Lil Billy - A Yule Side Saber.

[jbkuma]

Introducing Li'l Billy - A Yule Side Saber

Li'l Billy is DIYino based lightsaber with a customized version of LSOS I've dubbed DIYuletide.  Custom effects include a candy cane striped neopixel blade with matching ignition and extinguish effects and sequentially triggered swing sounds to enable the playing of a tune.  The font is YuleSide, a custom font I assembled from public domain sounds including sleigh bells, hand bells, whip cracks, and my own "ho ho ho."

Materials:
Table leg - cut, stained, painted & cored out with spade blades and a hand drill.
Holiday bell decoration
aluminum tubing: 1.25x1 & 1x.75
sink drain cover speaker cover
2x120 pixel NeoPixel LED strips
DIYino
assorted wiring, connectors and screws.

I wanted to get this done by today so I could share it with friends and family, and I managed to get it done on time.  It could use a kill key, but for now I'll settle for disconnecting the battery between uses.  This is by no means a polished build, but it is only meant to be a fun thing for the holiday season after which I'll gut it and use the parts elsewhere. 

[SirRawThunderMan]

Very festive. I like it!

[Thexter]

Well done. From pommel to "emitter" it looks like a well done holiday decoration. Then you get past the bell and it has a lightsaber blade! Super unique.

[jbkuma]

Well done. From pommel to "emitter" it looks like a well done holiday decoration. Then you get past the bell and it has a lightsaber blade! Super unique.

Thanks, that was really my goal! 

[Darth Chasm]

Ha, thats awesome. Well done.

[JakeSoft]

That's just fantastic! I love the creativity. 

[jbkuma]

Thanks guys :D

[Askew Wai]

Beautiful saber! I love the candy cane effect and the sounds are just what it needs :)

[Obi_1]

That's the funniest saber I've even seen! And the best Season's Greeting I received this year too! I love the Jingle Bells piano with a single key! And the candy effect rocks too! Very creative use of saber parts and electronics! Good to see that someone out there actually programs the board with new features!

Thanks also Jake to make me aware of this cute saber! I was off the last few days on an important business ( :) watching Rogue One), but now back to attend to Xmas business and this is a great warm up to the coming festivities :) thanks for sharing.

[jbkuma]

Thanks, I'm glad you like it, and I thought you would appreciate it based on our previous conversations. :D

My pixel blade isn't perfect, but I'll redo it after the holidays.  I did upgrade this build to include a recharge port, D-ring, and removable blade with the blade inserts I've been working on. (seen here: String Blade / NeoPixel blade and hilt inserts ) I forgot to put the kill key in last night and was pleasantly surprised that the battery still has a decent charge.

[Gallandro]

That's really fun and funny, and insanely geeky, but what forum am I on anyway?   I've done a lot of last minute holiday animation projects in my time, so I can relate.  Now I want to see the guts of it.  How much wood did you clear out, and where does the board sit?

[dr.djcolegrove]

cool.  I'm imaging a salvation army bell ringer whipping this out lol

[jbkuma]

That's really fun and funny, and insanely geeky, but what forum am I on anyway?   I've done a lot of last minute holiday animation projects in my time, so I can relate.  Now I want to see the guts of it.  How much wood did you clear out, and where does the board sit?

I used a 1" twist bit, then a 1" spade to clear out more central mass. Even with an extension (don't try this at home) I couldn't get all the way through with the 1", but I got enough to get my wires through. The DIYino was approximately in the upper part of the grip area behind the button. Poorly positioned, really, and also not tied down so the motion sensing was a bit off. The battery was almost directly behind the speaker, with the charge port barely between them.

I'm planning on redoing it next year when I have time to order a real bell and give it more heavily customized coding.

The charge port was defective so I ended up just taking the whole thing and working on my next hilt.