At this point, I decided to focus mainly on the hilt and create something decorative and creative…and that pushed my envelope a little as well. I decided to use a standard mobile battery pack as my power source, create my own lighting system with multiple and different colored LEDs. That required me to learn a little about circuits and resistors.
The completed hilt had a “window” to the internals for a crystal to show through.
This is the point in the project where I learned another valuable lesson. Even though you have been very careful and tested out how everything will fit inside, once you pop the rivets in….your setup will no longer fit. I re-imagined another method of mounting my setup inside the already assembled hilt and, thanks in large part to a considerable amount of luck, I got everything mounted and locked in.
I finished off the wiring and connected the battery to complete the project.