TOPIC: First saber and electronics questions.

Hey everyone,
I want to make my first saber and I just have a few questions. I have my hilt picked out. I do not want to use it as a stunt saber for right now. I am curious as to what electronics and switches I need. I want to start working on this so I have it for upcoming cons and the last Jedi. Thanks everyone.

If you're looking at a stunt kit, you could go Plug and Play if you don't feel like soldering. You'd just need an 18650 battery, 18650 charger, Plug-and-Play LED, Plug-and-Play Stunt Warrior, and latching Plug-and-Play switch from the SF website: https://saberforge.com/collections/plug-play-electronics

It's worth noting that the lit PnP switch does not work with the stunt kit due to different wiring requirements. You'll also need to buy a blade of your preferred length if you don't have one already.

If you're looking to completely DIY it's a little more complicated.

LED Module: You can have your choice of 1-up, 3-up, or 12W LED module. SF 12W modules have an additional LED die over 3-up modules, allowing for a wider range of mixed colors, and 1-up LEDs are limited by the color of the single LED die they are made by. Still, 1-up modules last longer (they use up only ~3W max compared to 9W or 12W) and a properly driven 1-up has the potential to be brighter than a 3-up or 12W (due to optics and the type of LED). Ensure that all of the LEDs are wired in parallel, not series, when using a 3.7V battery. Alternatively you could go with a 6W module, but I haven't seen many of those in a while except for use as quillon modules in crossguard sabers.

Blade: Since you said you were interested in Cons, you'll probably want to go the route of a day blade. They will show up better under the lights of the show floor and if the battery conks out your blade will still have some kind of color.

Switch: Any type of latching 12mm switch will work with SF hilts, though it's worth noting that if you get a lit switch you'll need a separate driver for the switch LED. For this purpose the DynaOhm 20mA driver on TCSS is probably the best option, since it will ensure that the switch always has the optimal brightness regardless of battery voltage and levels.

Battery: The best battery to use with the stunt setup is the Panasonic 18650 battery available on Saberforge. From what I've been able to find they have the best capacity (longest lifetime) and current output limitation (8-10A is can drive 8-9 LED die, or the basic requirement for a crossguard 12W/6W/6W saber), and so far other batteries I've ordered winded up being cheap knockoffs or lacked the advertised battery protection circuit.

Unless you really, really want in-hilt recharge, I'd recommend a removable battery in your hilt. Unless the rules have changed since I last checked, you can bring some spare charged batteries to swap out when your hilt eventually dies on the convention floor.

Battery Holder: Useful for holding your removable batteries in the hilt, as well as providing the electrical contacts for wiring to your switch.

Battery Charger: While SF's battery charger is fairly cheap, it's just that - cheap. If you'd want a charger that can charge multiple batteries at the same time and actually report their current charge to you, Nitecore has some good models out there.

Apologies if I missed anything, I typed this out quickly over lunch. Please let me know if you have any more questions or any clarifications!

Also, to other forum members, feel free to correct me. Been out of the game for the past few months.

Edit: If you want a lit switch but cannot find a lit latching switch, you can use a lit momentary switch. catch is, the saber would only be turned on if you constantly hold the button. The way around this would be to install a momentary-to-latching switch conversion board in the hilt, though that does complicate the wiring a bit.

Don't think it could be explained much better than that!