TOPIC: MR 2005 Anakin conversion questions

1&2) The MR Board only supplies about 1200mA of current. A single Cree will overdrive just fine on it, two will run well enough. No point in three. If you're going to be upgrading the soundboard later on, go with a rB/rB/W and wire the two Royal Blue up to the sound board in parallel, saving White for the new board.

3) The blade can get some film for display purposes, sure, but the plastic is softer than Polycarbonate and won't take a hit very well. Personally, I replace the blade but save the original to cut blade plugs from since it fits loosely in the tighter TCSS blade holders.

4) 1" PVC pipe slides freely inside the hilt. You can use it for the spacer between the blade holder and soundboard module instead of hacking up the stock plastic blade holder. You can also use it to fashion a chassis when replacing the electronics.

You'll also need to find a way to fit a momentary switch in the hilt if replacing the soundboard. Any single-button board will need a momentary. Most, if not all, of the dual-button boards can use the stock latching switch for ignition, but you'll still need a momentary for auxillary functions.

5) Not saying it's impossible, but you'd have to get very creative. The kit - used as intended - won't let you wire anything up to the fake button. There are 4-40 (if I remember right) screws running through the faux Graflex Button and Eye that are meant to hold the bladeholder in place. The hex screw by the emitter is replaced by a blade-retention thumbscrew.

When I converted my first Anakin, I replaced the thumb screw with an 8-32 button-head screw so that it and the eye would be responsible for locking the bladeholder in place. I then tapped the Graflex button screwhole with 8-32 threads and glued an 8-32 screw into the faux button so it would act as a discreet blade-retention thumbscrew. Using the button head to secure the blade holder also helps with wobble, as the conversion kit fits freely in the 2005 Anakin, and the plastic-chrome washers have some play in them (I wound up machining my own tighter-fitting aluminum replacements).

Plan is to eventually upgrade the LED and swap in a Nano Biscotte or Spark 2 with a tactile switch triggered by the gold greeble on the side of the control box.

My second one is in-progress and is supposed to be an Episode 3.5 Graflex - so I re-tapped the bladeholder with 10-32 threads. It's using a replica Graflex button and glass eye, but the button being a thumbscrew means I won't be wiring it up as a button unless I get creative. I'll probably just hide a tactile switch in the control box somewhere.

6) The Lens Holder is a separate component with legs for the 8.7 degree lens used on single-LED and center-mount stars. It's intended to keep the lens centered on the LED star. You won't need it on a Tri-Cree, since the Tri-Lens has its own legs built in.

The gold button is actually separate from the rest of the chrome section. If you're willing to get creative, you could do something like:

1) Dremel a channel into the top of the blade holder to fit switch wires between the blade holder and hilt wall.

2) With the chrome button screwed into the hilt/bladeholder, drill a hole behind the screw and into the wiring channel.

3) Wire up a tactile switch and glue it into the empty chrome button. Feed the wires through the channel and use with a momentary-compatible board.

4) Trim the gold button to fit, and glue it to the tactile switch.