Thanks so much everyone! It's easy to do Venthros, there's just so much great stuff on the forum, it's hard to catch them all right away- I'm always finding threads i missed. Yeah i was PRETTY nervous not gonna lie, Hansrad lol. I just went really slow, and cut in really short bursts to not loose focus on the very cutting edge of the disk and grinding stone, you're staring so intensely in on EXACTLY where the edge of the disk will touch metal and holding you're breath. But as you start to see the shape emerge and you start to achieve a fit you realize you're gonna be able to pull it off lol, and its so rewarding!
So this piece is almost a wrap
. It's all permanently secured/ assembled etc. I just have to dress up the little port where the wire exits still to match it with the overall look of the box a bit more- also this isn't how the wire will actually run, its just to give you the basic idea of the look:
I actually soldered some of the components in because it looked cooler, and helped secure them better.
I'm relocating the latching switch- so in its place i'm making a sort of bezel to allow for the mounting of an accent led:
(side note, only the very bottom line of aurebesh here has been retouched with the scriber- only made one pass on that line and it made a noticeable diff, so I'm feeling good about the way the engraving will turn out once I've gone over it all many times)
I could use your guys' opinions on this one... I'm kinda torn as to which style accent to go with:
This one has a narrower, tiny protruding bezel type look, like a micro version of a graflex red button almost. I like the bezel and how much of the die is exposed on it. this is the one lying on the cloth in the first pic for ref of size of profile/ protrusion.
This next one is more low pro, which i like, tho its housing is wider and less of the die shows:
What do you guys think? I should point out both will sit down in the bezel a lot better, i just threw them in quick for ref pic- the back nut is still sitting on both in these shots causing them to sit higher up and uneven. Also, the brass bezel itself has more to it than that washer, I just have some of it tied up in progress atm.
Ok, so- the plans for this project are still up in the air for a couple reasons. I want to swap the battery pack for a power bank i have on the way atm- but i'm not knowledgeable about electronics enough yet to know if the 5V output of the bank will be enough for the resistored red led AND the accent led. If not i may have to just stick with the rechargeable batteries I've got now, which would kind of be a bummer. If the bank's a viable power solution, i have to figure out if my resistor value changes- but other than that i'd be good, i've got some variable resistors incoming for the accent.
But even IF the bank can power it, my plans are still up in the air due to space inside the hilt. Ideally, i'd put the latching switch down in the centre of the pommel- but, with the connections sticking straight up into the area that typically contains the power source, i imagine it'll be a miracle to fit the power bank in behind it. The choke would be the first obstacle, though its thick enough to bore out more. But the next roadblock would be the pins/ connections to the accent led sticking down from the old switch location. I'd essentially have to pray the bank fits between the connections of the switch and the accent. If i could get it to, i'd run the usb out to a recharge port to eliminate ever having to remove the bank:
If the bank can't be made to fit, I'd just put the switch on the back of the hilt somewhere, in the choke if it'll fit depth wise, tho i suspect not so probably down low on the back of the main body section. In that case I'd run the recharge port out the bottom of the pommel, tho it wouldn't be as big of a deal since the bank would be easily accessible with that set up:
If for some reason the power bank can't power the accent AND the main led, there would be one huge silver lining
. I know for a fact i can easily fit the existing AAA battery pack in the hilt with the switch in the pommel set up i'd prefer! So no matter how you slice it, this is gonna be a fun, cool little mod for my current main dueling saber
. O!! Which seem like just about as good a segue as there is to another thing i was considering lol. The name... what do you guys think about something like the Splicer, or Sith Splicer etc. to go along with the crazy, splicer, patchwork, alchemy type look this things gonna rock?
Apologies for those two-second diagrams lol! Keep you posted, MTFBWY- and i'd love to hear your preferences on the accent
.
