Saber Forum

Just got my empty hilts yesterday, so dove right in with my first saber build. I collected parts from all over the place; sounds like I cannot mention most of them here. If this video itself violates the rules, go ahead and delete it, please know my intention is not to mention other products but to show off the customized beautiful Ultrasaber Guardian hilt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDRTVxWNH84 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDRTVxWNH84)

That looks awesome. Great stuff, I like that you dove right in.

You should be safe, rules wise. Though, I'm not a moderator, of course. However, your video is posted off site and I'm sure it's OK. I've actually mentioned board names once or twice in my build videos, as have others, without having it taken down, so I think there's a bit of leeway. The key is to not go into many specifics and whatnot, and definitely not do comparisons to the US boards. ;)

Great job pal!! And, it does sound great. I like the color combos in the vid. The Guardian is such a classic saber.

Hey there, DV. You just got in your empty Guardian and you’ve already built it. Impressive, very impressive

Thanks guys! Took some creativity on the fly as some of the stuff I had was the wrong size, so I salvaged an Ultrasaber LED module from one of the mystery boxes (not sure why I kept saying grab bag in the video). Also need to do some serious work on wire management, had to do a bit of cram-fu to get the pommel on the first time but I was excited to try it out.

Looks and sounds great! Nothing like doing some of your own work to make it your own!

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

Yeah, it happens. If you think that was tight, try an install with an 18650 on a V3 sometime. ;)

On this build it uses an 18650 and I grabbed a 3d printed chassis off Shapeways specifically for Ultrasabers hilts. I think twisting the wires should help a bit, going to clean this up a bit internally so it removes easily enough to access the battery/charge port.

Well, the V3 sabers have a shorter electronics chamber. Just an 18650 holder and an MHS compatible battery holder are too long. I did a build on a Prophecy V3 a while back and it never really fit together. And, that was without a RCP.

Oh dang, yeah that would definitely make things much harder if I had any less room. The smallest hilt I have is the Chosen One and luckily my chassis fits in there as well with slight trimming on the end. I'm on the fence about trying to make the LED/buttons modular so I can move the chassis around to other sabers easily if I want, but at this point everything that takes up unnecessary space has to go, so I might just leave it hardwired.

Yeah, that's one reason you can't get Emerald with sound in a V3 saber, there's just not room. At first, they weren't even offering Diamond with the V3s, they had to make sure that fit first.

I’m struggling to get custom electronics builds to fit well also. I guess after we build enough wiring harnesses it will get easier to design them from the ground up to fit better, but right now hard wiring mine is hard enough, and that’s on v4’s and larger hilts!!! I don’t know what I’d do with a v2/3!

It’s all about how you wire it up as well. If you give the hilt too much wiring, you’ll have a hard time fitting everything inside the hilt. Give a little more wiring than US gives but not excessive to where it’s hard to cram everything in.

On another note, if you think the V3s or V4s don’t have enough space, wait until you do an install on one of the other guy’s hilts.  It’s really narrow but at least make up for a little bit of length, just some

Count yourselves lucky, I have a hilt from an even smaller "Other Guy" and his hilt is only 24mm ID. Looks like I'm gonna have fun with Cram-Fu on that one when I have funds. But at least I will have installed it myself.

And remember guys, measure twice - cut once!

Yeah, also using the smallest gauge wire you realistically can seems critical. I didn't go crazy but used 22 for power related things, 26 for LED related things, and 30 for the switches. Going to replace this with 26 on power, and 28 on the LED stuff. Seems like a technique of "twisting" the wires to create a "spring-like" coil would aid in them pulling back into the hilt.

I have a few narrow and short hilts as well so I understand

Really nice sound and light customization on this Guardian.  :)

point  8)

tyvm :)

update: cleaned up the wiring a lot and switched out to 28 gauge for almost everything, as well as "twisted" each bundle of wires going to each component. MILLION times better. You can see me easily push the chassis in now. Now, if I can just figure out how to thread the pommel on the first try LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZIcQuJfPvA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZIcQuJfPvA)

Did I say SUPER nice custom ! :o   Would have liked to see you placing the pommel on.  Sometimes if you just clean up the threading with an old toothbrush it gets rid of the minute aluminum dust/grit and then threads on easier.  Hard to video with one hand holding a phone.  ;)

Thanks!!! I'm big into electronics but this is my first saber build - hella fun! I tried putting the pommel on with one hand, it wasn't happening hahaah. When I finish with the last button I'll do a full video.

Love it man, keep up the good work!