Frog Apprentice Lightsaber DIY Kit introduction https://youtube/watch?v=xwlOVM8SDZ8&feature=youtu.be Hello saber fans, After about 4 months of development, this mini saber has finally arrived! It seems to be diminutive in size, but not in terms of amount of design and engineering challenges. We’re happy to see it comes to fruition. Although it’s still a prototype, but we’re very intrigued about the potential it presented. ----------------------------------------------------- A lightsaber you built, hmmm? When asked what species the little green creature is, the man has only joked, Hes a frog. The Frog is small, but powerful.The Frog is simple, but agile. The Frog is lethal, but very wise. We wanted to make a Frog saber. There’re a few versions of it have been created previously. The Praco Flashmaker based version was the one we hold dear to our hearts. We love classic sabers made from vintage camera flashguns. Praco hilt’s simple and no frill design makes it an ideal companion to the classic Graflex, MPP and MK1 saber hilt designs. People have been converting vintage Praco & Bolsey Flashmakers into static Frog hilts for almost a decade. With the right mixture of vintage parts and some “kit bashing”, a screen accurate static Frog replica hilt for display purpose is very possible. However, those vintage flashguns are so sought after and have become a rarity these days. However, due to it’s diminutive dimensions, it’s always been a challenge to make a fully functional Frog saber with appropriate industrial design and engineering that makes it worthy of the name of “Frog”. We love challenges and we saw Frog as an excellent opportunity to exercise our micro mechanical design expertise in a fantasy world. The design process went through 3 stages. 1,Research and concept. Most of the work involves internal chassis layout and industrial design and mechanical design. Parts, material and tools sourcing. 2,CAD design and 3D print prototyping. Detailed design work around blade holder and hilt interface. Power module layout. Tactile activation box and mid band molding design. 3,Build and assemble engineering prototype. This stage is mainly for finalizing design details and checking parts fitment. We discovered some issues during the prototype assembly. The production units will eleminate those issues. After about 4 months of design, enigneering and prototyping, we have finally arrived with a working prototype which we would like to introduce it to all of you. We like to call this saber the “Frog Apprentice”. Unique Features. Kill Switch. This saber has a main power switch which works like a gun safety. We call it “Kill Switch”. This design eliminates an annoying loose part on the saber: kill key. Audio Integrated Pommel(AIP) with an audio jack. This is our proprietary design with one thing in mind: to provide a user friendly and clean solution to the speaker/access port placement problem. Modular Access Panel(MAP). MAP is designed with user in mind. One panel, easy access to all ports. Interchangeable blade plug and blade holder. Easy change between a static display hilt and a light up LED saber. Some basic specs of this saber: 1:1 scale accurate replica of the visual dictionary version; Precision machined aluminum/brass external and internal parts with injection molded internal chassis; Interchangeable blade holder and blade plug with integrated shroud; Modular speaker/pommel; Easy access panel to all ports; Ability to accept the full range of Plecter Labs sound boards including the largest size CFV7; Integrated main power switch with no annoying kill key; Molded tactile activation and aux switches on the activation band; Green blade with purple FOC(Ledengin RGGB with 8 degree lens). LED and lens are not included in the final production kit. See below; Drop in battery bay(no soldering required); Improvements and notes on the future production units: # There’s a CFV6.5 soundboard installed in the prototype. For the production units, advanced soldering skill and wiring management are required due to the amount of space available. All other boards will fit with ample room to spare. The blade holder and the blade plug will be anodized in matte black on the production units. There will be 5 sapphire glass lenses on the emitter holes to focus the light. Curved rubber grips with 3M adhesive backing will be provided. Laser etched markings on the hilt for the precise grips positioning. Once rubber grips are installed, the markings will be hidden. # Here’re the complete specs of this kit. 1,CNC aluminum hilt body. 1:1 Scale base on the original Praco flashgun design(The Visual Dictionary version) 2,Injection molded engineering-plastic chassis which can accomodate all Plecter Labs boards including the largest CFV7. 3,The Sound board is not included in the kit. Advanced soldering techniques are required. 4,Audio Integrated Pommel(AIP) with a 1.2 audio jack. The AIP can accomodate a 20mm speaker. Speaker is not included in the kit. 5,Modular Access Pannel(MAP). The MAP is exposed after the pommel is removed. It will reveal three ports: speaker port, RICE port and charging port. 6,CNC brass LED holder and heat sink. Ledengin RGGB with 8 degree lens are highly recommended. 7,CNC aluminum blade plug with integrated shroud. Blade plug body is anodized in black. 8,CNC aluminum blade holder(¾”) with integrated shroud. ¾” blade is not included in the kit. Suggested length is 26~28”. Injection molded rubber mid-band with built in tactile activation switch and aux switch. 9,4 rubber grip pads with 3M back adhesive are included. The hilt body will have 4 laser etched markings for positioning guidance. 10,A universal smart charger(110v~240v) is included. All small parts are included such as screws, micro switches, plugs and buttons. Things are not included in the production kit: Sound board; Ledengin RGGB with 8 degree lens; ¾” Blade with diffuser; 20 mm Bass speaker; Batteries; 3 reasons to not to include the above parts is that those parts: Those parts might have already been available in people’s spare parts bin; People have preferences when it comes to LED, blade and diffuser types; It’s probably cheaper to buy those parts on your own; For those people who’re interested in acquiring a production unit of this saber, please look out for our announcement soon. Thank you so much for your support in the last 4 months!
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 08:52:26 +0000
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