Tutorials

Here you can find some basic most up-to-date information about custom sabers and DIY custom saber building.

Types of custom sabers

Empty (≈ $50-500) — a saber hilt without any electroncis inside. Ready for the custom light and sound install by the owner or a professional installer (aka sabersmith).
Installed (≈ $150-5000+) — a functional saber with all required electronics installed inside.

with Tri-Cree setup (a high power LED with a collimator lens, empty blade)
with Pixelblade setup (or "neopixel", addressable RGB strips inside the blade)

There are tons of different saber hilt makers, intstallers and manufacturers around the world with very good reputation but also a lot of scammers (dropshippers) who have thousands fake and paid followers, and offer low quality low price sabers. So please be very careful, do your own research on the web, youtube, ask in saber groups and forums on social media before you decide to buy a complete saber or an empty hilt.

Here at ShtokCustomWorx we do our own research, design and make our own saber hilts and parts with 6+ years experience in saber building or buy from well known and trusted makers and sources.

Tri-Cree sabers

"Triple Cree XP-E2" is the high power LED that was the most popular and brightest blade light solution for years before Pixelblade (neopixel / addressable LED strips) technology took place in the custom saber building community back in 2017. Tri-Cree (or "inhilt") sabers are now cheaper and still used for stage performances and saber fighting because of the lighter and cheaper easy replaceable blade construction.

Tri-Cree XP-E2 high power LED module is made of: aluminum or copper heatsink module, Tri-Cree XP-E2 LED mcpcb attached to the heatsink by the adhesive thermal tape pad or a thermal paste, Carclo 10507 collimator 18° lens. Requires at least 3A or more battery drain rating.

Pixelblade sabers

First was introduced and then became popular thanks to the "TeensySaber" (now Proffieboard) sound board developed by Fredrik Hubinette back in 2016. After that beginning from 2017 all other sound boards developers started to implement and evolve this blade technology adding more features. Such sabers have a pin connector with only 3 control wires (Positive and Negative for power and Data for control signal) instead of the "Tri-Cree" LED module at the base of the blade and the RGB addressable LED strips (on 2, 3 or 4 sides) inside the polycarbonate blade tube, the blade is not hollow anymore. This new blade technology now allows any RGB mixed color hue at any time, brightest and even light along the whole blade length and unlimited variations of the light effects making such blade the most realistic representation of the lightsaber blade we see in the movies. As a blade connector the GX12 or GX16 "aviation" indexed connector was used first as the easiest and cheapest solution until the more advanced connector was introduced — a simple pogo-pin connector by TheCustomSaberShop (TCSS) and the worlds first pogo-pin connector with onboard pixels for blade plugs backlight by ShtokCustomWorx (SCW).

Differences between Tri-Cree and Pixelblade sabers

The difference between these two setups is huge — Tri-Cree is an old more simple tech, Pixelblade is a new more realistic and advanced but also a bit more expensive tech. With a Pixelblade (neopixel) saber you have best brightness, any color you want, evenly lit blade and a lot of amazing fully customizable blade light effects. With Tri-Cree saber you can have only one pre-made color for brightest appearance or you can have RGB multicolor setup but with the lack of brightness. Blade light effects are also quite limited to flashing always only the whole blade tube, no local effects. Tri-Cree sabers run longer at single battery charge due to much lower current consumption (only around 2-3 Amps max) — can work up to 5 hours with a high capacity 18650 battery (and even longer with higher capacity bigger size batteries), but Pixelblade sabers drain more current from battery (from 4 to 13 Amps total with normal 2-strip core and can drain up to 18 Amps with 4-strip core), thats why normally only run about 1-2 hours at single charge.

You can look and compare both types in the videos below:

Pixelblade (neopixel) saber:

Tri-Cree (inhilt LED) saber:

Saber blades

Pixelblade (or "neopixel") (≈ $60-400) — a polycarbonate blade with layers of the light diffusion film, foam and individually addressable RGB led strip core inside
Legacy (inhilt LED) hollow blade (≈ $10-30) — a hollow polycarbonate blade with layers of the light diffusion film inside

Most commonly used diameters are 3/4 inches (19mm), 7/8 inches (22.2mm) and 1 inch (25.4mm). Pixelblades are more expensive due to more complex construction with RGB LED strips inside and multiple layers of light diffusion. Legacy inhilt LED hollow blades are cheap and used mostly for dueling these days. Outer base polycarbonate tube is same for both types. Both blade types come from various makers and vendors usually in translucent white or clear/sanded tube look, personally here at ShtokCustomWorx we prefer clear/sanded tube (the Pixelblade one on the photo below), because it looks better with more distinguishable center core and edge when lit.

