TOPIC: Disney Electronics into an Ultrasaber (Boredom)

Just FYI, I've put a 2009 Mace Windu board into an Ultrasabers Aeon v2, which is narrow enough that it's commonly considered impossible to put sound into. I believe that the Bladebuilders boards are similarly small; they should fit into a 1"-inner-diameter tube. I'm using four AAA alkalines for power--so, 6V on a board designed for 4.5V--and so far the board hasn't minded; whether you want to take the same risk is something you need to decide! The output from the board is way too low to run a decent LED, of course; I'm using the original output to drive the base on a TIP42C (like Kouri had mentioned earlier), then using that to run the stock Seoul P4, and that seems to be working well.

Now, just as an advance warning, if you're thinking "hah, screw you guys, I'm getting a Champion saber at a fraction the cost!" ...you're not. The basic Hasbro sound boards are best described as primitive. The swing and clash sensors aren't very good--although you can replace those--and the speakers aren't very good--although you can replace those--and they're driven by an underpowered amp and use boring and repetitive sounds. You can't replace those last two! I literally can't hear the swings, and can barely hear the clashes, over the idle hum from my Obsidian Lite (the Ultrasabers equivalent of a Sabercore board).

On the other hand, it does mean you can have sound and a decent LED in a saber that was never meant to have sound or a decent LED. As long as that's what you're looking for, give it a go.

Still trying to crack this guy open (not literally, that'd be bad). My main problem is trying to get the emitter shroud off without damaging the externals that I'm probably going to have to repaint or damaging the blade. I saw a video on Youtube where some kid got the thing off, but it looked like his Graflex split open as he did it. So worst case scenario is that I end up breaking the blade, which is hard enough considering (as I've stated) they made these old sabers to last.

I've also noticed that the activation button on this soundboard is literally on this soundboard:





Will I be able to rewire that as an actual switch, or am I restricted to the placement of that button?

I should probably take some time to share my ultimate plan, as I haven't really done that yet. My intention was to take my Hasbro Graflex from 2005 and figure out a way to get the blade out and remove the pommel (might have to just take a dremel to it, but not if I don't have to). I'd then make myself a chassis using some PVC, which would house the soundboard, speaker and 6w+ Red LED from Saberforge. I'd also cut out the red activation button from the Hasbro saber and replace it with an AV switch (hence my above problem. I'd figure out how to secure that mechanism while still giving me an ability to remove the batteries if I needed to. I'd insert and secure a place for a blade to sit and lock that down with retention screw support through the outer shell. Finally, I'd get myself a V4 Infinity Edge blade (probably a 26" variant), and whammo, I'd have a sort of sleeper saber that I could bring to small cons and even school for May the Fourth. Of course, prior to chassis installation I'd repaint the Graflex itself and remove things I didn't like about it, like the dinky belt clip on the body.

A very ambitious project, for sure, and one that unfortunately won't be finished by Star Wars Day. That means I'll either have to carry around my Maglite Ultrasaber, or no saber at all...

Darn, the newer 2009-2014 boards had separate unused switch contacts that could be used instead of the on-board switch.

Under that rubber switch is two separate contacts that are bridged when the switch is pressed. You *might* be able to remove the rubber bit and solder a proper switch to the contacts underneath.

As for trying to stuff a pipe inside an Economy saber... I wouldn't really recommend it. Instead, hack/pry off the pommel, score the hilt right below the emitter, and let the hilt snap in two to get to the board. Pry out the remaining plastic from inside the emitter. Save it.

Older Economy emitters fit pretty well over 1.5" sinktube. You could use 22 gauge 1.5" brass/chrome sinktube with a TCSS adapter or a 1.5" PVC sinktube slid over 1" SCH40 PVC pipe for the body with the leftover Graflex emitter. Leftover detail bits could be added on top.

Hung onto some 2009 Economy Vader bits because the emitter fits on 1.5" sinktube and the clamp will fit on 1" pipe with some minor dremel work.

Kouri wrote: Not all of them. (Unless there are contacts I missed.) My 2009 Mace Windu uses a switch like that.
No "might" about it.



(Apologies for the low-quality pic; I really don't want to unstuff everything from the hilt, so that's part of a larger pic I took.)

As you can see, I took the rubber dome off to expose the contacts. When I followed the traces on the board, I noticed that one side led directly to one of the battery lines (negative, I believe, but I could be misremembering). So rather than soldering to both sides, I just ran a line from the battery to the power switch and then a line from the power switch to the non-battery side of the on-board-switch traces. To make things easier, I actually soldered to the traces just past the switch; there is a protective coating on the board that you need to (carefully) scrape off first.

The obvious problem is that, mechanically, that's not a very sturdy connection. I had originally planned to drill a hole through the board and do a proper through-hole solder; I don't remember if there was a reason I didn't (other than laziness), like a different trace on the other side of the board. I didn't really make that to be a dueling hilt, so lack of durability wasn't a problem for me.

Hi everyone this thread is just what I've been looking for.

I am working with the new Darth Vader saber put out by Disney. I'm pretty sure it is already using a momentary switch so I don't need to worry about that.

It also runs on 3AA batteries, it has 5 LED out wires (see photo) that I'm guessing it uses to section of the led strip for a power up/down effect. Should I join the p1,p2,p3, and p4 wires together, or just use one of them for the new LED?

What do you think about adding a cheap amplifier and a 2watt speaker? Something like this one found on ebay.

Thanks any input you have.