No Soldering?

[Weaver]

There is a picture (I believe it's Slothfurnace's diagram) explaining the wiring of a recharge port. Please understand that placement of the port is important, if you're going to avoid issues with wiring. I'm still trying to figure out a decent arrangement for my pommel-mounted recharge port that won't end up stressing my wiring to the point of breakage. A lot of what goes into any hilt is planning, which I'm ashamed to say I wasn't able to do much of. There is only so much information that can be gained through reading other people's concepts.

With that said, I am not at all embarrassed to say that I am a complete novice in soldering and electronics. All that I know, I have read over the past year or two, and all of it has been to prepare myself for saberbuilding. Before I completed my first saber (sans recharge port), I knew nothing of either electronics as a whole, or the art of soldering. As was mentioned, there are a number of soldering tutorials available which can make the process easier.

The most important part of soldering is safety. Wear eye protection and use an ESD-safe station if possible. Work in an open, clean space, where nothing is likely to be damaged, and BE AWARE OF YOUR CORD. Soldering irons operate under temperatures high enough to melt away the insulation on a standard power cord; if you contact the iron's power cord, it can cause problems. Second most important is to use the proper equipment. After I had some difficulty with rosin-core solder, I took the advice of another forum member and tried silver-bearing solder (Radio Shack) and Flux Paste (Radio Shack). The combination of thin solder wire and flux, which aids in keeping the join clean during soldering, produced superior results with minimal effort.

Above all else, arm yourself with knowledge. This is not a hobby that can be "taken up" on a whim. I learned that very quickly. I knew it was going to test my limits when I started, but there is no way to prepare yourself other than to learn. Several forum members have links to valuable tutorial pages in their signatures; I would read them.

Believe me, I know it looks intimidating. It's not easy stuff. But, if you take your time and make good choices, you can do it. I've got my first saber on the bench, right now, and the only thing I have left to do is complete the resonance chamber and recharge port. I've had to wire mini-tactiles in a Box 7, had to create my own custom chassis to hold the soundboard, and had to wire a LED Engin 10W RGBW to a color-mixing addon board and AUX flash. It all looked very scary to me, but I did it.

If you can't find the information you're looking for, PM me. I might be able to do some digging for you.