Sound boards

Most popular custom saber sound boards for DIY installs to date:

Verso (≈ $45) — KR-sabers (UK) — BEGINNER TIER
Golden Harvest v3/v4 (GHv3/GHv4) (≈ $60) — SaberTec (DE) — MIDDLE TIER
Proffieboard (≈ $50) — Fredrik Hubinette (US) — TOP TIER
Crystal Focus v10 (CFX) (≈ $75-85) — Plecter Labs (FR) — TOP TIER

There are quite a lot of saber sound board options these days from the beginner level to top tier advanced installer/user level, and here at ShtokCustomWorx we tried and tested them all to choose and recommend best sound boards for saber building. For our own builds we use Verso or Proffieboard for budget sabers, Proffieboard or GHv3 are good for middle tier sabers and Proffieboard or CFX for top tier saber. Boards are different in terms of price, size and features they have, please read dedicated User Manuals (click the board name URL links from the list above) of each board to learn how to install, setup and use it.

Saber example with Cerberus NeoCore board:

Saber example with Verso board:

Saber example with Proffieboard board:

Saber example with GHv3 board:

[video]

Saber example with CFX board:

[video]

Saber chassis

Types:

3D-printed — most popular option for saber electronics chassis designs today because of low cost and available materials

SLS Nylon plastic printing method (more expensive, accurate size, high detailing, complex design, flexible)
FDM PLA, ABS plastic printing method (cheaper, less accuracy, simpler design, very rigid and more brittle)
Wax casting in metals (expensive, quite accurate size, high detailing, complex design, 100% metal)

CNC-machined — expensive and high valued type of saber chassis, gives the most realistic feel of the real lightsaber internals

Saber 3D-printed plastic chassis are very popular solution to mount electronics inside the saber hilt. It's easy to learn to design and print by a professional 3D-printing service or at home on FDM or SLA printer, allows easier electronic parts installation and wire management, but also looks good.

Speakers

Types:

Flat — around 1-1.5 Watts, usually have louder higher frequencies and take less space, but have less sound depth and bass
Bass — around 2-4 Watts, have more sound depth and bass

At ShtokCustomWorx we use only 28mm or 31mm bass speakers if possible, because smaller speakers usually can be loud but produce less frequency range and fail with time. I would not recommend go smaller than 24mm. Bass type speakers have reacher sound depth than flat type, though flat speakers are usually louder because of louder high and medium frequencies.

There are 4 Ohm and 8 Ohm speakers. It's possible to use two 8 Ohm speakers with one sound board if connect them in parallel to each other (+ to + and - to -, this will make the total speaker assembly impedance of 4 Ohm), or two 4 Ohm speakers if connect in series (+ to - between speakers and other + and - to sound board, for total 8 Ohm impedance). With CFX board we recommend to use 4 Ohm bass speakers, with Verso and Proffieboard 8 Ohm to be able to drive it at max volume.

Batteries

How to read the Li-Ion battery size code, for example 18650:

18 — 18mm cell diameter (with a heat shrink it's around 18.5mm)

65 — 65mm cell length

0 — round shape

For Tri-Cree LED setup choose the one with highest capacity value (mAh), for Neopixel setup choose the one with highest max drain value (A), up to 20A drain is enough for most Neopixel builds, over 20A it won't make any difference.

(mAh) — milliamperes per hour: the battery energy capacity rating, means how long the battery will run at a single charge — run time

(A) — Amperes: the battery energy max drain rating, means how much Amperes this battery can provide continuously — blade brightness performance

For Tri-Cree LED setup batteries with 2-3A drain rating are OK (can be higher, but lower are not recommended).

For Neopixel setup batteries with 10-15A drain rating are recommended (can be higher, but lower are not recommended).

