TOPIC: Amputee Custom Saber

Seeing the pictures of your hand, I'm glad to hear that you're going to work with the prosthetist for the adapter. I wouldn't recommend anything other than that. (Since a misfit adapter could mean either throwing the saber accidentally across the room, potentially hurting it or somebody; or a misfit adapter could damage your prosthetic forearm, which would be significantly worse than hurting the saber.)

Theoretically, you should be able to just ask the prosthetist to make an adapter that mates to a male M32 x 1.5 thread. If there is in fact enough room inside of the arm for saber electronics, then you can attach your adapter directly to the saber switch section like you said. Otherwise you'll need a coupler or two between the adapter and switch. (I assume that internal black part in the arm is removable? You said that there's room in the arm for electronics, but your picture very definitely shows something there in the way.)

So, depending on how much room you have in that arm of yours, your setup should look like one of these two options:
1) Bionic Forearm > Adapter > Switch > Emitter > Blade
2) Bionic Forearm > Adapter > Coupler > Switch > Emitter > Blade

P.S. Note that couplers come in female-to-female, female-to-male, and male-to-male configurations. You'll most likely want a female-to-male since the switch section is male.

My biggest concern here would be the amount of space available for the battery pack. The easiest solution would be to create an adapter that can play the role of a saber body and contain the battery pack. Here's my thoughts (drawn in MS paint, to indicate quality):

Hey, that's pretty good for MS paint!

*UPDATE* - I just spoke with my prosthetist, and while they can't make me a custom adapter (which bums me out), he showed me an adapter made by another company, which you can see in the picture below. This adapter is made by a company that makes prosthetic attachments, and as you can see, one end is the same connection as my hand. The other end is female, and accepts a 1/2" - 20 threaded bolt so my prosthetist suggested that if we can get a 1/2-20 bolt attached to the end of the saber (welded, screwed, or epoxied perhaps) we can connect the two. Obviously this dashes my hope of making the saber relatively short, since now I have to find a way to fit the electronics somewhere other than the forearm or adapter...anyone have any thoughts on this?



Lumen_Cordis wrote:
Given what I've just said, do you think that second option would work if I could somehow connect a coupler (via 1/2"-20 bolt) to the myo-electric adapter in the picture above?

Snakeeyz99 wrote:

This is fucking awesome, thank you so much for designing this!! I hate that I can't have a custom adapter made now, and hopefully I can find a way to fit both the LED and battery pack in the saber without making it too incredibly long...

I just put something together, let me know what you guys think...

http://www.saberparts.com/#/configure?code=4.129.3.0-3.101.1.22-2.49.3.0-1.7.3.0-7.152.19.0-5.142.0.0-8.154.0.0

Jade Fire pommel's the key - center hole should let you slip that bolt in place (probably need to drill it out a bit first).

Prodigal Son/Redeemer body minimizes length with *just* enough room to fit an 18650 battery. 2" switch, ~3" emitter (this emitter probably weighs less than some of the other 2.9" emitters thanks to all the fluting and venting). I tossed a 26" blade on there for looks, but you really want to pick up a thinwall blade from one of the other shops - SF thick blades are a bit too heavy for standard cosplay, let alone sitting in a prosthetic for extended periods.

Kouri wrote:
This is awesome, thanks so much! So I guess I would build the saber as usual (minus the pommel), push the bolt through the pommel and screw it into the adapter so that both the pommel and screw are tightened into the adapter (would I want to weld/ connect the pommel to the screw to prevent any possible movement?). Then I would just screw the body (with all electronics inside the body & switch) onto the pommel and I'm good to go?

Kouri wrote:

Okay, so here's what I'm looking at, correct me if I'm wrong:

SABER
-- Jade Fire Pommel: https://saberforge.com/collections/pommels/products/jade-fire-pommel
-- Prodigal Son Body: https://saberforge.com/collections/bodies/products/prodigal-son-body
-- 01 Switch: https://saberforge.com/collections/switch-sections/products/switch-1
-- 07 Emitter: https://saberforge.com/collections/emitters/products/emitter-7

ELECTRONICS
-- 18650 Battery: https://saberforge.com/collections/plug-play-electronics/products/battery
-- Plug-And-Play LED: https://saberforge.com/collections/plug-play-electronics/products/aspled
-- Plug-And-Play Stunt Warrior: https://saberforge.com/collections/plug-play-electronics/products/warsled
-- Plug-And-Play Switch: https://saberforge.com/collections/plug-play-electronics/products/aspswitch

Plus a 16" Mid-Grade Blade from UltraSabers, and the Myo-Electric adapter for my prosthetic.

Am I missing anything? Obviously I won't be buying all of this at once just to have it fail, so the adapter will be bought first and then the pommel + a bolt to secure it. If that works, I can proceed with the rest and PRAY TO GOD that the battery and sled fit in the prodigal son...

Was thinking a 24"mid-grade blade, but yeah, that's just about it. Oh, and an 18650 charger, if you don't already have one.

Battery sled on its own has no trouble fitting in a 1" ID, so the short PS body isn't as much of an issue - you can slide it partially into the switch or pommel threads.

Just to check: did you consider seeing if the adapter manufacturer could make you a custom attachment? It would definitely be more expensive, but it could also allow a shorter hilt.

To answer your question about connecting the pommel to the screw: you shouldn't need to weld it. Just make sure that the hole in the pommel is no larger than 5/8" diameter. (Preferably as close to 1/2" diameter as the bolt will fit through.) You will probably also want a washer between the bolt and the pommel.