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Author Topic: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion *finished*  (Read 17920 times)

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Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #15 on: April 28, 2013, 09:29:15 AM »
I have a pic (that I'm still trying to locate) of an MR LE Dooku in a lineup of hilts.  I'll upload it when I find it.  In the meantime, I've got the main led in place and the jb welded areas cured overnight. I used the jb weld to hold the emitter-curved section coupler into the emitter (set screw wasn't going to do it for me since the emitter is brass and very thin where the screw would have gone) and then I used a set screw to hold the coupler into the curved section.  I've wired and inserted the main led as well.







The set screw hole is the one in the "middle"

One thing I've noticed is that every part on this hilt is not square.  The top and bottom slots on the emitter (for the claw and brass piece) are not 180* apart, and most of the surfaces aren't really flat against each other. 

Also, I don't currently have a 3/4" blade (working on that) or I would have done a bench setup with a blade in just for fun.  And the blade retention screw is going to have to be in the claw itself.  I don't see any way around it.  In theory, I could put it under the brass emitter greeblie but then I'd have to probably hollow out that greeblie a bit and somehow attach it in a way that is removable but will stay in place during "dueling".  I do plan on fighting with this hilt.  I'm not gonna go crazy, but I wanted to convert this hilt because of it's elegance and how comfortable it was to hold.  It would be a mistake to convert it and then only look at it through a mirror while wearing inspection gloves, lol. 

EDIT: Found the pic



to the left of the vertical dooku is a parks 1" obi (which is very slender) and on the right is a JQ Ani.  The qui pictured is an MR LE with the remaining hilts being a replica graflex, my mkvi, and a jq QV.  It's not a good measure of the thickness of the hilt from this angle either.  The claw makes it look way fatter than it actually is. 
« Last Edit: April 28, 2013, 09:41:55 AM by Alex Gordon »


Offline Goodman

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #16 on: April 28, 2013, 11:58:38 AM »
Use a 4-40 right through the claw for blade retention, you have the right idea ;). Also I may have good news about the waterjet file. I'll PM you tomorrow if it pans out. fingers crossed!
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Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #17 on: April 28, 2013, 12:19:09 PM »
oh man, that would be awesome.   8)  it would certainly save me a few gallons of elbow grease.   ;D


Offline Darth Smorgis

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #18 on: April 28, 2013, 12:41:21 PM »
Looks great Alex.  Cant wait to see the final product.  Keep up the great work.
I also had no idea that hilt was sooo thin  :o

Also, I havent forgot about those pics and review.  I am going to need a few days now though considering my current situation  ;)


Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #19 on: April 28, 2013, 12:43:45 PM »
thanks man.  don't sweat it about the review.  heal up quick, but take your time with the review.   ;)


Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #20 on: April 30, 2013, 02:10:30 PM »
Well, I put in a good few hours on this yesterday and today only to decide that my plan of attack wasn't good enough.  So I'm gonna let it sit until after exams and start fresh. 

the long version is that I wired everything up and realized my wire passthroughs weren't in the right places.  The wires had to totally wrap around the CF lengthwise and it ate up space that I couldn't give up.  So rather than try to rush through it and rewire it now, I'll wait until exams are over and just start fresh.  Stay tuned everyone.   ;)


Offline KingOfDathomir

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #21 on: July 28, 2013, 02:48:11 AM »
Looks fantastic so far G. Man I thought that was one of those .45 scaled Dookus without the big ole claw on it -- thats way smaller than the Force FX versions !

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Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #22 on: April 12, 2014, 03:33:07 PM »
Alright, so this is going to be my project that I work on while on my study breaks for the next few weeks, and I've got a really big update. 

First, I didn't like the direction I was going initially.  2 batteries just barely fit, and didn't really fit in a structurally secure way.  Since then, the 3.7v mod has become very common on builds, and with a single battery, I believe I will be very happy with the rigidity of the build, and I will be able to up the capacity of the cell.  I can fit a single 17500.  a 18500 would be pushing it, but if I was comfortable with really thin walls, a 18350 just might fit.  I'll be sticking with a 17500 though. 

I purchased 3 hilts initially in case this exact thing happened.  I had to be sure I could get 2 perfect ones, and for that, I wanted to take the pressure off by having a spare saber.  This gives me the freedom to change my mind about where I'm boring out the pommel (it will now be bored from the top of the "power cell" rather than the bottom), and little stuff like that. 