How to calculate estimated battery run time:

You need to know the battery capacity and your device average current drain values. For example, we have a 18650 3500mAh Keeppower battery and use it in a Neopixel saber that has 2 strips (2 sides) in the blade, so we look at the Neopixel blade current drain chart, listed below in the "Current vs wire gauge" topic, and use current drain values for 2 strips number:

for single colors (100% Red, Blue and Green) run time will be: 3500mAh / 3.5A (or 3500mA) = 1 hour

for dual-mixed colors (Cyan, Yellow, Purple etc.) run time will be: 3500mAh / 6.4A (or 6400mA) = 0.55 hours * 60 = 33 minutes

for full 3-color mix (100% White) run time will be: 3500mAh / 9.3A (or 9300mA) = 0.37 hours * 60 = 22 minutes

For battery sizes 14500, 14650, 16650, 18350, 18500 it’s hard or impossible to find a good capacity with high drain rating, so 5-8A examples from the chart below are best available options:

Charging batteries

Charging types:

Inhilt charging (USB) — your saber electronics circuit must include a Li-Ion CC-CV battery charger pcb module to use a micro-USB or Type-C cable for charging from any 5V power source (like a USB port)
External charging — used for 2.1mm or 1.3mm recharge ports, charger must be a true “Li-Ion battery CC-CV charger”
Removable battery charging — used for sabers with removable Li-ion battery, in this case a “Li-Ion battery CC-CV charger” for your battery cell size must be used (18650, 21700 etc.)

NEVER charge your sabers with this type of “chargers” that have a 2.1mm or 1.3mm DC plug and say:

Output: 5V 1000mA (or any other “mA” value)

- “Why?” you may ask, - because it’s actually NOT a battery charger and especially NOT a Li-Ion battery charger. It’s just a “5V power supply” mimicking a USB port, which is used for mobile devices charging. Why mobile devices can be charged with it but our sabers can’t? Because mobile devices have their own charging circuits built in, that take those 5V and convert it to constant 4.2V for Li-Po/Li-Ion batteries that are used in mobile devices. That’s why you can charge smartphones with this type of "power supply", but you CAN’T charge a Li-Ion battery.

For Li-Ion batteries you need a special “Li-Ion single cell battery CC-CV charger” that has following specs: Output: 4.2V 1000mA (or 500mA, or 2000mA for batteries with capacity more than 3600mAh).

Now check your chargers and don’t use those 5V “chargers” for sabers that don’t have a built-in charging circuit! It will damage your battery and sound board!

Dealing with bluetooth modules

Bluetooth signal is very easy to block by metal, it works best in open area or in plastic/glass/wood housing. To improve bluetooth signal in metal sabers we recommend to place the bluetooth (BT) module antenna under open holes or windows in the metal hilt parts or under non-metal parts. Also it's a good idea to avoid "Negative" wires/lines near the antenna if possible.

Ceramic chip antenna can be wired remotely to the BT module:

1) desolder the chip antenna (remember the polarity it was connected at, there is a GND wire and Antenna wire)
2) solder thin 32-34 AWG insulated wires to the antenna on one end and to the BT module antenna pads on the other following the correct polarity
3) braid the wires together (Antenna wire must be "shielded" around by the GND wire)
4) place the remote antenna chip under a hole or plastic part in the saber hilt

Current vs wire gauge

Why is wires gauge important? A lot of saber installers are confused about which wires to use for Tri-Cree builds and which for Pixelblade ("neopixel") builds, and since Neopixel strip blades can draw much more power than Tri-Cree high power LED, it requires a thicker copper conductor wire to handle this amount of current from the power source (battery) to the Neopixel strips. So here is a guide I did based on my own and competent people experience and research for most efficient saber wiring to help installers choose proper wires for their builds.

All current charts on the internet usually show wire current ratings at 250+ volts, but not at 3-4 volts that we use. And at 3-4 volts wire causes much bigger resistence at high currents than at 250+ volts. That's why for saber wiring wires must be a bit thicker. And yes, wires can push much more current than rated at 25-30°C (safe temp), but will heat up quite significantly because of the wire internal resistence — this means in our saber circuits too thin wires will resist the current and not provide enough power for the high power LED or Neopixel strips, brightness will suffer. Here is a calculator on the bottom of the page: www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm — this calculator will show the voltage drop (%) at different voltages and current load. The bigger % of voltage drop we get — the worse it is (less bright our blade will be). So for 30 AWG wire 0.5 feet long at 2 Amps load and 3 volts voltage drop on the wire will be 7% (this means 7% less voltage LED will get, and also less current, because LED draws less current at lower voltage), but at 120 volts and same factors voltage drop on the wire will be only 0.2%, so it allows you to push more current load through the wire. So my wire gauge/current chart shows a recommended wire gauge sizes for max power efficiency to get the brightest blade possible in a saber circuit.

