Making a double bladed saber hilt

Hello,

I'm new to this site. I just got done looking at all 259 pages in the Costume and Props forum. lol

My fiance and I are very big into Star Wars. We've been dating for, let's see... 1-1/2 years, 1 month, and 3 days. For our 2 year anniversary, I really want to make him 2 or 3 things that I know he will absolutely love! I want to make him a Jedi costume, a Jedi robe, and the thing that I know he will REALLY love, is a double-bladed lightsaber. I can get the patterns for the costumes with probably little to no problems at all. And it would be a cinch for me to make because I am a very good seamstress, and I absolutely love sewing. Anyway, the only thing that I can see giving me a lot of grief is the lightsaber. I know where I am going to get the blades from, but I really want to make the hilt by myself. I just want to make a simple, basic double-bladed lightsaber.

I did a drawing on Microsoft Paint of what I want it to look like. I'm not very good with Microsoft Paint, so it's not a very good drawing. Here it is:

[image=http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bensgirl012188/detail?.dir=/f572&.dnm=ee4d.jpg&.src=ph]

If anyone knows how I can make this, or knows of a website that can show me how to make it, or one similar to it, please let me know.

Thank you,

~Caity

 

There are several places on the web that will teach you to make a saber, and the cost will likely be at or near 50 - 75$ for the parts you need. such as this 1 http://bigyellowbox.tripod.com/index.htm

This site http://randomsabers.com/ will carve 1 for you from Aircraft aluminum for around the same price.

 

By the way, the lines on the hilt (In case anyone couldn't tell from my horrible drawing)is the grip.

 

Big yeller box cost about 30$ tops for a good hilt..

 

If you were looking at an EL or LED light-up blade, then The Custom Saber Shop has supplies and tutorials on how to make the sabers. The supplies might be on the high side price-wise, but the tutorials are great. Good luck you two, and may the Force be with you.

 

I know there are a lot of places online that will tell you how to make the hilts, but there aren't many of them at all that will tell you how to make a double-bladed saber hilt. And that is what I am looking for.

 

I have the blades already taken care of. That is not what I am looking for. I am looking for HOW TO MAKE a DOUBLE-BLADED SABER HILT.

 

Oohhh, couldn't have guessed by the title...check big yeller box!

 

The link above does show you how to make a double bladed.

http://bigyellowbox.tripod.com/index.htm

Check out the type VII

 

You can also take any one of the designs he has, and modify it slightly to put an emmiter on both ends, and Voila, double blades.

Its not tough

 

Here's one:

http://bigyellowbox.tripod.com/plans07/main.htm

 

Well, if you have blades then you have to have electronics to light up the blades. And the electronics have to be in the hilt.

 

Hi Caity,

I think there are a couple of places that could help you out. Keep in mind that custom lightsabers can be a very expensive venture. Some people here are suggesting places to make your own saber (customsabershop, big yellow box). When you make your own saber hilt, there's a lot of satisfaction in creating something that works and something that you made and designed yourself. On the other hand, getting a machined hilt (or in this case a hilt machined) is the best way to make exactly what you want in a durable format. There are several places online that still make hilts. Single bladed hilts can get pricey, but be prepared for a large pricetag with the double bladed hilt (even without the blades - as I understand you already have these secured).

Minder mentioned Randomsabers.com - they can pretty much take your exact design, machine it and even install the electronics. But be prepared to wait a looooooooong time for it. I placed an order at the end of August and I am still way down towards the bottom of the page (about 3/4 down at best). If you aren't in a rush (and I'd ask them about your less-than-six-month turnaround time), these guys will most likely be your most affordable resource. They make one-of-a-kind sabers, but look at the pricetag they put on these - I'd say they're pretty darn affordable compared to the rest on my list:
http://www.randomsabers.com/page/baltico.htm ($75 - 125)
http://www.randomsabers.com/page/fermanite.htm ($75 - 125)

Rob from RLSA Sabers (www.rlsasabers.com) might be able to make something that would work for you. He has one on his site now, but it cannot be disassebled for a custom blade installation. He may be able to make those modifications for you:
http://www.rlsasabers.com/saber_8.htm ($200)

The Parks Sabers "Double Helix" doesn't really look like your design, but it's still out there as an option for your double-bladed search:
http://www.parksabers.com/doublehelix.html ($475)

Lighttech (www.lightechindustries.com)has it's own "Double Extreme" hilt.
http://www.lightechindustries.com/decomp.jpg ($625)

Another option would be to by the aluminum tubes and have someone local machine the hilt for you. But I found that when I went to a machinist, my design would have cost me too much and I wouldn't have been able to get the electronics properly installed there. I'd have had to do a lot of follow up work myself.

-Kyle

* Please keep in mind that I have posted these prices merely as helpful option - not to promote any specific dealers over others. These are the manufacturers that I know of. If I missed a good dealer who may have a double-sided hilt for Caity, speak up and let her know!

