Another Starkiller! This is a Warsabers Starkiller V4 hilt installed with a custom static Proffie v3.9 chassis. Specs: - Proffie v3.9 - custom static chassis with side accent LEDs - SDS Illuminated Pixel Emitter PCB - crystal chamber with backlit chamber - button accent LEDs - SDS 28mm Bass Speaker - high amp power switch This is using the same chassis I designed before just very slightly updated for the 2024 PCB set. I have the Proffieboard flipped to expose the SD card on top, that way I can wire up the board to the control box USB-C for data transfer and charging. Since the boot and reset buttons aren't accessible anymore, I wired them up to tactile switches on the chassis itself in case the board needs to be put in bootloader. This would've been a pretty straightforward install since I've done it before. But the changes in PCB design made it easy to short an extra data line to the brass crystal chamber. I wanted to have the crystal pixel separate from the backlit chamber LED strip so I cut the trace and wired to it separately. Unfortunately, adding a solder blob there shorted the data line against the brass chamber. It was showing weird behaviour where the pixel wouldn't light up when the control box was installed but worked fine without the control box on. The brass crystal chamber, and thus the extra data wire, was shorting against the control box which is being grounded with the USB-C. Effectively grounding the data signal for the crystal LED. That was most of the weekend spent troubleshooting that, and a small piece of Kapton tape solved the issue. This along with another hilt will be going back home to the client soon! #lightsaber #lightsaberbuild #customlightsaber #diylightsaber #theforceunleashed #starkiller #galenmarek #starwars #starwarslightsaber #jedi #sith #proffieboard #neopixel #sabersmith #lightsaberchassis #3dprinting #commissionsopen

This might be the hilt I've installed the most this year. Here's a One Replicas Super Stunt Luke V2, but this time installed with a Proffie v3.9 crystal chamber chassis. Specs: - Proffie v3.9 - custom removable crystal chamber chassis - SDS Illuminated Pixel Emitter connector - SDS 4 Rail Chassis Connector - SDS 28mm bass speaker - chassis accent LED strip - high amp power switch I was brainstorming a while back about fitting a crystal chamber in my existing SSLk chassis. Turns out that by reallocating the power switch section and borrowing from the thin neck adapter there's plenty of room to fit one of my crystal chambers. The chassis was printed in a dark glitter green PETG with an MJF printed nylon crystal chamber I had printed off CraftCloud. The accent pieces were finished off in gold Rub N Buff. This is a particular older version of the hilt which still had the 25mm inner diameter so it made wire routing tricky again. I've also added an external boot switch on the chassis as the angled Proffie holder makes it hard to reach the boot and reset buttons. I borrowed the placement of a shorter accent LED strip from a previous Vader's Vault build and recessed it behind the Proffie. Love how this came out and it should be compatible with the current version of the Super Stunt Ben Kenobi which still has the 25mm ID. Maybe I can re-install that with this chassis when I have some time. 🤔 #lightsaber #lightsaberbuild #customlightsaber #diylightsaber #onereplicas #lukeskywalker #returnofthejedi #starwars #starwarslightsaber #jedi #sith #proffieboard #neopixel #sabersmith #lightsaberchassis #3dprinting #commissionsopen

Here we have an 89 Skinnyflex installed with Proffie v3.9 in a custom static chassis Specs: - Proffie v3.9 - custom chassis - SDS Illuminated Pixel Emitter connector - SDS 28mm bass speaker - chassis LED strips - high amp power switch The chassis design on this was fairly straightforward as the grip unscrews and there are threaded holes for chassis retention in the upper holder. I outfitted the chassis with the usual accent LED strips serving as battery indicators. The main challenge was figuring out a way to get the brass sliding switch to work. I ended up using one of the screws in the control box to hold the tactile switch holder in place. I just needed to wrap my head around how the springs that hold the brass switch in worked. The upper rear button is also spring-loaded and comes with a tactile switch PCB which also made it fairly easy. I just needed to print a spacer to eliminate the plunger travel so it's already making contact with the switch for immediate tactile feedback when pressing on the rear button. Overall this kit is designed fairly well for an install and is quite fun to handle. As long as I'm wearing gloves since Anakin hilts are definitely fingerprint magnets. 😅 #lightsaber #lightsaberbuild #customlightsaber #diylightsaber #anakinskywalker #revengeofthesith #89sabers #starwars #starwarslightsaber #jedi #sith #proffieboard #neopixel #sabersmith

