TOPIC: ASP Saber Review - "Exarch"

After a bit of a wait, I'm excited to have my ASP kit!

Here's how things looked in the builder, back when I ordered.





Here's the parts list:

Parts
ASP . Pommel 4 . Standard
ASP . Body 10 . Standard
ASP . Gladius Switch . Standard
ASP . Emitter 10 . Standard
ASP . Led 12W+ . Arctic Blue
ASP . Blade Plug 4 . Black

I requested a 32" blade - it did not arrive with my parts, so I contacted SF, but I also just caught my mailman and he mentioned it might still be at the post office because it was placed on the wrong skid. We'll find out tomorrow, I hope!

Meanwhile, here's the parts taken out of the box.



After taking a look at it all, I wired up the electronics first, inserted the battery, and fired it up. (No charging - just the charge on the battery when it arrived.)



I found that my switch won't actually turn off? I'm pretty sure I got a momentary switch instead of a latching one. I sent a note to SF to see if we can get this swapped. I also just realized as I typed this that I didn't get a charger. Fortunately I have a battery charger from another warrior tier saber I own!

On to assembly!



Pommel to body, and the battery pack installed. This actually turned out to be a bit of a bad move - wiring it up was easier going from emitter / LED down and pulling the wiring through the body than trying to cram backwards. Lessons learned!

Regardless, the pommel and body came together without an issue, making a good tight connection. With the battery pack's velcro holding it in place, it feels very, very solid.

Here's the switch as packaged inserted into the switch section:



I sent a question to SF to see if the nut here should actually go inside the body - if so, I'll need to wrench it off (carefully!) Otherwise it seems to sit in the switch section's cutout, and the quick connects to the wiring hold it in place pretty securely.

Here's the emitter:



For this particular style (ASP 10), there's an outer shroud that's screwed down and locked by the blade retention screw, then the LED retention screw within the "core" of the emitter. I'm considering getting some loc-tite to glue the shroud in place so I don't have to worry about it slipping or rattling if the retention screw is in a little too tight to the blade.

(Or I might get a slightly longer set screw. Or both!)

Getting it together...

AH! Another! Looking forward to the pics!

Here's a good look at the hilt about 90% there - I did insert a few timing shims to get the emitter lined up just the way I wanted.



Oh - and in the background is the additional part I received. I'm not entirely sure if that's a spear extension without wrapping or a Fallen body? If it's the former, I'll probably try paracord wrapping to finish it - or maybe send it to someone who is better with leather than I am.

And when the wiring was figured out and the switch reconnected...?

You get this:








and when you add a blade...



Really, really love it. Very comfortable, easy to swing - once I get the issues with the switch figured out, I think I've got a really, really fantastic saber.

Oh - and for the blade plug?





It's not bad at all! I like the look and how it fits the design.

I also got a stand with the kit that I put together:





It's the same stand you get from the SF store - again, not bad! I'll have to see how a couple of my other hilts look on it later.

Looks like the ASP reviews are starting to trickle in. This is great.

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like a few minor but correctable issues. Keep us posted on how things turn out. Would love to see some pics!

I notice you got the Rebel stand rather than the Imperial one I'd seen in the other reviews. I wonder if they're randomizing it. I'm really hoping for the Imperial one. You said you were having issues with the activation button. Have they persisted? Is the problem so far just that it turns on properly but not off? Edit: BTW, I posted your imgur album in /r/lightsabers.

Ha ha, looks like the pics were added as I was writing. Never mind. Thanks!

Hi BZArcher,

Congrats again on another fabulous saber! The Exarch - I like that!
Great pics and you show how glorious these sabers are (some of the other "first one" pics and videos didn't).
I hope it serves you long and well,

For Tyeth

Wow to the wow. This is our first fully functional ASP saber on the Forums, with light and a blade. Congrats, BZArcher!

Sorry about the issues with pictures - i kept having to resize stuff to fit the forum's requirements!

I am really thrilled, honestly. It's pretty much exactly what I had in my head.

The issue is that it turns on but not off - in fact it's basically "locked" on from the moment you connect the switch to the power pack's QCs. Not the end of the world, and probably an easy fix. Just worth noting.

Beyond that, AFAIK all the ASP stands are going to be the "Phoenix" one, but Kyintri would be a better person to ask than me.

See he got that metal tube thing also. Did you actually order that as a spear extension? Or are you saying it just came with your order?

Looks like which stand you get is being randomized. That kind of sucks, I wish there had been an option to choose which you wanted. Mainly because I absolutely love the look of the triangular imperial stand and yet I think the square rebel stand looks stupid. I really hope I don't get that square stand.

BZArcher wrote:
The last video posted was a guy that got the triangular imperial stand. Thats why it was noted that you got the square one so it must be random.

It's a spear extension.

I already mentioned this on your FB post, but it bears repeating, that your build synergizes well together. I suspect we'll see many build incorporating that emitter and body, they look good on everything.

that is an amazing looking saber.

Thanks everyone.

Unfortunately I managed to snap a wire taking the hilt back apart to try getting the nut off the switch! Fortunately I have a friend with a soldering station who I will probably be visiting very soon...

Ugh, biting my lip right now.!.!.!

Dat blue doe......

FINALLY! Congrats bro, thanks for posting this. BTW can I find the pics on imgur? These are a bit lopsided and fuzzy

Man, I really really like this saber look. I wasn't going to model beyond the 10 defaults.. but I might have to model this switch too just so I can print one of these for my wall.

oh and I need to make mounts for my wall

greyjediDude wrote: Here's an imgur album: Link

Yup, here's the album: http://imgur.com/a/9f66L