Newbie tool Dos and Don'ts (Also, tips and tricks!)
Okay guys. So as a relatively new saber builder (and relatively new builder of anything, really), I've had times when I've gotten all the recommended tools and materials, got a perfect workspace with everything I thought I'd need, and had NO idea what to do next, or how to go about things so as to get decent results. And because of that, I've had to experiment, and have ruined a few otherwise nice parts. (I reminisce like this was a long time ago, but I just dremeled my first sink tube like last week. It was a dismal failure.) And I want to keep this sort of thing from happening to other saber builders who are just starting out. So! Veteran sabersmiths, please throw in your ideas and specialized tool suggestions for how to NOT ruin your awesome saber and expensive tools, for those of us who haven't ever worked in a machine shop. Tips, suggestions, techniques for doing tricky things, that sort of stuff!
I have a few already! Every one from personal experience!
Safety first! Seriously! When working with any power tool, goggles are not a recommendation. THEY ARE A REQUIREMENT. Every day that I've worked with a dremel, a drill, or a saw, I inevitably hear at least one "TINK!" as some sand-sized shard of haphazardly shaped metal impacts on my goggles. Without goggles, those would be embedded in my eye. You can get cheap safety goggles for less than $3. I cannot stress enough how much you need these. Also, don't get anything saber-related in your mouth or nose. Solder smoke, paint/glue fumes, metal dust, solder residue; all these things can mess you up real good. At least use a dust mask and ventilate your work space. And wash your hands before touching anything outside your work space. This costs next to nothing, and will help keep you healthy and building sabers far into the future. (As for lead-based solder, they say it works better, but I have to use the non-lead type because I'm way too absent-minded to remember not to touch anything else.)
That's it for the "not killing yourself" section, now onto "not ruining your saber"!
Use the correct size soldering iron! Nothing like trying to attach wires to a circuit board using a giant old clunky thing and accidentally bridging some connections, and causing your batteries to explode. Make sure you've got one thin enough to work on these little electronics!
Be careful how much solder you're using! Just like a big iron, using a giant gob of solder by accident is a great way to blow something up or short something out. Those solder sponges come in real handy here if you've got too much on your iron/gun, you can just wipe it off.
Heatshrink is better than electrical tape! Usually. If you're just testing your connections, of course, just use the tape, so you can remove it. Boy, once you get that heatshrink on, it's hard to get off. And that, along with keeping your wires managable and compact, is kind of the point. Even soldered connections between wires can come apart when trying to cram all that junk into a hilt.
Know your dremel accessories! Because boy, there's nothing more interesting than having the wrong grinding bit on and taking more material off the bit than off the part you're trying to grind. Make sure you've got bits for working with metal. (I know Jay-Gon has a great sink-pipe cutting technique hidden in one of his brass saber threads) Hopefully someone will be able to point out some specific bits that work well for common dremel tasks (cutting curves into sink pipes, etc)
Secure your parts! Use a vise or some clamps for large parts. Seriously. It's hard enough to keep a power tool steady with both hands. But one hand on your part, one on your tool? Forget about it. Some free-form dremeling doesn't require clamping down, but if you're cutting or drilling, it's an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY. You know, if you don't want to have giant scrape marks all over your nice shiny parts, and holes that are all crooked and weird.
So, anyone else have suggestions for working with saber parts for us amateurs out there?
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), but I did just discover something surprising and cool last night while working on a sink tube.
Originally Posted by Flyerfye
But even if you had a battery holder... that wouldn't help anything.
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