Recognizing when I’m in over my head……

Yesterday, I boxed up the hilt and the electronics and overnighted them to Rhode Island.  I have been a stupid hamster on a wheel for days and days and days.  I decided to contract my friend Deanna at Vader’s Vault to do a pro install for this time.  I hate to admit defeat but I simply don’t have ability to figure out the electronics and I don’t have anyone onsite who can help me there.  Some of them tried and they were ALL wrong.  I am feeling frustrated, to say the least.

The silver lining is that Deanna will be adding Flash on Clash functionality to my soundboard, which has only become available for the Petit Cruton in the last couple of weeks.  She will be constructing a custom inner chassis for the the electronics as well.  I believe, actually, that seeing how the pros do it will be very beneficial to me in the long run.

Another HUGE step closer…..

I spent Thursday working with the screws and screw holes for the switch box.  The first set that had been drilled is basically fine.  The screws go down where they are supposed to.  The other 2 holes were more problematic, but I prevailed in my quest.  I had to cut off another pair of screws that were just ONE thread revolution longer than the first two I tried to use.  I wouldn’t have thought such a small bit of a screw could make such a difference.  But with the holes in places where I can just drill further, I made do with what the scenario I have.  The tap of course is still broken.  I may talk to Glenn about that too.  I found a bunch tap related supplies in the Jantz catalog that randomly showed up at my doorstep last week.  I need to buy him one and myself one (or maybe 2).  Glenn helped me do the hole in the emitter piece for the wires.  It isn’t all that pretty, but the switchbox will completely cover the un-pretty up, so I am not worried about that part.

I am delighted to report that I finally had the powdercoating done yesterday (Saturday, for those not near a calendar).  It looks fantastic, in my opinion.  The aluminum parts are now a gorgeous shade of medium green that nicely accentuates the brass scrollwork.  I can’t wait to see how it looks with the stones set.

I also broke down and purchase a new tablet for my laptop.  I had another pen go bad on me and I happened to see where Wacom has just recently released the next version of the Bamboo (which has been my tablet for 3 years or so now).  I found one on Amazon for a good price (and free shipping), so I went ahead and ordered it.  I must say, the new Bamboo Create does NOT disappoint!  The functional area is twice the size of the old one.  It has touch capability too, which is a little odd.  I’ve never liked the glide-point things on laptops, and this essentially is a GIANT glidepoint in that mode.  I love the new pen.  It has replaceable nibs too, which is great.  The tablet came with Photoshop Elements 9, Corel Painter Essentials 4, and Autodesk Sketchbook Express.  3 amazing programs AND they have tutorials for them on the disk as well.  I have spent most of this weekend doing Elements tutorials and Painter tutorials.  I  have a much better grasp of how to make things happen in Elements than I EVER have before.  I am looking forward to doing better quality artwork all the way around!

Head Butting the Desk…..my latest contact sport….

I have spent most of the last week in a futile attempt to wire up the Petit Cruton with 2 momentary switches.  Part of the problem is that the STUPID switches are not labeled so I had to use trial and error to try to find which poles need connecting to.  What actually transpired, apparently, is lots and lots and lots of error.  I tried connecting both ways (poles across from each other AND poles side by side) and neither one worked.  I bought 4 of each switch since they were so cheap, so I tried all of the above with different switches.  Still didn’t work.  I kept getting the boot sound from the board, and NOTHING ELSE.  After having exhausted my tiny reservoir of electrical “knowledge”, I got on the forums and asked around.  People suggested this and that and what-have-you.  I tried them all.  This cycle went on for DAYS!  There aren’t that many different approaches to try with a small board like the PC-L.

Finally it became apparent that the ESD fairy seems to have visited my bench and wrought destruction upon it.  The board, physically speaking, is wired up correctly now.  I still am getting the same bit of NOTHING I have gotten for a week.  Luminara (from the forums) suggested emailing the guy here in the states who is responsible for actually building the Petit Cruton boards.  He, as it turns out, is also on the forums and he sent me an PM and told me he would be happy to help me out.  I was worried that I would have to buy a brand new board, but the people online assured me that my board can be fixed for substantially cheaper than the cost of a new one.  It won’t be free, and I totally understand that.  But it’s not a total loss.

I did finally talk to Mark (the wood worker) about a presentation box.  It’s quite a bit of money, so I’ll have to cross that bridge a little later.  I talked to a guy Bill knows and he knows a guy who actually builds electrical boards from scratch for whatever application he needs them for.  I am gonna talk to him about the possibility (down the road) of producing in-house boards.  Clearly this is NOT something I just sit down and do myself.  But I would like to have some idea of what it would take, so if I get to the point where I have a company and employees and all that jazz, I can possibly have someone on staff to do it for me.  I want to state for the record that I have NO intention of stealing the hard work of others who have made lightsaber sound and light what it is today.  I would like to work WITH those people when and IF the time comes…….

I also spent some time mulling over the mechanical part of the switch assembly that I have to build.  I have scrapped the single oval plate idea completely.   I actually scrapped the plate idea entirely as well.  I am going to fabricate a control box out of brass that sits up enough to where I don’t have to embed the switches in the aluminum at all.  I will just have to drill holes for the wires.  I will solder a base around the bottom of the control box and the base will be what screws on to the aluminum section.  I have decided to use an emerald cut amethyst for the main switch and a smaller, round Chrome Diopside for the aux switch.