 

for a simple hilt i would suggest two 12 inch (1.5 diameter) sink pipes and use a conduit connector to couple em together, you'll have to drill holes into the sink pipes and then just screw em in , and use the sink pipes that slipnut assembly on the ends to get something along the lines of that look you have

then for the grip use o rings and slip joints washers or they also have thse cool lookin rubber gaskets but theyre like two bucks a piece

as far as blades... i do one inch blades and i use a pvc pipe as an adaptor in my hilts so get urself some pvc pipe with a one inch inner diameter, then in the flooring department at lowes they have this rubber floormat if you wrap a littl bit of that around the pvc pipe you can slide it in and it'll be nice and tight then drill holes and put your set screws in you should even have enoguh room to do electronics if you wanted

hope that was helpful

 

The blades that I am going to get don't light up. I don't have them as of yet. I was planning on getting the Battle Blades from Random Sabers. I don't have the money to purchase the EL blades. Unless anyone knows where I can get EL blades for under $50. I'd love to have EL blades. Like in the picture, I would want to have green ones.

 

Are you talking about the carbon fiber rods? Or the colored acrylic ones?

You shouldn't really duel with the mis-named colored "Battle Blades". Acrylic can shatter. Those types of blades should just be mostly for show. Definitely not for all out dueling.

If you're doing a double bladed saber, then get the 30" blades, unless you're very tall. Otherwise, with the full size 42" blades, your saber is going to be 8 feet long!

 

Dude, I wish my girlfriend would make me a lightsaber.

 

Why?


To me, it's kinda too bad that more girls aren't into prop building, like I am. I have made several hardware lightsabers and am currently working on a Rebel Fleet Trooper blaster prop.

It seems like most girls are more into the costume making side, which I'm not. A lot of them will get their husbands, boyfriends or dads to make their props for them. In my view, they are missing out on a lot of fun!

But I've always been a tool user and enjoy building things. Maybe I'm odd.

 

You can get an EL blade for under $50. Then all you would need is less than $20 worth of electronics for inside the hilt and you're set. If you would like to have EL, I don't see any reason to spend $50 for an acrylic "battle blade" (yeah right, if the battle was between 4 year olds, lol). Those things are only good for show when walking around during the day as they are coloured rods and in direct sunlight, an EL blade isn't going to give you any visible colour. For about $60, you can get everything that you need to add to your hilt to make a functioning EL saber. For the extra $10 and a little extra fabrication time, you'll have a nice EL saber instead of a hilt with a coloured rod of fragile plastic coming out of it.

 

My girlfriend enjoys Star Wars, but not enough to be into costuming and propbuilding. She would dress up for Halloween, but not for a 501st or Rebel Legion event. It's a shame...

 

All this lightsaber business has gotten me into prop building, doing things I've never done before. My dad helped me with the soldering and tapping screw holes, but alot of the work that went into the saber was mine.

As for the OP- What kind of saber do you want? Do you want just a hilt, or would you like it to be EL-ready?
If EL ready, then the custom saber shop can in fact help you. They sell a special machined connector that allows you to join two sink tube hilts together. You follow the tutorial on their site and build two individual handles. Then, instead of using seperate end caps, you use that connector piece, with a few screws. That way, you can seperate the weapon into two halves with the assistance of a screwdriver, allowing easy access to the batteries.
The only problem with the BYB double ended saber design is that you would have to take the entire thing apart in order to get at the batteries, if you wanted to make it EL ready.
However, the design can be modified in order to work that way, with a little thought and creativity.

 

Jedi-Loreen, You said your a fellow tool user. Sigh--- That's my dream. If I weren't married I'd ask you to be my girlfriend . I've got a new mini-lathe and as soon as I get the garage cleaned out enough to walk in, I'm going to teach myself to use it also. I don't care how many fingers it takes to learn. It does take some imagination, but try walking around in your hardware store and look at the different building materials while thinking "I wonder how that would look as a part of a lightsaber?" For a double bladed saber, just double the image in your mind.

 

Oooohhhhh, a mini lathe! (they need the drooling smiley here, lol) Some day........

I can no longer walk through a hardware store without looking at things and wondering if something would make a good part, or greeblie for a future prop making project!

Yay, the word "greeblie" is official now! I heard the Prop Master of RoTS (who'd name escapes me at the moment ) use it in a documentary.

 

greeblie? Remember I'm from Alabama. We can't read words that long I mean, according to Hollywood, we just got shoes and indoor plumbing two years ago. (then sombody just had to go and invent things called shoe laces!!!) I just had figured out the slip on versions.

And to the people who say I can't be serious for 2 seconds, ---1 mississippi---2 mississippi----3 mississippi. See, a new record YEAH ME !!! HAHAHAHAHA.

I hope that gave all of you a good laugh.

 

Alabama, eh? (your profile doesn't say so, I looked )

Well, even if you weren't married, it wouldn't have worked anyway. I'm on the other side of the country, in California.