Jedi Lightsaber

The luxeon and lense were both sourced from an old single led dorcy headlamp....it was brighter than pictured....when I snapped the pic with my phone I could see the auto adjust working...without the blade the light creates a 6 inch patch at 6 feet, so it's a pretty tight beam...my ultrasaber luxeon 3 isn't that tight...

Before snapping the pic the hilt was barely visible on the screen...I wasn't sure it was gonna be seen until the auto adjust did it's thing...

I built this last year. Plumbing parts, fire department ladder rung, parts from Custom Saber Shop, and other stuff.

If anyone is interested in getting one made by this master of sabers, here is his Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/HamptonsHandCraftedLightsabers

I have a purchased one a friend gave me. Its Ultrasaber's nickel plated collectors replica of Luke's saber from the first movie. Hell of a gift to get for no reason at all. I treat it as my "practice" saber for all intents and look forward to crafting one with my own two hands.

I should amend that by saying I DID craft one...but its 4 solid steel plumbing pieces and a solid steel pipe for the blade, wrapped in green electrical tape. I treat it the same way one might treat a weighted bat in baseball practice. Also, will likely be my head bashing tool when the zombie apocalypse happens.

I would love to build my own lightsaber, I just don't even know where to start. I'm sure I could do it I just need to do some research on them.

Nshepler wrote: I would love to build my own lightsaber, I just don't even know where to start. I'm sure I could do it I just need to do some research on them.

Start with a sketch of what you want, then visit the hardware store (lowe's or home depot have a large selection of parts)look for parts that closely resemble what you want, then go to work...you can also visit some sabersmith sites for ideas and browse the forums here for some of the saber pics already posted...even the internal electronics are fairly simple, just requires a bit of planning beforehand so you don't wire an internal switch externally :lol:

I'd like to ask a few questions about saber construction if I could.

I'm looking to build one, I have sort of giggled about one for some time now, but had a vision/dream about constructing one. I have a basic idea, just not sure how to turn it to reality.

I'm looking at using the custom saber shop for parts for most of it however. Ideally I would like to have it so I could attach a blade and have sound at some point.

I am going to use the grips from the motorcycle we crashed as my handle piece. Well not the exact ones because those are gone but I am going to get exact copies of them.

Thanks ahead of time for any tips and or suggestions!
Roz

Jedi_Roz wrote: I'd like to ask a few questions about saber construction if I could.

I'm looking to build one, I have sort of giggled about one for some time now, but had a vision/dream about constructing one. I have a basic idea, just not sure how to turn it to reality.

Even though I shun most associations with Star Wars, I have begun to investigate the idea of having a ceremonial saber, so I can relate.

Jedi_Roz wrote: I'm looking at using the custom saber shop for parts for most of it however. Ideally I would like to have it so I could attach a blade and have sound at some point.

I highly recommend this route for anyone. Tim, who started and (afaik) runs the Custom Saber Shop, is an excellent craftsman who works hard to deliver exactly what you're looking for. CSS is expensive though and you shouldn't do what I did when I built my first saber and that was to skimp on the parts because I was cheap. Buy the parts one at a time if you have to. Attaching a blade and putting in sound are not terribly difficult. You just have to make sure your hilt has enough from for the electronics.

Jedi_Roz wrote: I am going to use the grips from the motorcycle we crashed as my handle piece. Well not the exact ones because those are gone but I am going to get exact copies of them.

I would strongly suggest researching glues for affixing the grips. I used a glue (can'tremember what now) that smeared all over my hilt and it looked terrible. I had spend a lot of time using acetone to strip the excess glue from my hilt and it was a real pain in the behind.

I found it a good time to start when you are confident but not excited. In other words, don't rush to do it too early but don't be afraid that it may not be time yet. I gathered information and drew concept art and wiring diagrams and read forums and watched videos for months before I ordered my parts. They say everything that can go wrong will go wrong, and everything did. Yet, despite having no prior crafting experience to speak of, by the time my file touched the metal there was almost nothing left to go wrong at all, because I knew about the mistakes newbies typically do and because the plan was flexible but clear. You can know what you are doing without having the experience yourself but it will be mistakes you learn from, be those yours or someone else's.
In short: Don't let the enthusiasm rush you in too soon but don't let angst hold you back once you do know what you're going for.