Any advice on making lightsabers?

I may be new here but I feel like I should prepare for the lightsaber-making ritual anyway; for spiritual and martial arts reasons of course.

Right now I am torn between a double bladed lightsaber and the newer (Kylo Ren) crossguard lightsaber.

Here are my reasons why I want both designs:

Double bladed lightsaber - since it reassembles a bo stick, which could make for a decent weapon, I thought it would make for a good self-defense tool on top of being a recreational tool as well. My only concern is the cost of the polycarbonate tubing ans how much I would have to but to make one.

Crossguars lightsaber - This one is purely out of my love for the new Star Wars Trilogy and also because I can use said crossguards to control my opponent's blade during lightsaber clashes. I doubt it may make for a decent self defence weapon unless...

...I can figure out a way to make a plasma ball-like effect on the transparent polycarbonate tubing of the lightsaber and find a portable power source potent enough to output enough voltage to electricute a human being upon contact. Is that even possible?

Anyhow, does anyone care to give some advice to make a combat-ready lightsaber for cosplaying and perhaps ACTUAL self defense? I've already watched some YouTube tutorial videos so please don't bring them up.

Cheers!

-Silvas

What do your feelings tell you? Do you feel it in your hands? Start there and see where you go.

^////^

It's great to hear someone so enthusiastic about making a saber!

As far as making a combat ready saber as well as a cosplay saber, I'm afraid you will most likely have to either make one or the other, or both.
Although you can make a dueling saber that will be about as effective as a bokken or shinai, if you really want to make a fully functional combat style weapon, I would suggest looking into the construction of a Stun / Taser Baton.

If you plan on making a combat weapon for self defense that somewhat resembles a light saber, that is the route I would go. Although it will most likely be as long as a shoto saber (around 31 inches fully extended), that is probably all the length you will really need.
I've been considering making one for myself at some point, so perhaps if you're interested, I can look into it further and we can share some more ideas.

As far a s a cosplay / dueling / practice light saber, you can go a few different routes.
The cheapest route would be to simply buy or make a wooden saber purely for practice. I know of one website that makes some pretty good looking wooden sabers.
But if you're going for something a bit more realistic, one that can be used for cosplay and dueling and not just practice, then you can either make one yourself or buy one from several different websites.

So, the cheapest route would be to buy everything yourself individually, the electronics, the tubing, and the rest of the materials, and then build it yourself. It's not impossible, but it is a lengthy process and requires a lot of research, especially if you don't have much experience with soldering electronics or working with metal.

Another option is to buy the individual parts from a saber website, like Saber Forge, and either have them put it all together or send it to you in pieces for you to put together.

Another option would be to simply buy a saber form a website like SbaerForge, UltraSaber, or Vader's Vault.

What I do is order my electronics and blade from Saber Forge, then build the hilt and all of its components myself in a work shop, then put everything together when the electronics come in. In doing this, I can make my saber completely customized to me and balance it properly.
But it's all about how much you want to put into it and what you want to get out of it.

The best website I've found is SaberForge. They have a wide selection of customized sabers and saber parts, as well as various electronics that you can buy altogether, partially put together, or completely individual.

If you ever want more information about making light sabers, feel free to reply to this forum you've made, or message me.

I am a weapons fanatic and absolutely love saber talk, I could spend all day doing it, so feel free to ask questions or discuss your opinions.


I also feel as though making your own personal lightsaber or self defense weapon is a tradition that all Jedi should go through, and I am very glad you are taking on the challenge. Let me know what you decide to do, I am very interested!


Now! As far as a cross guard saber or a saber staff...
I'd say, go with whichever you have more experience with and feel more comfortable with.
If you don't have much experience with either, consider a couple things:

Effectiveness in combat:
The saber staff offers you quicker movements, but most training with a bo staff involves sliding your hands up and down the weapon. Obviously you can't do this with a saber staff because you only have about 16 to 20 inches of handle to work with. What's more, if you are ever in a close quarters confrontation, a saber staff is going to get be at a huge disadvantage. However, one thing about the saber staff is that it can be easily turned into two shoto blades (if you know how to build it so it can do so). So, if you are in close quarters and can turn your staff into two short swords, now you have just turned your weakness into an advantage.

Now, the Cross guard saber. Obviously this is based off of European style swords like the long sword, hand and a half sword, claymore, and others. In studying medieval style sword play (and I am no expert on) I believe the advantage of the cross guard was that it could be used to manipulate the sword in several variations. I've even seen some sparring matches where one person ended up flipping their sword around and was using the cross guard as a hammer. Obviously, again, we can't do that with a light saber because you are limited to the length of your hilt. However, I also believe that their may be some moves that you can use the cross guard to trap your opponent's blade and disarm them. So, pros and cons.

The next thing to consider, and perhaps the more important one, is what your saber means to you. Your light saber should be an extension and expression of yourself. As such, it should resemble you and your fighting style in some way.

Consider you light saber combat Form(s) / styles. Perhaps if your method is to over power your opponent, you should go with a cross guard. If you try to be fast and acrobatic, perhaps a saber staff. If you are more delicate and strategic, maybe a curved handle.

I could go on all day.

I think I have a couple questions to end off with:

1.) What does your saber mean to you?

2.) How do you want to use it?

3.) What is your combat style / method?

4.) What do you admire about a light saber?

Like I said, feel free to message me if you ever want to ask questions or discuss light saber stuff.

Silvas wrote: ...I can figure out a way to make a plasma ball-like effect on the transparent polycarbonate tubing of the lightsaber and find a portable power source potent enough to output enough voltage to electricute a human being upon contact. Is that even possible?

Why would you want to electrocute someone? As an accomplished swordsman, I can tell ya from first hand experience that a well placed thwack from one of those poly blades is enough to disorient and stun.

As for the effect, I've seen people using hot glue on the poly blades to create unstable effects, perhaps an orb of hot glue would replicate the desired effect?

ནའдհдཀ༑ནკ wrote: What do your feelings tell you? Do you feel it in your hands? Start there and see where you go.

Very much agree with this method. Close your eyes and reach out. Now grab it in your mind, close your hand around what you see. How does it weigh, is it cold in the hands? What colour emerges when you press the ignition?

I plan on making a sabre one day using this method, but my current sabre... well, I'm beginning to grow fond of it.

(I actually did this in real life, while meditating of course )I see...a grey lightsaber! Double bladed and...it has some curved emmitters on one side of the blade on both ends....red and green buttons...and when I press on the button I see a bright yellow light emmitting from both sides! Its a strange and unfamiliar color to me, yet ever so bright and interesting! I placed on where my belt would be. And with that I exit the spiritual realm, or the place somewhere in the force.

Thank you for that Arisaig! I really appreciate that! Now I have decided on my blade's color and shape! Thank you ever so much!

One of my favourite story arcs in the Clone Wars, and easily the best lesons on lightsabres.

Bumping this thread because I'm considering building one soon and am looking for suggestions.

In college I wrote a term paper for modern physics on how to make a real lightsaber if ya got a couple million laying around

In all seriousness, I'm totally lost on where to begin. I don't have a good idea of the tools I'll need or the components, either, and all the information I can find is dated.