type threads. You can't use a screw to put threads into the aluminum blade holder.

I don't even see a blade retention screw on your list, but you'll need one to hold the blade in.

The retention screw will be added, I just haven't added that yet. The place where i'm thinking it'll have to go is about 1/8" thick, so I wanna know if it'll have to be threaded for the screw to go in, or if I should get those furniture screws that the retention screw can go in, as done in the PVC tutorial (?). (I've looked through so many tutorials, I can't remember which one those were used in.)

Really, when it comes down to the retention screw part and how the blade holder goes in, I'm a little lost. The only sink tube tutorial that I found involves cutting the retention screw, and doesn't show how the blade holder goes together much less how it goes inside the tube.

And I am talking about the side nipple thing, not the square cutouts. If it is too tall for the button, or to narrow at the button, I can cut it off and re-size if needed.

Here's where the button goes. You can sorta see the base-plate that I'm talking about, though it is a fuzzy picture. The point is, there's a rectangular gap at the bottom of the hole, and that gap is 1/4" X 1/2".



and here's a shot of the general area. The flat surface in the threaded area is where I'm thinkin the ret. screw will go.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Ok, I see what you're saying.

You don't really want to use those threaded inserts for your blade retention screw.

Check out some of Jay-gon's posts. He takes lots of in-build photos and you should be able to find some where he used 1 1/4" blade holders, and other adapters, so you can see how they get attached.

[Rookie162]

will this screw work?: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/8-...crew-P109.aspx

or do I also need this?:
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/8-...crew-P108.aspx

and if someone could check the dimensions for the screw, set screw, and and drill/thread tap that I need to use please? I know there's a great threading tutorial, with a nice chart at the bottom, but I'm not sure what dimensions match up with what.

[Jedi-Loreen]

You need a thumb screw or a set screw, not both. Have you been reading posts by Crystal Chambers?

A thumb screw can be a little ugly on some sabers, but you don't need a tool for it when you want to loosen it to remove your blade.

A set screw is more unobtrusive, but you will need a hex key/allen wrench for it.

I'm not sure what you don't understand about what drill and tap set you need for those screws. They are both 8/32, so you need the 8/32 drill and tap set. Make sense?

On the Store page, it also tells you that you need a 5/64 allen wrench for the set screw.

The other dimension listed with screws is the length.

In case you're wondering, the 8 has to do with the diameter of the screw, and the 32 is how many threads it has per inch.