Here we have a SF ASP hilt installed with Proffie v3.9 with a custom static chassis Specs: - Proffie v3.9 - custom chassis - SDS Illuminated Pixel Emitter connector - SO 28mm bass speaker - chassis LED strip - high amp power switch ASP hilts have usually been fairly spacious so this was a pretty quick install. There was a lot of space and length to work with so I staggered the board and battery so I can get the Proffie holder angled. This makes USB access a lot easier without needing an angled USB adapter. I also wired up the boot button to an on-chassis tactile switch as the boot and reset buttons are buried now. Just in case setting the board into bootloader mode is needed. The most difficult part wasn't actually the install but was tuning out false clashes on some fonts. I had to extend the wait time on clashes during ignition so it would stop triggering clashes on ignitions for some fonts. This was a nice breather and should be on its way home today. #lightsaber #lightsaberbuild #customlightsaber #diylightsaber #saberforge #starwars #starwarslightsaber #jedi #sith #proffieboard #neopixel #sabersmith #lightsaberchassis #3dprinting #commissionsopen

Happy Flex Friday with an actual Graflex. Here is a Parks Graflex 2.0 re-installed with a Proffie v2.2 in a custom static chassis: Specs: - Proffie v2.2 - custom static chassis - SDS Illuminated Pixel Connector - SDS 28mm bass speaker - chassis accent LED strips - high amp power switch This is a bit of an older kit but I can definitely see how it used to be the goto Graflex before more accurate ones came to market. This Graflex 2.0 was the predecessor to the version released by 89 and has a threaded lower shell instead of the more typical, and more accurate, j-lock now. I designed a static chassis for this along with side accent LED strips since there's plenty of space to work with. Something I learned working on previous Graflex hilts is to reverse my usual battery orientation as the clamp tends to block off battery access. The somewhat tricky part of this was figuring out how the red buttons work. They ended up being switch caps that you can just glue onto tactile switches you house in the red button housing. It's an older code, but it checks out. This hilt is pretty loud with a 28mm bass speaker as it doesn't shy away from exposing sound vents in the pommel cap. A lot of accurate Graflex hilts favour having the accurate solid pommel cap so this was a welcome surprise. This was a pretty fun project finally being able to explore an earlier iteration of the Graflex hilt for DIY builds. #lightsaber #lightsaberbuild #customlightsaber #diylightsaber #lukeskywalker #empirestrikesback #graflex #starwars #starwarslightsaber #jedi #sith #proffieboard #neopixel #sabersmith

Happy Flex Friday, a Flex adjacent Starkiller counts right? Here we have a Warsabers Starkiller V4 installed with a Proffie v3.9 in a custom static chassis. Specs: - Proffie v3.9 - custom static chassis with side accent LEDs - SDS Illuminated Pixel Emitter PCB - crystal chamber with backlit chamber - button accent LEDs - SDS 28mm Bass Speaker - high amp power switch First off, this is a beast of a Starkiller implementation with a whole set of PCBs included for accent LEDs and signal and power routing. The crystal chamber is lit by 2 separate PCBs, one to light up the crystal from the bottom and another strip of LEDs to light up and animate the back of the crystal chamber. The control box comes with another PCB for the switches, accent LEDs, and a functional USB-C port. I opted to give a complimentary Proffie v3 upgrade for this build to make the USB-C wiring and all the accent LED wiring easier. I set up the chassis in a static setup as the threaded section for the body has a chassis retention screw. The chassis is outfitted with two accent LED strips on the side currently styled to show the battery level. The Proffieboard is flipped upside down exposing the SD card as I wanted to wire up to the USB pads. I also exposed two tactile switches wired up to the Boot and Reset buttons in case the board needs to be put into bootloader mode. In total, there are about 10 "blades" that I have to style for this: main blade, crystal chamber base, crystal chamber back, button LEDs, and chassis accent LED strips subdivided into 3 partitions each. Still need to wrap up the configuration for this SK as well as the Ardent and these will be ready to go home! #lightsaber #lightsaberbuild #customlightsaber #diylightsaber #theforceunleashed #starkiller #galenmarek #starwars #starwarslightsaber #jedi #sith #proffieboard #neopixel #sabersmith #lightsaberchassis #3dprinting #commissionsopen

