Who wants to hold my hand making an FX saber?

I'd say Prizm's probably overkill, more complex and expensive than a nano :)
18650 battery is ideal
NECree is just Naigon's name for his RGB Tri Cree XPE2, if he wants single colour or purple I think he'd be better off doubling up a colour and having the third die available if he wants to add FoC later :)
TCSS sells led momentary tact switches in a variety of colours
Yup, 28mm speaker
Make sure you get wire that can handle 2A for the LED wires
Make sure you get an ESD safe soldering iron.

I like the necree because you don’t have to worry about resistor calculations, I’m lazy ;)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I can help you as well. I just finished my mb sabers chassis install. Since this is your first I would go with a nano v4 and tcss nano chassis. It holds everything needed in a compact space saving design. My cram fu for my build was very challenging due to adding neopixels for the crystal chamber and plasma gate as well as the new connecter for the neopixel blade. The nano also supports neopixel btw
 
I'd say Prizm's probably overkill, more complex and expensive than a nano :)
18650 battery is ideal
NECree is just Naigon's name for his RGB Tri Cree XPE2, if he wants single colour or purple I think he'd be better off doubling up a colour and having the third die available if he wants to add FoC later :)
TCSS sells led momentary tact switches in a variety of colours
Yup, 28mm speaker
Make sure you get wire that can handle 2A for the LED wires
Make sure you get an ESD safe soldering iron.

Okay-- just looking at TCSS parts...

Do I need an LED driver, or is that for bigger things than what I need?
Should I get one of the units where the LED and heat sync are already together?
Do I want 12 or 16mm switches? What's the difference between momentary and latching?
Do I need a speaker mount, or will a chassis take care of that?
 
@tomleech, hey tom i am in need of a new soldering iron. i see a lot of guys using this model

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D...15902418&sr=1-4&keywords=hakko+soldering+iron

do you know is this is EDS? there is also a bunch of fake hakko's out there, anywhere we can purchase real ones with confidence?

I'm a different Tom but I'll answer that for ya. I have that very one ordered from that very place. Obi-Shane recommended it to me and it works great If it states that it is "Fulfilled by Amazon" then you should be ok as that means Amazon has it at one of their distribution warehouses so in theory, it should be legit. Yes, it is ESD safe.
 
Okay-- just looking at TCSS parts...

Do I need an LED driver, or is that for bigger things than what I need?
Should I get one of the units where the LED and heat sync are already together?
Do I want 12 or 16mm switches? What's the difference between momentary and latching?
Do I need a speaker mount, or will a chassis take care of that?

You do not need an LED driver. That is only for sabers with no sound.

Yes, get an LED/heat sink module. If you go with a non-MHS blade holder than get a non-MHS LED/heat sink module like the 1" dia. one that TCSS sells for example.

12mm and 16mm refers to the diameter size of the switch so use what will fit where you want it to go. Latching is mostly for sabers with no sound and 99.9% of soundboards support momentary. Go with momentary.

If you get a 3D printed chassis with a speaker mount built in, you're all set, otherwise you might want to get one from TCSS.
 
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Thanks Seth, for starting this thread. I'll be following this with great interest too! I see so many great (electronic) builds lately, especially in the various Facebook groups and I think I want to dive into this world myself soon! I just watched Khal's (KR sabers) youtube video about building your own LED strip blade and that looks interesting as well. Although I'd like to light up a saber even without blade too. I'm not sure if I want to attach a blade to mine at all; maybe just sound and light from a blade plug would be enough.
 
I will throw in my 2 cents as someone who just built a Graflex 2.0 and K4 having zero experience with doing anything like this before. I had some enrty level prebuilt sabers in the past that just did not do it for me and after doing a lot of reading I decided to give it a go on my own. Did not even own a solder prior to building these.

For budget and beginers build purposes I went with the NEC Spark 2 board partnered with his NECCree RGB. The chassis are Goth’s Padawan versions and the rest of the parts are the standard 30g wire, battery, speaker and recharge ports. I build a spread sheet of all my parts needed and where to get them, a hold over from building R2, and then went shopping.

I went with the NEC due to what I felt in all my research was a really straight forward wiring for what I was looking for. Sound, Blade, FOC and Blaster effects. Scott has some really great documentaion for the boards that made it VERY easy to solder and he offers wonderful support along with it. His LED does not require resitors, one less thing to wire, which as a first build suited me just fine. The board does all the effects I wanted with simple wiring and holds 3 “font” options for color and sound changes. His interface for loading fonts and dialing in your saber is super easy to use and really opens up the options for the end user. Over all the features you get in this “entry” board for the money are spectaculer.

I wanted mostly shelf sitters with all the neat effects and got all of that with the NEC set up but more importantly the satisfacion of building my own sabers.

