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Author Topic: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker  (Read 16503 times)

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Offline Fabian 71

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Re: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker
« Reply #60 on: November 06, 2017, 04:05:10 PM »
Thanks guys!

I made some progress on the bunny ears today.  This part is daunting; I was tempted to just buy some repro ears and be done with it.  But I'm happy with how they are coming out.

I started with a cardstock template of what I *thought* they should look like:



I cut two of them out of steel, then stacked them so I could file them to match.


Hi Jeremy , It´s an amazing build that chanber and crystal will be great, I have a question for you , what  SS thicknes did you used for the bunny ears?
Geetings from Buenos Aires!!



Like so:



The 'ears' were then bent around a mandrel with vise and hammer, and drilled.
Installed, they are starting to look the part:



Now on to form the interior parts, to fit a 1" blade.  I think I'll make the blade holder first. . .

Offline Fabian 71

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Re: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker
« Reply #61 on: November 06, 2017, 04:08:19 PM »
Hi Jeremy I´have a question: what Stainless steel Thickness did you used for the bunny ears? That chamber is looking amazing, keep the superb work.

EDIT: sorry for double question I´m not familiar with the post process :P
« Last Edit: November 06, 2017, 04:22:03 PM by Fabian 71 »

Offline jeremy.g

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Re: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker
« Reply #62 on: November 09, 2017, 05:04:27 AM »
Hi Fabian,

I used 16 ga stainless for the bunny ears, and 20 ga for 'spring' ring that goes around the bulb holder part.
I also used 20 ga for the clamp.
Probably overkill on both parts.  But "anything worth doing is worth over-doing", right?   :cheesy:

Crystal Focus won't be out for a while, so I bought a Prizm to use in the meantime.
I loaded up some good fonts, and started building my 'neopixel' blade.
Things were looking good, until I somehow killed the board while soldering the final wires into place.  I'm working with Erv' and Michael now to figure out what went wrong.  (doh!)

Two steps forward, one step back. . .

-Jeremy

Offline jeremy.g

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Re: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker
« Reply #63 on: December 15, 2017, 04:30:46 PM »
It's been a while...

I sent my Prizm in to Michael for repair.  He did a stellar job patching it up and getting it back to me.  Thanks M.H.!
I assembled the saber and had it working gloriously for about a day.  It looked AWESOME!  . . . right up to the point where smoke started pouring out of it.

It was a dumb mistake:  I *really* wanted to use quick connect harnesses so I could easily disconnect the chassis from the saber if I wanted to in the future.  The harnesses I had were pretty thin gauge but I took a chance on them anyhow.  Learn from me, kids!  don't skimp on the wiring, especially if your blade is running 274 neopixels. :)



LUCKILY, the board and battery were both ok.  So I took the whole @#!% thing apart and rewired EVERYTHING.  I went a bit overkill, but am ok with that.  I used 28 gauge, and double the wires for all that carried current for the blade.




So, I'll leave you with a few parting shots.  Here's the saber in it's normal "closed" presentation.



And here she is with the clamp opened, showing the crystal chamber.



Behold, the illumnated nerdy goodness.



One last shot, at rest on the workbench.



That's all for now!  I'm glad to have the saber done just in time for the movie. 
I plan to re-wire this saber when Erv's new CF-LS comes out, so I can bling out the crystal chamber a bit more.
In the meantime, it's time to help my son with his Malgus model.

Happy Saber-ing!

-Jeremy



Offline Fabian 71

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Re: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker
« Reply #64 on: January 08, 2018, 02:05:29 PM »
Hi Jeremy, remember when brought the idea of making the bottom tap rolling the sheet metal over a stainless disc? Well it works and really well, I still come here from time to time for inspiration, greetings from Buenos Aires!

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Offline Caine

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Re: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker
« Reply #65 on: January 08, 2018, 06:34:42 PM »
Wow. I've been around since 2008 and never have seen a scratch made Graflex done like this.

Awesome. Great job!

Offline jeremy.g

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Re: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker
« Reply #66 on: January 16, 2018, 04:29:08 AM »
Fabian- Thanks for linking the pics!  That end cap 'disk method' came out great.  How did you bend the edge over the disk?  Small taps with hammer, or did you use some sort of 'forming' tool?  I may steal that process for another project. :)

Caine- Thanks!  Yeah, this project was a stupid amount of work- but very rewarding.  I've enjoyed playing around with the finished product last few months, but already kicking around ideas for a chassis rebuild when Erv's CF-LS comes out.

-Jeremy

Offline Fabian 71

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Re: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker
« Reply #67 on: January 17, 2018, 07:01:09 PM »
Hi Jeremy!! I just hammered it at home with absolutely no adequate tools, (anxiety is a bad companion) so the lip came out undulated and crooked (I don´t know the  correct word since English isn´t my first language). But the main issue was that I made the lip too large, hence the undulation.  For the next one the lip has to be like 2 mm or 2,5 no more than that. The guy who made the lathe work corrected it a bit and turned reasonably well.
« Last Edit: January 23, 2018, 06:35:08 AM by Fabian 71 »

Offline Fabian 71

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Re: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker
« Reply #68 on: January 17, 2018, 07:11:09 PM »
In the pic you see the lip has to be 3mm then the disc thickness would be 1mm so the fold is about 2mm I didn't folded it yet , I let you know how it came up...

« Last Edit: January 19, 2018, 12:11:56 PM by Fabian 71 »

Offline Fabian 71

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Re: Jeremy.G's scratch-built Skywalker
« Reply #69 on: January 17, 2018, 07:21:39 PM »
I wasn´t sure of using SS for making this saber , but your post inspired me in so many levels that I couldn´t help myself, Thank you J !!!










« Last Edit: January 17, 2018, 07:38:23 PM by Fabian 71 »

 

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