Some people say that a 30 AWG wire can handle much more current than it's rated for, yes, you can push 6 Amps through a 30 AWG wire, BUT it's an OVERLOAD and will heat up a lot because of wire resistence (it's physics). And in saber it just won't provide enough current needed for the LED for max brightness and will create a bigger voltage drop on the battery. So this statement DOESN'T work for us. The REAL max current rating for a 30 AWG wire (does not depend on the manufacturer, because copper conductor is copper everywhere, different manufacturers just use different insulation material which we don't have to look at, it just must be thin enough to fit in our saber builds) is just 0.9-1A (900-1000mA) — it's the maximum current at which wire won't resist and won't cause voltage drop. If your LED or device will try to draw more current through this wire, wire will resist. People must understand and remember this.

If you want to research this topic more in depth please use google search and youtube looking for "wire gauge current", "wire gauge amps" etc.

Recommended wire gauge:

For the recommended wire gauge please look in the User Manual wiring diagrams for the particular sound board. But the most common rule is:

Tri-Cree LED: 28-30 AWG per Positive and Negative of each LED chip
Battery, Kill Switch and Recharge Port for Tri-Cree setup: 24-26 AWG per Positive and Negative
Pixelblade (neopixel) blade / connector: 20-22 AWG per Positive and Negative
Battery, Kill Switch and Recharge Port for Pixelblade setup: 20-22 AWG per Positive and Negative
Accent LEDs and small accent pixel strips: 34-30 AWG per Positive and Negative
Switches: 34-30 AWG
Bluetooth module: 34-30 AWG
OLED display: 34-30 AWG
2-3W Speaker: 30-28 AWG

Calculating resistors for the LEDs

High power Tri-Cree LEDs as well as low power accent LEDs need resistors, Neopixel strips don't need resistors on power lines (only a 330 or 470 Ohm on the Data input). Resistors limit the current flow from the battery to the LED, which is absolutely required in order to not overdrive the LED by higher voltage and current and not fry it.

So how to calculate the required resistor for your LED? In order to do that, we need to know:

- led forward voltage (max voltage for the led)
- led forward current (max current for the led)
- power source supply voltage (wether it's the battery or a voltage source like 3.3V pad or 5V pad or any other)

Color	Common accent LEDs forward voltages (at 15-20mA):	Tri-Cree high power LEDs forward voltages (at 1000mA):
Red	1.8V	2.65V
Red Orange	-	2.65V
Deep Red	-	2.5V
Yellow / PC Amber	2.0V	3.3V
Green	3.2V	3.7V
Blue	3.4V	3.4V
Royal Blue	3.4V	3.4V
White	3.1V	3.15V

LED resistor calculation formula:

R = (Vsupply - Vled) / LEDcurrent (in Amps)

Resistor wattage calculation formula:

P = (Vsupply - Vled) * LEDcurrent (in Amps)

So, if we use a Red accent LED, wired to a 3.3V power source pad, we will need this resistor:

(3.3V - 1.8V) / 0.02A (20mA=0.02A) = 75 Ohm (or any close to this value)

Resistor wattage for any kind of accent LED can be as small as 0402 (1/16W) or 0603 (1/10W) size SMD resistor or 1/8W "through-hole" resistor.

If we use a Red high power Tri-Cree LED, wired to a 18650 Li-Ion battery, we will need this resistor (keep in mind that Li-ion batteries have not a fixed voltage, it can be from 2.5V when discharged to 4.2V at full charge, so better use the 3.85V value as an average one):

(3.85V - 2.65V) / 1A (1000mA=1A) = 1.2 Ohm (or any close to this value)

Resistor wattage for high power LEDs in this case: (3.85V - 2.65V) * 1A (1000mA=1A) = 1.2W (1.5-2W is recommended)

You can also use the calculator made by TCSS:

> LED resistor calculator by TCSS <

Recharge ports and kill switches

Recharge ports are used in sabers for battery recharging and disabling power to the sound board for storage by "Kill keys". "Kill switches" are just a slide latching type switches for same disabling power to the sound board purpose. They can be used separately from each other or together.