I had my doubts in my own ability to pull these off when I started but after doing it, I have a bench of empty hilts ready to go. My advice get a good soldering station, the money my expensive up front but its worh it in the end, I got the Hakko one mentioned here and I love it, and it will serve me for much more than just saber builds.

TLDR version. Check out http://www.saberigniter.com/ for anyone looking to build a saber for the first time.


 
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Ummm..... Post #4. Lowest price, FREE Shipping, FREE Solder (leaded though), ABSOLUTELY REAL HAKKO! ;)

And you're paying double for your wire:eek, check out navships ebay link in Post #12.:D

totally freak'n missed your post about the hakko! is that the site you ordered yours from?

also with the wire, i am a little confused (story of my life) it says its 50ft assortment.(totaling 50ft all together right?) the wire im buying is 25ft on each roll? i already bought every color in 30g, and a extra roll of red and black in 28g for the battery leads
 
Speaking of solder and wire, SethS ! If you don't have one, it would be a good idea to pick up a Smoke Absorbing Fan of some sort.

https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=243-1189-nd

Digikey doesn't have the best price on this right now, but if you compile your shopping list before you randomly order from wherever, you'll be able to compare overall pricing and get what you need from who has what at the best prices.


If you want to use Lead-FREE solder, I use these two...

ChipQuik #SMDSWLF.020 1oz. https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/chip-quik-inc/SMDSWLF.020-1OZ/SMDSWLF.020-1OZ-ND/2177056

MG Chemicals #4900-35G 0.6oz. https://www.circuitspecialists.com/4900-35g.html


MG Chemicals also makes desoldering wick called 'SUPER WICK' in different widths. 0.025" and 0.050". Think of solder wick as your lead eraser for when you flub your soldering welds.

https://www.circuitspecialists.com/424-lf.html

https://www.circuitspecialists.com/423-white.html


And if you need wire strippers...

https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=pa70057-nd


And a set of helping hands are always... helpful...

Tekton Helping Hands with Magnifier #7521 I got mine for $9.99 or so from my local hobby shop.
 
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is there a big difference between lead, and lead free? here in mass its impossible to find lead solder anymore when working with plumbing.... i dont know about the electronics community here...

when you go lead free, do you need a special flux, or does your normal flux also work with lead free?
 
Hey halliwax ! Yes, https://www.tequipment.net/ was the lowest price back then too and it was a pleasant purchasing experience!

Yes, the link I put up for the 28 AWG wire assortment is for 50' of wire in total. More than enough to wire several lightsabers.

I compared his 25' 28 AWG wire at $4.36 to the $10.34 at powerwerx when you posted their link and was like :eek. :lol

navships has several other gauges of wire if you click on "See other items".

For an assortment of 30AWG...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/30-AWG-Sil...366525?hash=item36282e723d:g:10wAAOSwlMFZLvPb

... navships is $0.01 more per 25' length but $1.54 less for shipping, so you're saving $1.49 if you were buying 5 bundles of wire.

Everything from him is sent via USPS in a bubble envelope and arrives fairly quickly depending on USPS.


I know the GOTH-3D Chassis requires 30 AWG, but I'm making my own Chassis and Crystal Chamber, so I'm using the 28AWG. I had a line on some 28 AWG that was striped the way I wanted, had the higher 19 strand count, wasn't too expensive, but the quantity was 100' minimum with no returns and they wouldn't even send me a simple 6" length of wire in a regular old sealed envelope to allow me to make certain that it was thin enough to fit into where I need it to before I placed my order. Anywho, that's when I started looking for recommendations and navships was the guy that everyone was pointing towards, so I got my wires from him. He has 100% positive reviews on eBay.


As far as fluxes go, it's the formula for what it's to be used with, LEADED or LEAD-FREE. Here's a quick article...

https://www.itri.co.uk/solders/news-4/does-lead-free-flux-make-a-difference

I don't think Rob and Irv ever even mention flux now that I think about it. I didn't get any when I ordered all my soldering equiptment. I'll have to revisit their Youtube videos to double check!


Depending on who you talk to, LEADED solder is easier to work with because it has a lower melting/flow temperature than LEAD-FREE. I think it all boils down to experience with a certain product/technique. I chose to order all LEAD-FREE solders and solder pastes so that I don't have to worry about poisoning myself or anyone that ever handles my lightsaber. I just feel more comfortable health-safety-wise with LEAD-FREE and I'm going to have to practice soldering a lot anyway before I set iron to CFv8, so why not learn with something that's safer?!

p.s. Not having LEADED solder for your water pipes is a GREAT THING! ;)

OH! And seriously! If you have flux with a brush or whatnot that has come into contact with LEADED solder, you may have contaminated that container of flux, so it'd be a good idea to get a new batch of flux for LEAD-FREE ONLY USE!
 
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