Where to begin? ;D. A while back I built my personal ESB Vintage Graflex. I used a blue Lux V with a Corbins board and a MR Vader Sound Board.(I like the idle hum better). It was powered by a single 9V battery. The power-up sequence and run time was perfect. The problem with this system is the power-down sequence. The Lux would power-down THEN then the MR board would initiate the retract effect.(in other words the saber had no lights during sound off). Bummer. I had tried rewiring the system in multiple ways but nothing. SO....it sat in my case for a year.
I wanted to give my vintage Graflex to a family member who has an undying love for the original trilogies. I wanted to also do something really special. Recently I had aquired a Crystal Chamber Chassis DIY kit from YODA. But before I go on I must say (and I'm pretty sure all of you know this) that the skill Yoda has is phenominal. The crafsmanship is far beyond superb. It really amazes me how a person can be so meticulous when creating. could it be his midichlorian level? (oh I forgot....It's YODA! and his level is 17,700!!) Anyway... The detail is perfect in every sense. Just holding on of these chassis in my hand is an honor to say the least. I would definately urge whoever to pick one up. You will NOT regret the purchase!!
Anyway, I decided to revisit the build from a year ago. I still haven't been able to get a hold of a CF board or an US board so I decided to rework the original idea. How to cram all of that into a very nice Crystal Chassis? I didn't know. So I tried. No dice. I figured the best way was to split up the systems into two individual ones. But the power.... WAIT! 2 Trustfire batteries! One single cell has 3.7V & 900ma. Perfect for powering up 1 system. So the work begins.....
The chassis comes with 2 cell battery box. I cut the lower positive & negative lead and isolated the box into two indiviual power cells. I routed the wire through the inside of the box as opposed to the outside allowing more room and isolation of wires. Besides. I have something else planned for the space above the box. Done. Then I mounted a stock MR speaker in the bottom but before I routed the wires I used some round aluminum tubing and put it through the main wire holes coming from the speaker chamber to the crystal chamber. Now I have protected wiring and a third aluminum rod accent.
That was the easy part..
Next I wanted to make some greeblie leds to go into the crystal chamber. I constructed an led pack and fitted them into the chamber. I used green rectangular leds because they have a long head on them. After installing, I custom shaped them with my dremel to mach the radius of the chassis. Awesome. Everything is starting to take shape! I must commend Yoda as he as thought ef everything designing this chassis. Plenty of room to fit wires through the holes as well as all of the right holes in all of the right spots! Anyway, I routed the wires to the board chamber. I wanted to try and fit 4 greeblies in the chamber but there wasn't room. I still needed to get my fingers in there to turn the crystal on. Wouldnt want to defeit the purpose!!!
Now the hardest part was fitting the board into the board chamber. This took HOURS. Literally. I tried to fit them both in at the same time. Nope. I tried one at a time. No way. So then I grabbed my dremel (What!!! DREMEL + YODA'S CHASSIS = SACRILEGE!!!!) Believe me when I say I stared at my dremel for at least an hour. I actually considered trashing the idea of a dual system. I mean anyone would be happy with a stock MR board running a Lux III installed into one of Yoda's Chassis. BUT this project was for a family member and I wanted it to be one-of-a-kind. Really special. So I grabbed my dremel and went at it. delicately. Yoda would be proud. The boards fit perfectly. Tight but perfectly.
As you can see from the photos below just how cramped everything is. I know..... Why not just purchase a CF 4.0?? Well, They are hard to get and I have extra MR boards and well so on.... I think the project turned out great. I know the person receiving this would be proud. I am proud to have built it!
Here are some specs & pics. Enjoy -
• Green Luxeon III (By request)
• Corbins Board
• Momentary switches (by request)
• MR ROTS Anakin Board
• Dual 3.7V 900ma power system
Here is the initial dual system test. The completed saber acts identically with the exception of the removal of the 4th and red led due to space requirements.
http://www.youtube.com/v/6ENTtDkOvQ8&hl=en&fs=1Here the inital idea. Excuse the mess :D I actually had a red led ladder attached but burned out and through testing I eventually burned up the original Vader board. Sucks but I have another........He requested light sound anyway...so I put in a ROTJ.
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss16/thefilthydead/DSC_0033a.jpgHere is another before I recieved the Chassis.....This version had an ROTJ board in it which was WAAAYYY too big for the board chamber. I had to eventually remove this board and install a ROTS Anakin. Plus 4 green leds and an addition red one that lit up on the end of the ramp sequence... I had to remove the red and the 4th due do space restrictions as well.
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss16/thefilthydead/DSC_0047a.jpgHere are the independent micro switches. Both are controlled by a single red graflex button.
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss16/thefilthydead/DSC_0035.jpgHere the project is coming along. I am at the stage of board(s) installation.
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss16/thefilthydead/DSC_0032b.jpggreeblies!!!! or Greenblies ;) ha!
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss16/thefilthydead/DSC_0037b.jpgComplete before Hilt install (momentary switches were installed by request by the way...)
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss16/thefilthydead/DSC_0041b.jpgFinal ESB Vintage Graflex.
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss16/thefilthydead/DSC_0046b.jpg