Graflex 2.0 Sabers - Show your work / Talk Electronics

[Shoot2Thrill468]

How was this mod to make for you? As in, how difficult was it to get cut clean and line up the drill holes so that everything sits even etc. I'm wanting to do this to mine but I'm a novice at this so I'm looking for the best way to achieve this same look and not have it look like a five year old kid did it lol

It's not too difficult at all if you have a dremel with a good cutoff wheel. Simply cut it just above the end, the grind it down so it's smooth. If you go slow and take your time you should be fine. Then you simply line up the d-ring mount and mark where the screw holes are and drill them out. I have my pommel locked in place so my d-ring properly alignes with my grips and then I turn the lower half so the grips and d-ring line up with the clamp as you can see in my picture.

 

[Shoot2Thrill468]

Thought I would share my near finished Graflex 2.0. I'm going to tear it down and finish the crystal chamber (I never painted the chassis or installed the crystal), but the exterior is nearly finished. Working from the top down:

- I have the amazing Graflex accurate blade plug from HARP.
- I've replaced the terrible red buttons that come with the kit with more accurate ones from TCSS (same as the ones from graflexshop.com).
- Installed a Graflex clamp switch for ESB accuracy (only in TFA do they use the red button for some frustrating reason lol)
- Put the 1/2" wide reflective Mylar tape around the clamp for that true ESB look.
- Installed an ESB accurate circuit board clamp card from Slothfurnace (gold contacts, silver solder) modified to work with my clamp switch. It looks better in person I swear lol.
- Modified my clamp lever so it can turn and tighten / loosen without having to remove the clamp from the saber.
- Aligned my lower half so the grips properly align with the clamp card.
- Replaced the tiny and inaccurate screws in the grips with larger screen accurate rivets.
- Drilled out the center of the rivets to act as discrete yet very functional sound holes.
- Ground down and installed a Graflex 2 cell end cap over my pommel (because I HATE those sound holes lol).
- Installed a far more screen accurate d-ring from wannawanga.com .
- Properly aligned and secured the pommel so it properly aligns with the grips and clamp.

Final steps are to finish off the crystal chamber and replace the plastic t-grips with rubber ones. Hope you like it!!

 

[cjchiu]

Very nice. I'm really loving the drilled out rivet idea. I might give that a go as well if I find a cheap 2 cell bottom.

 

[Shoot2Thrill468]

Very nice. I'm really loving the drilled out rivet idea. I might give that a go as well if I find a cheap 2 cell bottom.

eBay man. This one guy keeps putting them up one at a time. I bought mine for $19 with free shipping and the next day he had another one. I started posting it around and now everyone is doing it. That guy is making a killing off us lol.

- - - Updated - - -

This guy. This one is a little rougher than some of the others he's sold but it's still not bad.

​http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Gra...869540?hash=item3d1404e2a4:g:IRYAAOSwwpdW4bi3

 

[cjchiu]

Yeah, I pulled the trigger on that one.

 

[Shoot2Thrill468]

Yeah, I pulled the trigger on that one.

Nice! Hopefully he'll have another one up tomorrow for the next guy lol.

 

[jcroscigno]

I'm finding that the GOTH chassis w/the 28mm bass speaker and the Spark board is almost too tight on its tolerances. I'm going to have to sand down more of the crystal chamber area near the top, something is definitely touching the speaker when it's active at its loudest volume. Other than that, I'm very impressed by the chassis, it's been surprisingly cooperative to work with, and feels generally forgiving to my novice skills.

 

[Terrasolo]

It's not too difficult at all if you have a dremel with a good cutoff wheel. Simply cut it just above the end, the grind it down so it's smooth. If you go slow and take your time you should be fine. Then you simply line up the d-ring mount and mark where the screw holes are and drill them out. I have my pommel locked in place so my d-ring properly alignes with my grips and then I turn the lower half so the grips and d-ring line up with the clamp as you can see in my picture.

Sweet! Thanks for the tips! I will have to get a dremel and practice with it a bit but it should be a fun project to try.

 

[Fenderbender]

Just to let everyone know, we should have more 1" adapters in stock next month when the next wave of 2.0's hits. We had to reserve some for our own builds and send ins but more are being made. We are also working on a video to detail how to install it. Most have figured it out as it isn't too difficult but I know from experience that having a visual guide is a valuable thing.

