Scrapsaber Mark II: A Simple Custom Saber for a Friend.

[SirRawThunderMan]

Hello there!

So, last April, I was contacted by a friend who wanted me to make him a lightsaber. For real money, too. I can't honestly say this was something I was expecting or ever really planned on doing, but I'm not going to turn paying work down. So, I took my creations over, and he asked me to make him a copy of my first lightsaber, but longer.

No, seriously, that was all the specifications. I mean, how often do you get a chance to take the first thing you made, and remake it, but this time armed with a few years of building experience, and get paid for the privilege?

Anyway, the only caveat was that my customer wanted to be the first to see his saber, so that meant no build log or gallery post until he had it in hand. And for Darth Real Life reasons, that didn't happen until earlier this afternoon, despite the saber being full operational since... mid-august? Anyway, Specs and Glams.

Specs:

Custom scratchbuilt and handbuilt saber body with modified MHS parts
DIY Custom Anodising
Tri-Cree XP-E2 RGrB
Powered by an FX-SaberOS DIYino Homebrew, with a custom designed Arduino Pro Mini Carrier Board
Custom 3D printed and Laser cut simple chassis (No crystal chamber as per customer's request)
18650 and recharge port
Also included a homemade blade, blade plug, belt clip and charger.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many bolts.

Glams

Next to the Original Scrapsaber to show that it is similar, but longer

So, it was only AFTER the saber had traded hands that I realised I had no pictures of the completed saber with the blade ignited, so here's the only (rubbish) ones I've got from earlier in the build, when I was reporting my progress.

So, it is a fact known to anyone who has met this friend that if he had the Force, he'd be a Sith. No judgement, he's great with dogs and kids, will have your back in a fight, but he's a Sith. Do you want Clone Wars? Don't leave him in charge of your Galactic Republic, because that's how you get Clone Wars. In reference to that, design-wise, I threw in a few touches inspired by Sith Lord Sabers: the slanted grip from Count Dooku and Vader's MPP hole pattern. I tried to make the activation buttons resemble Darth Sidious' a little, too, but that was an afterthought more than a fully planned out design.

Soundfont wise, this one only has three, mainly due to the fact that in six months since he commissioned me for the job, my customer refused to check out Saberfont.com. So, I chose three for him, based around his liking of Christopher Lee:

Pitch Black by Lord Blako
Flourish vII by Genesis Custom Sabers
Count Dooku by Lord Blako

All fonts were purchased through SaberFont.com and converterd for DIYino with Jakesoft's SoundFont Converter.

I'd be remiss if I didn't thank  JBKuma and Obi_1 for putting up with my daft questions on the FX-SaberOS facebook page. Thanks guys!

Anyway, that's all, folks. All in all, a good experience. I'm not planning on going to go into full time paid custom saber making, but I don't think I'd turn down another job like this one.

[Sandpeople are people too]

I like the vintage flashgun feel to the central grip.  nice work

[EXAR KUN]

It’s awesone great job! I like all the bolts and also the count Dooku style grip. Interior looks very tidy.

[JakeSoft]

Beautiful! You're getting good at this.

[Ridire Fíréan]

Hey @SirRawThunderMan  !  I too really like the upgraded handle!  I can see your skill improving.  What I can't figure out though is did you CNC that out, or did you use that little X-Acto saw to cut it out?

The only thing I would have addressed more closely is the end of the lip on the emitter.  The saw lines there throw me off a bit since they're on a diagonal and I would have to have polished them out.

What was your inspiration for the little angled step pieces on the foregrip?  At first I thought it was a found part, but in the enlarged pics those pieces look like they were 3D-printed.

Great job, and congratulations on your first lightsaber commission!

[SirRawThunderMan]

Hey @SirRawThunderMan  !  I too really like the upgraded handle!  I can see your skill improving.  What I can't figure out though is did you CNC that out, or did you use that little X-Acto saw to cut it out?

Nope, that was all very careful coping saw and hand filing work. I laid out my work with the technique I described in Darth Chasm's Obscure Tips and Tools of the Trade thread, rough cut it out and filed to the layout marks.

The only thing I would have addressed more closely is the end of the lip on the emitter.  The saw lines there throw me off a bit since they're on a diagonal and I would have to have polished them out.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I said to my customer. But, he liked how it looked for some reason, so there they remained. 

What was your inspiration for the little angled step pieces on the foregrip?  At first I thought it was a found part, but in the enlarged pics those pieces look like they were 3D-printed.

Initially, on my original Scrapsaber, they were found parts. Nylon 1 1/2" washers. I got the idea of using those from a YouTube video I can't see to find any more, and I definitely remember seeing them on PVC lightsaber builds from back in the day. the idea was to give the saber a grooved look that I couldn't do without machining. I was going to paint them black, but no paint would stick to it. When last january came, and I upgraded my original saber from a Hasbro Econoboard to a FX-SaberOS DIYino, I just replaced the washers with 3D printed parts that looked like them.

Then I got commisioned to make a replica of that saber, and I just copied them across, really