It's very important though to use a high quality Kill Switch and Recharge Port in saber building to ensure it won't fail or limit the blade brightness, especially matters in Pixelblade (neopixel) builds. We know that single 2-strip (2 sides of pixels) Neopixel blades drain up to 11 Amps of current, so obviously our Kill Switch and Recharge Port must handle this amount of current, because they are located on the power lines between the battery and the blade. Here is a list of tested ports and switches, those with "OK" mark, are recommended to use up to a certain amperage:

Video explanation of a recharge port mechanics by Eccentric Artisan:

Soldering wires and components

What you need:

Soldering station with adjustable temperature — replaceable soldering iron tips also recommended
Hot air soldering station — (optional) used for reflow soldering and desoldering those SMD/SMT components with hidden or too small solder pads
Precision wire cutter and wire stripper — for cutting wires and removing insulation
Precision tweezers — for working with wires and small components
Wooden toothpicks and cotton swabs — wooden toothpicks are very useful for holding small SMD/SMT components during soldering, cotton swabs are great for cleaning the flux off the pcb after soldering
No-clean Flux gel — "no-clean" flux doesn't require cleaning after soldering and is safer to use for electronics. For example: Nordson EFD FluxPlus NC-D500
Lead free rosin core solder wire — 0.5-1mm diameter wire, with 2-3% flux. For example: Felder ISO-Core S-Sn97Ag3
Flux cleaner or isopropyl alcohol — to remove flux from the pcb after soldering

Watch some tutorials on youtube first and practice soldering small components and wires to solder fast, clean and reliable. Use 300-350°C max soldering iron temperature and solder fast, don't hold the soldering iron too long on the component leg/pad, because component will overheat and may be damaged. If you use a rosin core solder wire with flux inside, you don't need to apply extra flux on the pads, just pick a small amount of solder by the iron tip and touch the component leg on the pcb pad. Solder must flow over the entire pad and create a nice smooth surface, no big blobs. Sometimes solder doesn't seem to stick to the pcb pad, it means that pad has a too big heat dissipation area and doesn't get enough heat. In this case use a bigger soldering iron tip (flat type), touch the pad and hold it for about 2 seconds, then keep holding the iron tip on the pad and add a bit of solder wire to that area, solder should melt and cover the pad entirely, remove the soldering iron from the pad. While the pad is still hot you can now quickly solder the wire to it.

SMT components soldering tutorial by SDG Electronics:

Troubleshooting

(Most common issues with sabers)

- my saber neopixel blade doesn't seem to be bright enough or is noticeably dimmer than my other neopixel sabers...

1) Make sure the battery is charged, you can measure battery voltage by a Multimeter in "DC Voltage" mode touching the battery terminals by the probes. Full Li-ion battery voltage is 4.2 Volts (100%), low voltage is below 3 Volts (0%). If it's low, charge it with a recommended charger.

2) Check blade brightness settings on your sound board.

3) Can be a bad low quality blade connector. Replace it with a new better one.

4) Can be too thin power wires between the battery and blade connector. Recommedned wires gauge for neopixel blade power wires is single 20-22 AWG or dual 24 AWG for each Negative and Positive lines.

5) That can be simply a bad neopixel blade. Replace it with a new better one.

- my saber speaker crackles and sounds really bad...

2) One of the speaker wires may be loose. Check the wires.

3) That can be simply a bad speaker. Replace it with a new better one.

- my neopixel saber constantly reboots or immediately shuts off when I turn the blade ON...

2) Make sure the battery is a "high drain" and "Protected" one with 10-15A or higher max drain rate. Check the recommended batteries chart for reference. Replace the battery with a recommended one if needed.

- my saber doesn't seem to charge...

1) Make sure you are using a proper Li-ion battery CC-CV 4.2V charger, but not the 5V output USB power supply.

2) Check the recharge port, it may be failed or some wire got loose.

- my saber doesn't show up in the ForceSync app...

1) Make sure your saber actually has a bluetooth support. Ask your saber maker/seller.

2) Make sure that BT module in your saber gets power and is wired correctly to the sound board.

3) Hold your smartphone closer to your saber.

- my saber shows up in the ForceSync app but doesn't connect, gives a "Connection Lost" message...

1) Make sure RX and TX wires between sound board and BT module are wired correctly. Swap them if not.

2) Make sure you type a correct passcode. Default is 6 digits 000000.

3) In case the CFX board is used, make sure parameter logport=2 is set in the config file on SD card.

4) Make sure that BT module in your saber is wired correctly and has no unwanted bridges between the pads.

- my saber connected to the ForceSync app but sometimes isn't responsive to commands...

1) It means the bluetooth signal is weak because of a too big distance between the two devices or metal saber hilt blocks the signal. In this case follow instructions on how to improve bluetooth signal in the "Dealing with Bluetooth modules" topic on this page.