On an entirely different note, I did go to the DMV at long last and get a WI license plate……

A Brief Description of the Last Week:

Major Fabrication is NEARLY complete….

I drilled and bored out the pommel today.  That, surprisingly, went more or less according to plan.  AND, since my package from the Custom Saber Shop arrived today as well, I had the recharge port and the kill key to do a practice install on the pommel after I got the hole to the various widths I need it.  I may still need to widen the outside hole just a bit.  I’m not sure yet.

I also put a call in to the woodworker that’s across the street.  I would like to get a quote on how much a not-too-complicated display box would cost me.  More on that one later…….

Engineering of a Different Sort….

I have spent the last several days working on small scale issues.  Part of that is refining my plan for getting wires to the switch (I am somewhat apprehensive….).  I have also spent some time on the forums gathering EVEN MORE advice and ideas for the challenges that continue to arise.

I did spend some time fashioning a brass oval for the switch assembly.  THAT took THREE tries to get right (or close enough to right for the time being).  I will have to do some final shaping on the oval.  Right now I am trying to wrap my head around the best way to mount the emerald cut amethyst in the brass oval so it moves freely enough to trigger the momentary switch below, but NOT so freely that it goes flying off into the ether, never to be seen again.

I did order a bunch of parts that I needed last week.  The switches and the higher end LED’s came today.  I am pleased to share that one of the professional sabersmiths on the forum offered to walk me through the color mixing process.  She and her husband are know for the purple color they get so that knowledge will be indispensable.

Today I went ahead and cut the bad set of threads off the pommel.  That piece of brass continues to act in a passive aggressive manner.  Glenn brought the radius turner into the shop and I turned a shallow dome on the end of the pommel.  Tomorrow, I expect I will be boring out the inside of the pommel.  In theory, that should be the last bit of major machining that I have to do.

I LOVE it when a plan starts to come together…….

…..apologies to Hannibal Smith.  I have spent 2 days boring out the pieces of the the emitter assembly.  It is finally complete, after having given me fits!  I  was using an inside micrometer (on of Glenn’s MANY tools of unusual and very necessary-ness)  to check the bore diameter.  I was taking light cuts because I was afraid to over do it.  Somehow, a slight inner bulge developed in the outermost brass component.  Luckily, Glenn worked some Gearhead Magic and straightened the bore out.

I drilled and tapped the set screw hole this afternoon and did a fitting on the blade with the LED housing in place.  The blade goes in a full 3 inches inside the hilt, so it should be a very stable platform for moderate dueling, if the future owner (whomever that may be) decides that they want to.  I had Glenn take some pictures of me with the nearly complete hilt.  In a couple of the pictures, the blade looks like it’s glowing but there are NO electronics installed yet.  It is simply reflection of light by the diffusing film that is inside the blade.  The blade I have is 31 inches viewable.  I am thinking I might should get one that is 34 inches viewable.  The one I have just feels too short…….

Bill, Damon, Tammy and I went to the Renne Faire in Bristol this weekend.  We had a good time down there.  Damon bought a rapier and dagger combo.  Unfortunately, I didn’t remember to take my camera OUT OF MY POCKET the whole day, so I have no photos to share of that…….

Third Time is the Charm!

The last piece of brass that needed threads decided to be very, very, VERY uncooperative yesterday.  Luckily we had enough stock to keep at it until we got it done.  We had to cut the set of the threads THREE times!  I was pretty frustrated at that point.  One of the sets of busted threads is still hanging off the back of the pommel-in-progress.

Today I have been boring out the emitter assembly towards it’s final bore of 1 inch.  It is slow going.  I have to take light cuts because of the sheer length that I have to cut on.  I have also been doing more research on the switch issue and the LED that I will be ordering tomorrow.

A Busy but Productive Day……

I spent today doing the inside threads for the 2nd brass emitter component.  They gave me some trouble at first but Glenn and I pressed on.  You can see from the pictures that the whole thing is starting to actually resemble a lightsaber hilt now.  I also turned down a square piece of brass to 1.70 inches which will be the pommel.  We’ve been scheming about the best way to fabricate that part, and the best way to bore out the emitter to its final diameter.

I’m gonna have to drill holes through the walls of 2 of the emitter pieces for the wires.  That will be a very special challenge……

Another Un-Resounding Un-Success………

I worked for a bit on the inlay stuff again today.  Bill did the brass in steel example that you see in the pictures.  I did manage to get a decent picture of the “staples” that he raised in the bottom of the trough to help grab the other metal.  I also worked on making the scroll deep enough for the same operation.  It’s pretty close.

My special screws came today.  I spent the rest of the day doing test fittings with the screws and some brass and aluminum.  I tried to replicate the conditions of the hilt as much as possible.  You can see that there was a bit of trial and a substantial amount of error involved.  I finally got the right size bevel on the brass and the down into the aluminum.  I am VERY glad that I didn’t just try to do it on the hilt pieces themselves with out a test run.  I would be a good deal ANGRIER right now!

We have a field trip to an industrial forge tomorrow afternoon.  I’ll most likely be working on the screwing down issue tomorrow morning……