My Wife's new Prophecy V3 Customization WIP pic Heavy

[DarthCooper88]

 I just got this hilt in the mail the other day, Thanks Deep! It got here in a record 4 days!
My wife has been gaining an interest in my crafts over the last few months and finally mentioned that she would like a small saber of her own to learn to dual with and play in the back-yard on summer nights. I needed a good excuse to purchase another Prophecy ( I really like that hilt and my other one got a cord added to it and morphed into the Proto-saber. I missed that saber with a simple MR Anakin board and green P4 that it came with. So I just happened to have a PC1.6 laying around without a home, a set of 14500, 1400ma GTL's a Cyan, Blue, Amber Tr-Rebel Endor from Luxeon, a lighted anti vandal, chopper momentary switch, recharge port, R.I.C.E port and a 2 watt heavy base speaker. She fell in love with a font called Dagobah that has crickets, frogs , and swampy sounds with a few different Yoda boots to pick from
 The V3 is a huge improvement over the V2 it has an extra 1/2" of length, and a true 1.25+ for interior diameter (any MHS rail system should fit slightly loose) With this much space I could almost cram a kitchen sink in it   Overall the exterior diameters match my V2 and I was fully expecting to run my 1-1/8" drill bit into the hilt to get the space needed.
I designed a control box from 1/4 billet, milled a flat where the original switch opening was, tapped a few openings and we are almost done with machining. (It took me about 3 hrs in the shop today to do this project, tomorrow, I'll do some sanding and a fine polish on everything and send it out for powdercoating) Enjoy

[srams]

All I have to say is WOW. I cant believe the things that can be done with a prophecy and by you! You are a true inspiration. Thank you!

[DarthCooper88]

 Thanks! I didnt realize that it looks alot like the Anakin AOTC and I almost put a taller control box on it, I chose to keep it low profile, and hard to shut off during dueling, I for got to mention that this also has a power extender that will drive the amber die for flash on clash, with the blue and cyan led's wired in series.

[srams]

Not only do I love your saber work, but each photograph is also like a work of art. 

[hedgehog1]

I. Must. Get. A. Milling. Machine.

Dying. Of. Tool. Envy. Over. Here..........

[srams]

I need the machines too! And I also need your and DC's electronics knowledge! Oh and I need more money!

[hedgehog1]

... Oh and I need more money!

Yeah - think it would save time to just have my pay checks sent directly to Ultras Sabers 

[DarthCooper88]

I. Must. Get. A. Milling. Machine.

Dying. Of. Tool. Envy. Over. Here..........

Naawww it's not a real mill, it's called Gorilla machining, I'm just using a drill press I picked up at lowes(5/8" chuck free-standing)
I scored an X-Y axis vise off of ebay for like 90 bucks, a couple small end mills from the local pawn/tool shop. It gives 5" of travel back and forth, left and right (yes I would like a real mill too, but they are $$$$$) Also notice the battery pack, there was a thread awhile back with someone asking if a AA battery holder can be modded for in hilt recharging. This one got the top section cut off, the 2 contacts on the bottom piece removed, and a small hole burned threw the webs with my soldering iron, so the wire can pass, and connect the 2 batteries, from there a couple of pieces of heat shrink (and a dab of JB-weld to attach it to the speaker mount) so yes, a AA battery holder can be used for inhilt recharging with a little cutting. Thanks guys

[srams]

Yeah I was going to ask about the drill press method. My good friend has that same Lowes drill press. I would need to find an x y vise and machining bits. Do you have a metal lathe? I would love to turn my own mhs parts! Do you mind if I PM you with electronics questions?

[MolecularAuto80]

Cool man!

[Manroon]

Did you Starkiller the emitter or is that just a blade plug, Cooper? You never cease to amaze me! That's looking PUR-TEE!

[DarthCooper88]

Did you Starkiller the emitter or is that just a blade plug, Cooper? You never cease to amaze me! That's looking PUR-TEE!

That is a blade plug, I did very little to the hilt machine wise, it just ended up at the powder coater ...should look pretty cool when done, he said by friday. And the only thing left to fabricate is the led holder/heatsink

Yeah I was going to ask about the drill press method. My good friend has that same Lowes drill press. I would need to find an x y vise and machining bits. Do you have a metal lathe? I would love to turn my own mhs parts! Do you mind if I PM you with electronics questions?

, Yes, I like answering questions you can PM me.
I have a metal lathe as well. one trick for finding stuff locally is to go on ebay look up end mills(or whatever commonly used tool your looking for), then do a nearest distance search , contact the seller, if they have a phone number even better(I have like 3 suppliers that sell me bits for 3 bucks each, they also have alot of other neat stuff) I picked my lathe up from a guy on craigs list , he lives 1/2 mile down the street and happens to share a beer on occasion with a friend of mine who lives next door. I went over there and looked this over, it was old primitive, rusty (mostly all there though) after some haggling, I got it for a 100bucks (yes it's the cheap way of getting one) knowing nothing about this lathe (I dont suggest doing that the backwards way) I took it home and researched across the net...found out I had an early 70's Craftsman 109 lathe which was made from 45' until 76' mmm interesting, found the missing stuff on ebay including a tail-stock. I use this tool almost daily, the latest up-grades to it will be adding brass gibbs to the table rails to replace the old steel ones (makes for tighter smoother accuracy) and I just got a quick change tool post that I have to fabricate the correct t-nut to fit, it has the knurling tool, 2 boring bar holders, and a 1/2" lathe bit holder. As I get better at this and more work fills the pipeline, I'll upgrade to a larger more modern lathe

A concept that I started work on, just sizing for the emmiter connection(the lathe bit is 1/4" to give some idea of scale)

[Manroon]

My, that looks interesting!

[swords4two]

Brother you are a saber making genius! I can't wait to see what you come up with next!

[DarthCooper88]

 I wanted to mention in this thread why spray paint, model car paint, or about any other paint doesnt stick well to aluminum unless you tooth it very well (sanding/priming) sand blasting, or an acid bathe (see acid etch aging in this forum) the reason being is that aluminum oxidizes very quickly (ever notice that black stuff on your hands after playing with your saber?) Yes that is your hilt coming off in your hands one microscopic layer at a time! commercially for any exposed aluminum surface ( I spent years in the solarium/conservatory industry, and sold miles of anodized sunroom framework and of course miles of glass) hence the reason you rarely see exposed aluminum in any industry.Paint will work well if you only  play with your with saber gingerly, dont drop, or duel with it.
Powder coating is considered by many to be far superior to paint (including Concourse D'Elegance in the auto and motorcycle world) The reason PC is much more desirable is shear durability and consistency. PC is really ground up plastic "flour" with colorants added. to finish a part the powder coater heats his oven to 400 degrees F, puts the part in to cook off any contaminants and to open the pores of the metal, it cools a bit and then a fine layer of the plastic flour is sprayed over the part, from there it returns to the oven and literally melts over the piece. What you have now is a hard plastic coating that is extremely durable, very hard to chip and a penny rubbed across it wont scratch it off of aluminum like paint does (I've managed to scrape paint from aluminum with a fingernail)

This is a British bike I restored awhile back, I had the whole frame,sheetmetal and gas tank powdercoated for 150 bucks( the gloss black looked like wet paint when finished!

Here is my Wifes hilt in Black Chrome, I polished the hilt to mirror with a grinder with a polishing wheel mounted and some red rouge.
My Wife has named it "Hematite" this just came back and set my wallet lighter by 20 bucks, looks alot like blued steel in person