Second, there was always the issue of the claws.  I tried and tried to get a set waterjetted (goodman was going to have a set made up from a guy he knew, but I haven't heard from him in almost a year), but I could never find a place to do it.  So, it was going to come down to making them completely from scratch and totally by hand.  In the end, I gave in and did them.  And let me tell you, I'm glad I did. 

To refresh everyone's memory on this, a stock (accurate) claw cannot accept a blade.  It comes almost halfway up the emitter, so it would totally block any type of blade.  Bending the stock claw is impossible (not that it would produce good results anyway) as it just snaps when it would hit the bending point.  So, the first and most important step for a successful conversion of this hilt is to make a completely new claw. 

Now, since I didn't have a 3d model of this hilt on hand, I couldn't really make the claw so it just fit the blade.  I would have had to make quite a few of them to get it just off of the blade, but I didn't feel it was worth 20 hours of work just to get 3/16" closer to the blade with the tip of the claw.  It looks just fine to me as it is. 


So, I traced the stock claw for the contour with pencil, and then shifted the claw so the front was out of the way, and sketched that section separately, then blended them together to come up with the final shape. 















this one shows how the blade will fit in relation to the claw.  The hilt is not "assembled" so it may be skewed in other pictures. 


This shows approximately what the final finish of the new claws will be.  It matches the chrome very nicely. 

That's all there is for now, but just so everyone knows how hard it was to make these claws, I had to use a mill to thin the stock, a bandsaw to rough cut it out, a belt sander to rough shape it, a mini pneumatic rotary sander and dynafile to finish shape it, some triangle files for the cutout in the claw, and then finish it with sandpaper and a buffing wheel.  I had to make 3 claws as one came out a little thin, but the two "final" ones are perfect IMO.  I'd give them a 9.5/10.  Each one took around 4 hours of shaping and so far, I've spent about 3 hours finishing, and I'm only about 1/3rd done finishing the first claw. 

I have to order a 3" x 3/16" endmill and something close to a 51/64" endmill (closest I can get to .790", but above).  Other than that, a piece of machinable polycarb or acrylic (for the switch plungers), mini 2w speakers, and the new batteries, I have everything I need to finish these up. 

EDIT: I also want to make it clear, I am not just dusting these off because of the korbanth run.  I did not have the same skills at freehanding stuff when I started these as I do now.  As a result, I was absolutely not going to make the claws by hand.  Since then, however, I've gotten dramatically better at freehanding parts, and I think that shows here.  I've been meaning to pick these up since before the duke run was announced (probably about a month before), but unfortunately, have been too busy with commissions and school to do it.  Well, now I'm finally ready to dust them off, and the timing just happens to coincide with the run. 
« Last Edit: April 12, 2014, 03:40:13 PM by ANAKIN SKYWALKER »


Offline RyDiddy

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #23 on: April 12, 2014, 04:25:56 PM »
Looking great dude. Fantastic work as usual.

Offline bombarta

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #24 on: April 12, 2014, 05:59:05 PM »
Can't wait to see this finished.
Has randys duke run given you a little push of motivation?   :P
I don't know, i gotta bad feeling about this!
       

Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #25 on: April 12, 2014, 08:10:52 PM »
Nope, no motivation came from the dukes.  I have a chance to hand off a saber to juan in person coming up, so I assessed what I have here, and that was this was the closest to completion.  I've been trying to do these for a looong time, and finally after my last attempt to get the claws waterjetted fell through, enough was enough, andthe timing was purely coincidental. 


Offline CHEWBACCA

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #26 on: April 12, 2014, 09:44:11 PM »
That turned out great Alex. 


Offline ANAKIN SKYWALKER

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #27 on: April 13, 2014, 07:06:36 AM »
Thanks man.  I'm hoping to put 1-2 hours per day into this until it's done.  Hopefully, I can get the rest of the parts that I need ordered and wrap these up. 

Oh yeah, these will still have cfv6s because I have had the project sitting for so long. 


Offline Justintmars

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #28 on: April 13, 2014, 08:38:09 AM »
Looks amazing so far!
Grade A saber Art my friend  :D

Offline Scorpion

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Re: MR LE Count Dooku Conversion WIP
« Reply #29 on: April 13, 2014, 09:59:14 AM »
looking good Alex but should the blade be so far away from the tip of the hook?
great 1st attempt however


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