Dark Mantis complete hilt - need everything else

[lambo]

Hello everyone!

A couple years ago, I got the Dark Mantis complete hilt as a gift. I am finally trying to convert it into a complete lightsaber. Can someone share all the parts I need to turn this into a functional saber? I want to be 100% sure I purchase all the necessary components. I would like to do a 36" ultra edge midgrade blade, sentinel yellow with flash on clash, and Obsidian lite soundboard. I think I understand all the individual parts needed to complete this project, but shopping for them all individually instead of clicking through the build a saber menu seems intimidating!

I understand choosing the Obsidian soundboard means Li-Ion batteries are not an option. I do not intend to do any sparing aside from a light bop (probably my hand) to show off the sound.

Thanks in advance!

[scifidude79]

Well, the Obsidian Lite that came out last year does use a Li-Ion battery. This is the one, powered by an 18650:

https://ultrasabers.com/product/new-obsidian-usb-soundboard/

So, obviously, you'll need that and a battery. You may want to grab a charger too. For the LED, you'll need this one:

https://ultrasabers.com/product/modular-led-system-mls-unit/

You'll want a switch, which one depends on what fits your hilt. And, of course, your blade. Now, that's all stuff you can find from Ultrasabers.

What you'll need if you don't already have it is some wire. For simplicity sake, it's easier to buy different colors so you don't get confused on what goes to what when you have multiple wires sticking out of your hilt. Personally, I like to use 26-gauge aluminum wire. Heat shrink tubing is nice to have for going over the solder connections, but electrical tape will work if you don't have or don't want to buy heat shrink. If you use that, you'll need a heat gun to seal the tubing. And, of course, soldering equipment. The good news is, with a 3.7v battery, you won't need a resistor. Sentinel Yellow uses a red and a green LED, (plus whatever color your flash uses) but the red ones are the only ones that really need a resistor with 3.7v. However, Ultrasabers already puts a resistor on the red LED to create the yellow color, so you should be good to go.

[lambo]

Thanks for the reply!

Do you need a one battery for the LED / modular light system and another for the soundboard? And is there a specific battery holder for the 18650 battery? All the holders I saw seem to be the 14500 battery holder. Is there a specific list of parts and guide for this assembly. When I try building the Dark Mantis on the website, it seems like there are more choices I have to make than individual accessories on the parts list. The buck puck is one such part that is mentioned in the complete saber build. But I am not sure if I need it for this setup.

Thanks for the insight on wiring. That is helpful to consider.

[scifidude79]

One battery. It feeds power to the board, then the board feeds the LEDs. The Obsidian board I linked to comes installed in a chassis that holds the battery in place. In fact, the battery holder, board and speaker should all be wired up and ready to install when you get that. You just need to wire the switch and the LED.

Before you start on this, I highly recommend that you download and look at the technical specs sheet on the Obsidian board. The link is on the sales page for the board. I also highly recommend that you search YouTube for some how-to videos on saber wiring to familiarize yourself with what's required to do this. They likely won't be using the same board, but you can at least get an idea of how to do this. When I first started wiring sabers, I hadn't soldered in over 20 years, but I found some very helpful videos by searching YT. I can't link to any directly because they would violate the forum rules on showing and talking about competitors' stuff.

[MavRick]

You could always just do the live chat with customer service and they should be able to answer any other questions. Or E-mail customer service. I have found them to be very helpful.