So last week before I went off on a mini-vacation with my family to the Straights of Mackinac (a must see for anyone visiting Michigan ;) ) I managed to make some progress on this saber, and will be working on it tonight and tomorrow to try and finish off the hilt work.
After getting the grip cut out looking good, I moved to mounting the switch box:
This front mounting hole for the box will also serve to secure the chassis disc for my half chassis that will mount the CFv6:
This will keep the disc from spinning when the ribbed v-grooved extension is attached to the bottom half of the saber and prevent wire twisting and stress on the wires.
I used the control box holes to mark for the switch and recharge port holes and drilled:
The scrap piece of brass and chrome tubing center the part in the vise and allow the vise to evenly grip the part to prevent slippage and having the MHS section go flying across the workshop. ;)
I used a 5/8" bit for the main switch as usual, and a 1/2" bit for the recharge port:
Checking the alignment and fit:
To allow clearance for the small momentary switch, I'll use the Dremel with a reinforced cutting disc to create a slot between the two holes:
Now the fully assembled switch box can fit:
After completing the cuts and deburring the edges, I checked the fit of the 14650 battery pack:
It is a very good fit, with some room to spare, especially since this saber uses the new larger I.D. MPS style 10....the speaker mount can actually fit inside the pommel, giving more room for a longer battery pack:
I checked the fit of a single 18650:
mounted in this fashion using a TCSS acrylic chassis disc, this size battery may work, but in the 18500 size, so I may order the 18500 stick packs TCSS has to use instead of the 14650's....the 18500 has a larger load capacity, and will provide longer run time due to the .400mAh extra capacity they have.
I don't have an 18500 stick pack on hand for test fitting, so I used a pair of AA's instead to simulate the length:
If the speaker mount is installed so it fits inside the pommel like this:
It will leave plenty of room for the 18500's, with a bit to spare:
To make this a better fit due the original design of the saber to use a removable/replaceable battery pack, I am considering moving the recharge port from the switch box to the space directly in front of the battery, and underneath the main switch. I can also locate the RICE port there, as I did on CS-39:
This will prevent the battery from potentially hitting and putting pressure on the tabs on the recharge port reducing the risk of the tabs breaking off.
In place of the recharge port in the switch box, I can install a 3mm led from TCSS that has the chrome bezel:
I have red, green, and yellow. I am leaning towards the red one, and having it wire to the first accent led pad to act as a low battery indicator with the leds in PLI mode: