My new baby:

Over the last couple weekends I've been working on building a new lightsaber prop. My goals with this new saber were to have it remain good and durable, be as lightweight as possible, and to accept my new preferred blade style: 1/2 inch OD tubing. Also a couple other minor aesthetic and ergonomic improvements to the design. Well this last weekend I finished it. Yay. Thought you guys might like to check it out. I think it came out pretty slick, especially for having built it by hand myself.

[image=http://www.towerhost.com/~ryan-w/misc/newsaber/hold.jpg] [image=http://www.towerhost.com/~ryan-w/misc/newsaber/front.jpg] [image=http://www.towerhost.com/~ryan-w/misc/newsaber/back.jpg]

100% machined and polished aluminum body.
Covertec belt clip.
Rubber grip rings.
Balance point: About a centimeter back from the edge of the emitter hilt.
Total weight (without blade) only about half a pound.

Anyway, just thought some of you guys could appreciate it.

 

Very nice design, by the way. Probably real easy to use.

EDIT: Ahah. Okay, I get it. Thought maybe it was some new space-age material. I'm an idiot.

 

OD = Outer Diameter.

 

Nice saber . I still haven't made my own saber yet. I might make a BYB saber soon.

Owen

 

Pretty nice. As recently said: looks easy to use. Reminds me of how bad those plastic ones look. I need to get me some real sabers.

 

Yes... very nice dowel, probably easy to roto too.)

 

What a beauty.
How do you get the grip rings to stay?

 

For the grip rings, I cut grooves into the body (similarly to the emitter, but deeper) and then when it was finished, I fit rubber O rings into those grooves.

 

"I see you have constructed a new lightsaber.
Your skills are complete.
Indeed ... you are powerful, as the forum has foreseen. "

Have fun!

 

Awesome. And no people, I doubt he'll make you one too.

 

Ryan loves those O-rings. LOL

Looks like it turned out great!

M. Scott

 

Very nice - probably one of the best looking sabers I have ever seen, from any source.

 

^


Oooooooooookay, then.


Nice saber, broham.

 

What is your tubing? Aluminum also or some other material.

Also, what did you use to cut the Aluminum?

Looks great!


--Jamball

I've only made them out of PVC, they work great but up close look like a poopy.

 

If you're talking about the blade, it's aluminum tubing from OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware) that's been spray painted orange and then wrapped in clear packing tape. The same routine used on the blades for RvD. The tubes come in 4 foot lengths, I cut off a few inches with a hacksaw.

 

Ahh, I see.

Do you use a rotary tool to cut the handle?

--Jam "I want mine to look like yours, but not exactly because I don't want to be a copy-cat" ball

 

Perhaps you could clarify why you've switched diameters to 1/2", the wall thickness of the new tubing, and why you use tape? I'm curious, as I'm still in the market for blade props.

In addition, I heard you've worked with some of the Episode III blades - do you have anything to say about their performance and construction with respect to your new design?

Perhaps good info for the lightsaber sticky?

-Steve

 

I would imagine the tape is there for safety, in case chips of paint or metal were to come loose... it would be like safety glass - to help prevent chips flying off into your eye or something...

 

yeah, not so much for chips flying, but just keeping them on the blade so it dosn't loose all it's color and make the rotoscoping process harder than it needs to be.

Do you use a rotary tool to cut the handle?

To actually cut through it to get the segment lengths I wanted, I would usually hacksaw through it. Takes a while, but does happen. Then once it's mounted up on the lathe, I'd face those edges off so they'd be good and clean, like what you see on the end of the emitter.


In addition, I heard you've worked with some of the Episode III blades - do you have anything to say about their performance and construction with respect to your new design?

Well, carbon fiber is really cool. Better than aluminum, but much more expensive and hard to obtain, unfortunately. I've decided I'd rather take out the worry and just buy lots of aluminum tubes from a hardware store. They're cheap and I don't worry so much about how I treat them.


Perhaps you could clarify why you've switched diameters to 1/2", the wall thickness of the new tubing, and why you use tape? I'm curious, as I'm still in the market for blade props.

1/2 inch tubing does break down more quickly and needs replacement more often, but it's substantially lighter. I just look at it like the blades are really a disposeable thing you'll end up replacing after a few shots.

 

post teaser here <

-FX

 

Nice, very nice, if only I could make this sort of thing. mine are all plastic.

 

So uh...when can I get you to do one of mine?





M. Scott

 

very nice

how much did it cost you in all?

i still stand by my previous statement of unless your fights really boring knowone will care what your handle looks like

mine works fine for me

[image=http://www.angelfire.com/vamp/brokenbiscuit/saber1.jpg]
[image=http://www.angelfire.com/vamp/brokenbiscuit/sab3.jpg]

 

LOL@ Dorkman and Ripper.

My god Ryan, you never cease to amaze, like the Dastolis. My old saber handle is going in the trash now. Back to the drawing board....

 

The matrial cost about 30 or 40 bucks, I think. But I did buy lots more than I used on this particular saber.