Lightsabers & Blasters How can I build my own lightsaber?

No wait it's in the collecting forums.

 

Next questions....

 

I updated my old saber with some tennis racket grips and put somemore pics http://photobucket.com/albums/f58/Ti-el_Terall/?action=view&current=100_0254.jpg

I dont think that it looks half bad but it isnt big enough to fit anything inside the tubes and i really want to make one with a el blade.

 

I see you still haven't painted the blade.

 

Dont know if you guys have DOLLAR TREE in your area but they have a dog's chew toy that looks an awful lot like a lightsaber. It's 9 inches long, 1-1/4 (really, I measured it right there)iches wide at ti's widest and it will take a 3/4 inch dowel or siloflex. You'll have to paint it. It is lime green.

 

Full tutorial going up Real Soon Now (tm). Currently I have the handout for the Obi-Shawn lightsabre workshop at Anime Los Angeles available here. (Right-click or Option-Click depending on your platform) I also have a mini-tute on how to affix your lightsabre to your belt up here.

It's really not so hard. Modern adhesives and knowing how to shop at your local hardware store means that you don't even have to have metalworking tools and the safe environment for working with metal at your disposal. Just get the right parts and put them together. Fun for the whole family. Remember, the family that cosplays together stays together. ^_^

 

I distinctly remeber having a conversation with someone about another saber smith using a chrome "s-trap" for a Dooku-style hilt. For the life of me I cannot find that thread anywhere. On too many forums I guess. Anywho, I was at Lowes today looking for MG-15 parts and saw a part that would work well for a Dooku saber. Over in/by the electrical section are thes pre-bent sections of conduit. The 90 degree elbow, if cut in half, would have a near perfect shape to it. It comes in 1-1/2 and 1-1/4 and is galvanized. The only flaw would be that the tubing flattens ever so slightly on the outside curve.

 

Ok I see you're discussing a Dooku saber now I have a question that might have already been asked but I'm going to ask it again because I looked and I cant find the thread. I need to make Asajj's lightsabers from the cartoon. My friend is making an Asajj costume and she wants me to help her with the sabers. They shouldnt be to hard if I can figure out how to do the curve. Any help would be great thanks.

Forcebewitya.

 

This galvanized 90 degree elbow is just about perfect shapewise if you cut it in the middle, you'll have two identical handles. A chrome S-trap is close.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=72275-15527-55545-PE&lpage=none

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc%2fsearchResults.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@0933367004.1144794229@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccladdhhkhleefcgelceffdfgidgkj.0&MID=9876
The link's not working right. Go to home depot and type in "chrome s-trap"

 

Thanks, thats actually what we ended up using. She finished them today they look pretty cool. I can try posting pics sometime.

Forcebewitya.

 

Um, er, bump?

 

Hi there,

me and my friends are making 2 sabers. Mine is going to be a Graflex type with a blue blade.
I have found two tutorials. http://members.aol.com/ctlaw74/galactic.htm and
http://www.hu.u-net.com/graflica/home.htm

The only changes will be using that9-volt battery holder that was mentioned and not bending the ears. I wil not have a control box or grips. I think this will be a great project and hope to have fun!

EDIT: The 9-volt battery holder wasnt in this thread but in your lightsaber. Our process will be recorded and i will hope to be able to post it up soon afterwords.

 

Many of us hard core lightsaber enthusiasts are already familiar with those two sites, even if we aren't into actually building the Graflex style saber.

Have fun, be safe and post pictures when finished!

 

heh, cool, i posted the thing about the 9v battery holder. Good to see someone is using my idea!

 

How long were the blades on the screen-used sabers? I heard it was 40 inches long. That's what I have mine set at and they seem to work quite well. I will post pics soon.

RYAN J.

 

Yup, 40" is about a meter. If you look at pictures especially ones with the saber at waist height it just doesn't look right even at 36" (FX sabers are 33"). I prefer 36" for ease of swinging but 40" is correct for the movies.

 

Thanks! Now that I look at them the Hasbro blades are a litte shall we say...WIMPY!?

RYAN J.

 

I'm looking to build a lightsaber and I don't know how. I know there are loads of tutorials out there, and that's part of the problem, there are just so many, most of them don't look like what I want mine to. I was having a look at http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/ and noticed that they have what seems to be most of the parts I need, if not all, the problem is that the shop is closed so I can't play around with the custom sabre thing. My idea is fairly simple, it'd be a plain tube with an on/off button, and it'd have an LED powered blade.

If I posted a picture of it, could someone recommend materials? And does anyone know of a site like http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/ ? They have a few bits I'd like but don't know where else I can buy them.

 

The Custom Saber Shop should be open within the week. Tim (the owner) posted in the forums "Opening on the 5th may be delayed as much as the 11th due to no internet at the new house. I will get the store up as soon as possible. Sorry for the delay."

You are pretty limited to what else you can get if you are in a hurry and can't wait for the re-open. www.ultrasabers.com is an option. His "customs" are modular hilt parts from TCSS. You could buy the basic parts then customize it when TCSS opens again. If you'd like to buy some of the electronics www.corbinscomponents.com is an option. Some of the parts on both Corbin's and TCSS are shared (they supply each other).

Otherwise... any specifics you are looking for?

 

Having had a look, I think the blade is going to cause a lot of problems. It's $20 which isn't a lot, but to ship it to the UK is $30, which is a lot of money. Are there any companies in the UK that sell these parts?

What I am tempted to do if I can afford it is order the bits and have them delivered to some kind person in the US, and then meet up with that person at Celebration 4 and take the bits and make it there, or I could have all but the blade delivered to me and I get someone to give me the blade at celebration 4. This all assuming I can go to Celebration 4.



Could I start a thread for UK lightsaber builders?

 

Ooo... in the UK... no wonder. Would shipping from France be any easier? www.plecterlabs.com offers similar products to corbin's and TCSS.

You can do the blade on your own if you are willing to spend more time. You can look up a plastics dealer in the area. You'll want 1/8" walled 1" OD and 3/4" ID PolyCarbonate. For the diffuser you can also ask if they have 3/4" Nylon in something like 1/32" thickness or smaller if you prefer that look. Blade films can certainly be made for dirt cheap but are labor intensive.

If you want to do a friendly exchange like you mentioned at C4 I'd recommend talking to Jedi_Loreen or Zhi-don through PMs. I believe both are going to be manning the Rebel Legion booth there and both are regular posters at the TCSS forum. I'm not going to speak for them, but both are friendly people you can trust. Jedi_Loreen is "Queen of the Blades" here and Zhi-bDon is XO of the Rebel Legion local to LA.

 

It's "Master of the Blades" . And it's Jedi-Loreen with a hyphen, not and underscore.

There's a post by me in the middle of this very page.

I'll forgive you, xwingband, I know you've been going through some things in your personal life.

 

Hi,
I was looking at home depot and i couldnt find a metal hole plug. I checked there site and i couldnt find it under metal hole plug, hole pluge, or plug. Anyone know what they are actually called?

 

The Custom Saber Shop looks really cool and I'm tempted to use their services, but they only seem to carry parts for a straight hilt. After alot experimentation, I've found that my saber handling is very much like the fencing style of Darth Tyranus; Form II. Therefore I'd benefit greatly from having a curved saber, but TCSS doesn't seem to have any parts for a curved saber. Would Tim ever consider hooking us Form II users up with the proper supplies?