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Author Topic: 2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade  (Read 3905 times)

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Offline raspeitia

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2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade
« on: January 15, 2018, 07:59:02 AM »
Hi,

Figured I'd post this since I've not seen it anywhere.

I wanted to take my 2015 Vader Black Series saber and make the blade removable, while keeping it as original as possible.

I think I was able to do this and the only part removed was a piece of the led strip.

Everything works and you can use the existing thumbscrews for blade retention.

The only thing I had to buy was this 8 pin Aviation connector male and female set from Amazon. I also had to create an insert that was 3cm in diameter to hold the connector and slide inside the chassis. The insert was held in place by the second half of the chassis.

Everything fit into the original chassis without modifications.

Thanks fx-sabers members, for all the disassembly walkthroughs. They were a bit different than the 2015 black series, but generally all there. The biggest difference was that the thumbscrew under the fake black button was epoxied in place and required a bit of force to separate as the epoxy seeped in all the way down to the blade.  I thought I was doing something wrong at first, but a little flex broke it free from the hilt to chassis and the chassis to blade.

I can post more pictures if needed.

Offline raspeitia

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Re: 2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2018, 07:59:32 AM »
You will need to grind off the screw ring.


I used solder braid to remove the solder, then slid my exacto between the board and the light strip to separate them.


Drill a hole centered right on the groove. This hole is just oversized for the smaller peg.
By making it a bit oversized, you will get some wobble when the connector is assembled. You want this to allow your blade to find the male end easily when inserting and removing the blade.
Make sure it goes all the way through both sides.


Offline raspeitia

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Re: 2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2018, 08:00:00 AM »
Grind out the lower half so it fits the wider led holder insert. One peg is wider than the other. IMPORTANT, make sure you drill and grind the sides like this.


The inner diameter of the plastic chassis is 3cm. We will make an insert to mount the male connector to.


Note the notch, which is inside the chassis, it comes in handy to resist rotation.
I made a 3D printable insert incase you want to make it yourself. Vader 2015 Black Series removable blade base insert by raspeitia - Thingiverse

« Last Edit: March 28, 2018, 10:00:53 AM by raspeitia »

Offline raspeitia

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Re: 2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2018, 08:00:19 AM »
We need to cut the board here where I have a little line between the fIrst two holes. Use a dremel cutoff wheel to get a smooth cut.


I used some extra PC ribbon cable to make the connector cabling.


Scrape the epoxy coat to expose the traces. BE VERY CAREFUL to only scrape the epoxy and not to take off the copper trace.


Offline raspeitia

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Re: 2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2018, 08:00:40 AM »
Tin the wire and the trace, then solder together. You can scrape as you go to only expose the traces you need (unlike me).


The wires are a tight fit, so we need to square out the back of the connector. Slice right along the edges as shown.










Place the connector in the sleeve. Twist your wires like this (careful not to pull them from the board) to make it easier to solder on to the connector. Note the twist direction for both sides.
Measure how long you need the wires WITH THE CONNECTOR in place, then trim them.


Offline raspeitia

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Re: 2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2018, 08:01:02 AM »
Take them off the sleeve and solder them on to the connector. Note the numbers on the connector and what they correspond to on the board for later mating to the male plug.


Assemble your connector and place into the blade. I used a small set screw to hold it together


Make a new set of wires for the board. Solder them in.


Offline raspeitia

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Re: 2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2018, 08:01:20 AM »
Solder them to the male connector, taking note to connect the corresponding wires to the blade end. DONT FORGET to slip on the nut into the wires before soldering.
Assemble the insert. like this. the board just fits into your insert and the back chassis half.


Slide the insert into the front chassis half with the back end of the insert flush with the back of the chassis half. NOTE the notch. Align the male connector notch with your blade and tighten down the nut in the insert.


I used one of the existing recessed holes in the chassis to add a small screw to hold the insert in place.
Assemble the back half of the chassis and tape it back together. Don't forget to slide your switch wires through.


Assemble your hilt. Might want to test before closing it all up.





« Last Edit: February 06, 2018, 09:35:57 PM by raspeitia »

Offline Doaln

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Re: 2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade
« Reply #7 on: February 06, 2018, 08:39:11 PM »
That's a really awesome guide to retain the LED string blade! I've never seen anyone else doing anything like that. Well done.

Offline raspeitia

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Re: 2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2018, 09:45:22 PM »
Thanks. Its been working great. I added some pics of the insert I missed.

Got my NBv4 and have already created a second insert to use with two 120 (240) neopixel strips with the stock battery insert. It does not want to run a red LED saber though. Too much draw from the stock three AA batteries. Blue is good though.

I'm just waiting on some 8mm diffused neopixel LEDs to make a blade from those to not draw as much amps as the LED strips. I'll see how that works.

Offline raspeitia

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Re: 2015 Black Series Vader with removable blade
« Reply #9 on: March 28, 2018, 10:02:53 AM »
Added a 3D printable insert, in case you want to print one instead.

Vader 2015 Black Series removable blade base insert by raspeitia - Thingiverse

 

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