Archive for the 'lightsaber' Category

Lightsaber d-rings

December 28th, 2015 | Category: lightsaber

I was initially using a D-Ring from Blast-Tech and found it a little tricky to clip to a simple belt clip, so I started looking for other options, when I found a conversation about D-Rings that mentioned some nice ones from StrapWorks.com.  I ordered 3/4″ and 1″ stainless steel versions, and had them delivered to my folks in Ohio.  I got a chance to pick them up in the late Autumn, and this week I got around to installing the 3/4″ one.  Wow, it looks great and is much easier to clip to my belt than the Blast-Tech one.  I’m not sure which one is more “screen accurate” but from a functional point of view, the StrapWorks one definitely wins out.

Also, I finally managed to tap the “bunny ears” w/ a 4-40 tap.  Unfortunately, the clamp I used mangled the chrome plating, so the tube looks rather awful now.  Luckily though, it’s pretty hidden between the bunny ears clamps, so I don’t think most people will notice, and hopefully I’ll be able to find/make/order a new one in the not too distant future.

Other than these cosmetic bits, I’ve not made much progress on the actual saber itself.  Mostly just waiting on parts to arrive, and since I live in Canada (slowest postal system…) and it’s the holidays, deliveries have been taking forever.  I have several clash and swing sensors, some speakers, an audio board, the blade holder + hardware, and a blade plug all on their way currently.  Once I receive some of these, I should be able to make pretty quick work of the basic assembly.

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DIY Lightsaber

December 07th, 2015 | Category: lightsaber

It’s been a while, and I’ve found myself doing things lately that I wanted to capture somewhere, so why not here?

Somewhere between 15 and 20 years ago, my dad bought a few random boxes for scrap at an auction and in it were an assortment of camera flashes. A couple of them happened to be various Graflex flash handles, which, for those of you who don’t know, are the main body of several of the original lightsaber props for the original Star Wars Trilogy. As a lifelong Star Wars fanatic, I was stoked! My dad however, was more stoked to make money off of nerds wanting lightsabers and had me convinced that he’d sold all of them. That Christmas, when I opened an original 3 cell Graflex from my dad, wow was I excited and surprised! That flash has moved all over the place with me, and I even purchased the cosmetic parts (bubble strip, Mylar tape, D-ring, and T track grips) which I never got around to adding.

But that is no longer true! Since Episode VII is just around the corner, I decided to order another cosmetic kit, since I think my original one is in a box somewhere in Ohio, and got all of those bits added a few weeks back. It felt awesome. I bought a cheap wall hanger for art that fits onto a belt pretty well, and promptly wore my hilt to work to show my fellow nerds. Without fail, every person who picks it up, asks me what it does, to which I was responding “it’s just the hilt” but that got me thinking that I really should make it a lightsaber. So, my obsessive nature has taken over, I’ve ordered parts, I’ve soldered things, I’ve programmed Arduinos, and now I have a plan! This is the point at which I really felt the need to document my process.

First up, parts list!

  • Original Graflex 3 cell (with a bottom that my dad machined so I wouldn’t be drilling through an original end cap)
  • grips, bubble strip, d-ring : http://blast-tech.com/
  • 1/2″ silver Mylar tape: ebay (although I’m not using it, because I like the Graflex branding)

At that point, I had a screen accurate replica of Luke’s lightsaber from A New Hope, which, I’m not going to lie, feels really bad-ass, but I wanted more.

 

Graflex 3 cell, Luke's Episode IV lightsaber hilt

Graflex 3 cell, Luke’s Episode IV lightsaber hilt

For the innards:

I also picked up an accellerometer to test out, but at this point I’m leaning more towards just using the swing and flash on clash sensors, since they are much simpler. I hope to have a wiring schematic made in the next few days.

As for the code to drive it, I’ve found some great examples floating around that I’m playing with. Once my code is a bit more usable and the wiring is more solidified, I’ll be posting everything to github for more people to use.

I chose to go the diy Arduino route because I like the idea of knowing exactly how the innards work and having control over them. It’s also made the project be a lot more involved than “buy a few bits and solder them together”, and I’m very into that. I’ve not had a major project in a long long time, so it feels really nice to have something to obsess over that’s not Magic cards.

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