This is the first Vader's Vault hilt I've installed and it's an extremely ergonomic hilt as everyone claims. Here we have an older version of VV's Ardent re-installed with a Proffie v2.2 in a custom static chassis: Specs: - Proffie v2.2 - custom static chassis - SDS illuminated Pixel connector - SDS 22mm bass speaker - high amp power switch This Ardent was definitely a treat to work on. I was particularly impressed with the resonance chamber as the start of the pommel internally sits around 1.5" up from the base of the pommel. Made it much easier as I didn't have to design anything additional for the speaker. There was a fair amount of space to work with as I was able to stagger the board and battery with no issue at all. I even managed to sneak in an accent LED strip on the chassis along with an external Boot button. The hilt itself may be the most comfortable thin neck I've held. Your fingers naturally conform to the thin neck and it doesn't feel like it's digging into your hand at all. Maybe I should've jumped on those empties when they were clearing out the older hilt models. 😅 #lightsaber #lightsaberbuild #customlightsaber #diylightsaber #vadersvault #starwars #starwarslightsaber #jedi #sith #proffieboard #neopixel #sabersmith #lightsaberchassis #3dprinting #commissionsopen

Here we have a KR Fortis installed with a Verso in a removable chassis Specs: - Verso - custom removable chassis - illuminated Neopixel connector - 24mm bass speaker - recharge port This one was a bit tricky to design a chassis for. The hilt has multiple varying diameters internally and none of them are concentric, this is most likely done to make room for the recessed knurled grip section. It also had a few screws protruding into the hilt so I ended up making use of them as chassis guides. That took a bit of trial and error to figure out the angle that the screws were placed. I also ended up giving myself a wire routing nightmare as I aimed to hide the wire routing in a close to 24mm diameter battery holder. I wanted to make use of a 5 rail chassis connector since the Verso is the only board that uses Vcc instead of GND as the switch return but that would've ended up blocking my wire routing even more. I haven't wired up a recharge port in a while but thankfully this is paired with a removable battery so I'm not working with a live connected power source. All in all, I'm pretty happy with how this install came out despite some of the challenges the hilt imposes. #lightsaber #lightsaberbuild #customlightsaber #diylightsaber #krsabers #starwars #starwarslightsaber #jedi #sith #neopixel #sabersmith #lightsaberchassis #3dprinting #commissionsopen

Here's another commissioned install as I'm slowly getting back on track. This is a TXQ LaTha hilt installed with a Proffie v2.2 with a custom static chassis: Specs: - Proffie v2.2 - custom static chassis (glitter black PETG) - SDS Pixel Emitter connector - SDS 28mm bass speaker - high amp power switch This is a pretty interesting looking hilt originally designed by Bubuk's Garage and produced by TXQ. It's one of the wider replica style hilts (though not a replica) so the internal diameter is about 28mm. This can nicely fit a 28mm bass speaker with plenty of resonance in the pommel. You even have the option of unscrewing the bottom silver pommel cap to expose the speaker if you want it even louder. The chassis is pretty straightforward and I have it set up as a static chassis as the body section unscrews. Most of the challenge is figuring out the exact placement of the switches and depth so there's no travel room for the plungers. You get immediate tactile feedback when you press the external buttons. This is a really lovely hilt design and I'm glad I've finally got the chance to work on it! #lightsaber #lightsaberbuild #customlightsaber #diylightsaber #txqsaber #starwars #starwarslightsaber #jedi #sith #proffieboard #neopixel #sabersmith #lightsaberchassis #3dprinting #commissionsopen

Here's a Saberbay/Jimmy's Saber Junk Survivor in the crossguard configuration re-installed with Proffie v3.9 in a custom static (somewhat) chassis. Specs: - Proffie v3.9 - custom static(ish) chassis - illuminated Pixel connector - SDS 28mm bass speaker - SDS speaker connectors - dual accent LED strips - high amp power switch This was a tricky hilt to design for, even if we opted to design the chassis so it works only in this crossguard configuration. I designed the main chassis to be static to reduce the number of moving parts. There was plenty of room to work with so I had the Proffie holder angled up for easier USB and SD card access. I also wired up the boot button externally on the chassis in case we need to put the board in bootloader mode. Wire routing from the side guards was pretty tricky but I managed to run the wires through the switch section and have them wired separately from the main blade. This allows for the side vents to be styled separately and even allows for staggered ignition. The speaker routing was the next tricky part as the quick disconnect can freely rotate. I set up two speaker connectors one above the coupler and another below the coupler. That way the speaker connectors can rotate along with the coupler instead of risking the wires ripping. This was a pretty fun build to work on. Maybe a bit more on the challenging side for a first-time crossguard build but it came out pretty well. 😅 #lightsaber #lightsaberbuild #customlightsaber #diylightsaber #jedisurvivor #calkestis #saberbay #starwars #starwarslightsaber #jedi #sith #proffieboard #neopixel #sabersmith #lightsaberchassis #3dprinting #commissionsopen