Lightsabers & Blasters How can I build my own lightsaber?

I haven't found anything useful at Walmart, but $15 worth of stuff from Lowe's, Home Depot and 1 item I picked up at Kroger, and I made one yesterday in about 6 hours. a lot nicer than the one I made last year.

 

if you want a good fighting saber that can take a beating just get a dowel that your hands can grip firmly and cut to size and drill a hole at the tip and insert a long thiner dowel for the blade and spray paint it. I made a few and they have lasted about a year of hiting my younger brother and sisters .

 

Have you tried carving the handle to make it look like a real saber? That sounds like it may be an excellent stunt saber!

 

How heavy are dowel rods?

I imagine you can't swing em about a la Obi-Wan vs. Maul?

 

It all depends on how long you train with them. Dowel rods are the lightest thing I've found for stunt sabers so far. With some time, anyone can swing them relatively fast.

EDIT: Of course I'm referring to the 3/4" dowel rods, not the 1"+ that you use in your closet .

 

I also use screws to make the buttons and spray paint them too

 

Ok, I'm actually looking for something a little different from what's talked about here, but maybe someone can still help.

I need a saber hilt for Halloween. It doesn't have to have a blade, it doesn't have to be durable, it's for my Halloween costume. What I'm looking to do is wear it attached to my belt. It just has to be believable enough that people look at it and think "lightsaber" but it doesnt' need any sort of detail.

Can anyone help me with this?

 

Really if your looking for cheap and fast and your not too worried about how it will look, Your best bet would be to go get one of the non Electronic Hasbro toy sabers. They have them that look like obiwans and Quigons sabers. They have an attached belt clip and an extendable blade that will stay in when it's on your belt.

both Target and Wal-mart in my area seem to have a huge Surplus of these.

That would be perhaps your cheapest and fasted route.

 

Bump.

 

Do you think fiberglss blades would work??

 

Don't panic. Find a couple of second hand camera shops and ask if they happen to have any old 1920s - 1940s press camera flash guns. That's right, flash guns. Try not to look really excited if they say they do or know where to get one. As long as you're not looking specifically for the original GRAFLEX (almost impossible to find these days) you'll more than likely wind up with a Heiland or something very close.
Flash guns can be modify with only a miniscule payout. The rubber stripping for cars and trucks (found at Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire or the like) makes really comfortable grips. After you've applied the stripping (it's self-adhesive), strap them tightly with twine and set the sabre aside for a couple of days. Oh, and do the stripping last.
Old computer chip board makes a neat 'activator pad' and the type of flash gun (some are stainless steel) will pretty well dictate where and what you use for your belt clip.

 

Cool, but waht do ya think of fiberglass blades??

 

From what I've heard, the fiberglass blades are nice and light and near indestructable, but expensive as hell and difficult to find.

And in response to an earlier post I have tried carving a saber from PVC. It's Jedi Dajuan's but it's still not finished.

 

I agree on the price of the blades. And it starts getting complicated when you want to 'gut' the hilt to insert the blade mount. Also, most SF conventions (although not Celebration) won't let you walk around with the blade, either in its bag or inset in the hilt.

My personal feeling is that a Jedi doesn't need to 'show off' their blade anyway. After all, a lightsabre is a defensive weapon used only as a last resort when all other avenues of negotiation fail. (I'll tell you the Mug Old Fashion Root Beer commercial sometime) As I tell children when they ask me if my hilt 'lights up' or to show them the blade I tell them that a Jedi doesn't show off. If a child tries to turn it on I tell them that it's thumb-print locked to me alone. I've noticed most parents really seem to appreciate that sort of thing.

 

How much does fiberglass cost??

 

The fiberglass itself isn't all that expensive. Getting it tooled into a blade shape and polished, and then having your hilt doctored to hold it is where you'll run into the expenses. Especially if you want the electronics inside so it hums and lights up.

 

its better to go to EL....and cheaper too. i was at comic con last month and we walked all over the place with parksabers out, blades in and lit. no one said anything.

 

I think your a beginner so you might wanna stick to pvc pipe for now.

 

There are still some conventions, such as the Comic Cons and Celebration that don't care. However, please keep in mind that the WorldCons are really sticky on this point, as are a number of the smaller conventions like NorWesCon in Seatte, WA.

 

Does anyone know of a tutorial for making Kyle Katarn's lightsaber? That's one of my faves, I'd love to build it.

 

For my stunt saber I'm probably going to use the TPM method, or the Ep.III methd, all under $15 a blade...

 

Unlocked for recent query.

 

In this pic I built the top one [image=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90/dtsman/LS.jpg] just used a 3/4 copper pipe for the center tube that holds the wooden dowel, a chrome sink pipe cut the front used rubber sheets cut into donuts to hold the copper tube inside the chrome pipe and used a glue gun. I also used windshield wipers for the grips.

 

Does anyone know any web sites that have instructions on how to
make those light sabers that can light up (what ever they are called)?

 

Do you want an EL or LED saber?

If you go to The Custom Saber Shop and sign up for the Forums, there are tutorials to build both types of sabers there. Plus, you can also buy all the parts you would need to build either saber from the Store on the main page.