pvc pipe vs wooden dowel

To tell you the truth, i'm building my first saber as we speak, i'm using a copper tubing peice as a base and a dowel rod for the blade, then o rings around the copper so i can squeeze on a chrome plumbing tube...not so sure what it's called...anyhow it seems to be fine but i'm not completely done. Because of this, i can't say anything about pvc but i think if it were to bounce back on contact, moreso than the dowel, that could add an interesting spice to the fight, just my opinion though, hard to explain...and i'd assume the strength and weight of all of your pvcs piping and dowel rods differs to a great degree, considering hardly anyone posted their demensions and wall thickness, etc.

for the record:

the dowel rod is 7/8 inches
the copper rod is 3/4 (YES, the dowel does fit in it, though im not sure how...)
and the plumbing peice is 1.25 inches <-- it may be 1 and 1/8...not sure

and i need to finish the pomel and the like so...yea...ill get back to you on it when i break it over my mom's television on accident.

 

Blades:
6061-T6 ALUMINUM TUBE
1/2" OD x 0.049" WALL
Four Foot (48") Length

Hilts:
1 1/4" x 12" Slip Joint Extension Tube (that's what the pagage says ) cut down to anywhere between 10 1/2" to 11 1/4."

The blades are wrapped in duct tape in two places to fit snug into the hilts. I'd post a picture of the blancing, but I just rolled my ankle while dueling with them. W00t!

 

I've used various diameters of wooden dowel both with and without tape, I've used various diameters of PVC with various wall thickness and I've used 1 inch (outside diameter) transparent polycarbonate tubing with an 1/8th of an inch wall thickness. By far the polycarbonate tubing has been the best. There is not much "whip" to speak of and it's incredibly strong/durable. I use 4 foot long polycarbonate tubes for my saber blades and they have lasted me for years without breaking. They are also pretty light in weight.

The downside to what I've used is of course the outside diameter being 1 inch. Kind of thick for a saber blade I know. Also, if you fight using say... glow sticks inside the tubing, it will cause stress cracks and will eventually lead to breakage somewhere down the road.

One of the upsides is that with one layer of electrical tape (not even wrapped all the way around), it fits snugly into "schedule 40" 1 inch (inside diameter) PVC.

I will be trying some 3/4 inch (same wall thickness as above) polycarbonate tubing in the future as well as carbon fiber tubes. I'll let you all know how that goes.

If you want to see polycarbonate tubes in action, watch Entry 07 of LCC3. We didn't break a single blade during practice or filming. Quite a bit afterwards though I found out that it is a real bad idea to leave polycarbonate tubes in the trunk of your car for a few weeks during summer. Especially when they have many, many stress cracks from too much "glowstick inside the tube" bashing. Can we say snappage boys and girls? I knew you could.

 

The only local plastics company will sell me polycarbonate tube, but they want me to buy at least 100 feet of it! Do you know where I (or anyone else) can order polycarb tube for the best price?

 

I use dowels because I dont have access to pvc pipes yet, I do agree somewhat with whats been said regarding the weight of dowels, but that isn't really all that bad. If you aim to match a staged fight similar to the OT films, then dowels might be the right way to go. And pvc can recreate the speedier choreography of the newer films, you can disagree but IMHO that does kinda' make sense.

Daniel

 

Darthsunder, could you please explain what you meant by saying that sabers bouncing off from impact would make a cool effect? or was that sarcasm?
I'm kinda annoyed by my pvc sabers bouncing too much. I bought some thin wooden dowels that are surprisingly durable, they haven't broken yet, unlike my first wooden dowels that were actually thicker.
I also have these hollow pvc tubes that splintered as soon as we started actually filming the fights. So I'm going to stick with the dowels, these new ones are really light weight too, don't bounce and don't break as long as you pull your attacks..

 

We use lead piping wrapped with barbed wire, and a couple of razor blades attached for good measure. We douse them in petrol and attach small squibs onto the blades so if they're hit, the petrol will ignite.

 

PPOR... J/K

 

You can buy them here...

http://www.k-mac-plastics.com/polycarbonate-tubes.htm

...but you have to buy 16 feet of it (4 - 4 foot long tubes) which can being anywhere between $55 and $72 BEFORE shipping. Another option is here...

http://www.stickman-escrima.com/Products/Hits.htm

...however this guy takes his time getting the tubes to you... like, a lot of time.

I hope that helps.

 

I use 3/4" PVC pipe for the blades with a 3/4" cap on top to give it a rounded end. For the hilt I used chrome plated brass extension pipe found in any plumbing aisle in a hardware store. I used to use both PVC hilts and blades but now since I went to metal hilts me and my friend have never broken one in a fight *knock on wood*. I believe that PVC works the best with a metal hilt. Yes PVC is a little bit heavier but with a metal hilt it achieves a nice balance which I believe is essentially for a 'edged' weapon. And for people who don't believe that you can generate alot of speed with with them I say that you need to actually try it before you judge it. During filming it can get pretty intense and we have been able to swing these things at incredible speed. No its not the speed you would get with a carbon fiber rod but its pretty dran fast. Plus if they do break I only have to fork out $1.29 for a replacement instead of $30. Plus we wrap them with a layer of duck tape and then a layer of electrical tape, usually in the color we prefer but for filming we add yellow or orange tape to the end of the blade and to the end by the hilt to make it easier to rotoscope. They're really great to use and are cheap and easy to make. So far me and my friend have been able to reproduce Obi-Wan's saber from TPM/AOTC, Obi-Wan's from ROTS which is my favorite, Count Dooku's, Darth Sidious' which is my friends weapon of choice, a few other specialty ones, plus one i've designed myself which I call my Darth Plagueis lightsaber which is basically Count Dooku's curved hilt with the top of Sidious' saber on it. It's really cool and I hope to use it in one of our upcoming fan films which is going to be about the finally days of Sidious' training with Plagueis. It's going to be really sweet.

 

DON'T USE ALUMINUM TUBE OR STEEL TUBE.

We were using Steel tubing during one shoot, and I swung the saber.
The blade detatched from the Hilt (snapped the screws) and flew across the stage.
One of the extras had just bent over to adjust his shin guards when the blade hit the wall above his head. It lodged in the wall.....if he's been standing up it would have gone straight through him.

DON'T USE STEEL OR ALUNINIUM. (at least not when I'm the one swinging the saber)

 

If it's coming at you end-on, then it's not going to matter what material it's made out of.

Use aluminum. I suggest it.

 

"If it's coming at you end-on, then it's not going to matter what material it's made out of."

bamboo with a small wad of tape at the end will just give you a lump, and that's if it's going really fast.

 

I'd blame that mishap on your prop building rather than the material. I'm still recommending aluminum because it's light as hell

 

I used steel golf shafts for my fan film. Just the right thickness, and light enough for my actors to use. Tough to drill through though.

I used brass sink tails for the hilt.

 

has anyone ever tried lacrosse shafts, those are made to hit and be hit, as well as be as extrememly light

 

broken hockey sticks are great for the huge hits.