 

[JKKS]

Thought I would share my near finished Graflex 2.0. I'm going to tear it down and finish the crystal chamber (I never painted the chassis or installed the crystal), but the exterior is nearly finished. Working from the top down:

- I have the amazing Graflex accurate blade plug from HARP.
- I've replaced the terrible red buttons that come with the kit with more accurate ones from TCSS (same as the ones from graflexshop.com).
- Installed a Graflex clamp switch for ESB accuracy (only in TFA do they use the red button for some frustrating reason lol)
- Put the 1/2" wide reflective Mylar tape around the clamp for that true ESB look.
- Installed an ESB accurate circuit board clamp card from Slothfurnace (gold contacts, silver solder) modified to work with my clamp switch. It looks better in person I swear lol.
- Modified my clamp lever so it can turn and tighten / loosen without having to remove the clamp from the saber.
- Aligned my lower half so the grips properly align with the clamp card.
- Replaced the tiny and inaccurate screws in the grips with larger screen accurate rivets.
- Drilled out the center of the rivets to act as discrete yet very functional sound holes.
- Ground down and installed a Graflex 2 cell end cap over my pommel (because I HATE those sound holes lol).
- Installed a far more screen accurate d-ring from wannawanga.com .
- Properly aligned and secured the pommel so it properly aligns with the grips and clamp.

Final steps are to finish off the crystal chamber and replace the plastic t-grips with rubber ones. Hope you like it!!

View attachment 604427View attachment 604426View attachment 604425View attachment 604424View attachment 604423View attachment 604422View attachment 604421

Amazing custom job on this kit.
Could you please share the size and diameter of the rivets you used for the grips ?

 

[Shoot2Thrill468]

Amazing custom job on this kit.
Could you please share the size and diameter of the rivets you used for the grips ?

I'm not entirely sure. I got them from a bin at work. I will check and see if we have any more and try to get a measurement. It should be pretty easy to find one though. Hardware stores sell them really cheap. You can experiment with different sizes until you find one you like. There is no "right" size. I just picked one I liked and tried it to see if it would work and it did. I will try and get you a measurement though.

 

[Michel]

Hi everyone!


First of all, congratulations on your beautiful Graflex sabers and keep up the good work. I'm especially looking forward to Shoot2Thrill's video series!


Like a few people here, I've chosen a Graflex 2.0 for my first build. I got all the internal component and I am just waiting for the hilt sometime in April.
I'm bench testing everything but I am having difficulties with the resistors. I'm using an 18650 3.7v Li-ion battery. The LED module is a BBW Tri Cree from Saberbay.


Following the advice of the wizard (http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz) I got a 1 ohm 2 watt resistor for each of the blue die on the module (Vf 3.1 V, If 1000 mA).
The problem is that they make the LED way too dim. The multimeter reading gives me 1 ohm.


Since, this particular LED module seems to be very popular among Graflex 2.0 owners, I thought I could ask for your input regarding this.


I'm a complete noob, so please forgive me in advance if I missed something completely obvious.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jamiemp]

If you do your own calculations what numbers do you get? The closest you can get to those numbers without the resistor going under is the best and will provide the brightest results I believe. How much brighter? Idk...


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[Michel]

Thanks for your answer!
Let's see,

Battery voltage = 3.7
LED Vf = 3.1
I = 1 amp

R = (Battery voltage - LED Vf) / I = (3.7 - 3.1) / 1 = 0.6 ohm
P = R x I² = 0.6 x 1² = 0.6 W

Please, let me know if my calculations are correct.
Do you think I could get away with a 0.5 ohm, 0.5 W resistor?

 

[webbsy]

i test wired eerything tonight outside of the chasis and im wondering what happens when you charge it? i wired the crystal led off the main led and switch and when i plug it in to charge the crystal led dims. What do you think the problem could be?

Cheers

 

[cjchiu]

Everything should turn off if wired correctly, right? Charging the battery is similar to putting in a kill key. Which sound board are you using?

 

[webbsy]

Nbv3 it's strange because it does turn off but the LED just dimmed and I think I may have killed it.

 

[JKKS]

I'm not entirely sure. I got them from a bin at work. I will check and see if we have any more and try to get a measurement. It should be pretty easy to find one though. Hardware stores sell them really cheap. You can experiment with different sizes until you find one you like. There is no "right" size. I just picked one I liked and tried it to see if it would work and it did. I will try and get you a measurement though.

Would be cool if you could get those specs. My 2.0 hilt is being shipped directly to a sabersmith for assembly and electronics installation so I won't really get the chance to experiment with replacement pieces. And frankly I think the rivets are a huge improvement over the stock screws and I'd love to have something similar incorporated into my build.

 

[cjchiu]

JKKS, you should talk to your sabersmith as most can figure mods like this themselves.

 

[jamiemp]

Thanks for your answer!
Let's see,

Battery voltage = 3.7
LED Vf = 3.1
I = 1 amp

R = (Battery voltage - LED Vf) / I = (3.7 - 3.1) / 1 = 0.6 ohm
P = R x I² = 0.6 x 1² = 0.6 W

Please, let me know if my calculations are correct.
Do you think I could get away with a 0.5 ohm, 0.5 W resistor?

Calculations look correct. Using a lower resistor, that idk. I'm still pretty new at this so I always play it on the safe side and never go under what is required. Maybe someone else can chime in.


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