The Ultimate Lightsaber

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Difficulty: Hard

Team Size: 1

Started: March 10, 2009

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Description

To create an accurate functional lightsaber prop replica, which:

Is adult sized

Is durable enough to be used in mock duels

Includes sound effects

Has a Bright and accurate looking blade

Has a Realistic metal hilt.

This project includes buying parts online, soldering electronics, and the use of a drill and other small tools.

I have been building and selling lightsabers since I was 14 (I'm 18 now) and I wanted to put together a really great lightsaber for myself. The following images I made on Google sketch-up in the planning stage of my project.

Basic Steps & Resources

Basic Steps

1. Choose a design

2. Order materials

3. Assemble blade

4. Prepare hilt pieces

5. Solder electronics

6. Assemble hilt

Material Requirements

For this project I am useing a more advanced design which requires more materials. Beginners may want to start with a simpler design.

The following materials can be purchased at www. thecustomsabershop.com

Blade construction parts:

3/4" Thick walled polycarbonate 40" long

Shouldered 3/4" thick walled blade tip

Blade film

3/4" Aluminum reflective disc

Hilt Electronics:

3.7v Lithium Battery 2-pack

3.7v-14.8v Li-ion smart charger

2.1mm plug adapter for smart charger

2.1mm Power Jack

Quick connector

SPST momentary switch with red button

SPST momentary tactile switch

Luxeon V star (LED) royal blue

Hilt Hardware:

Power jack kill plug

Luxeon collimator lens 5 deg viewing angle

Luxeon III/V lens holder

1" to 3/4" reducer

Screw on LED blade holder style 2

MHS ribbed extension

6" double female threaded connector

MPS pommel style 1

MPS insert style 4

1-1/2" x 12" Chrome sink tube

Covertech clip

Black Machined button for covertech clip

Screws:

10-32 x 13/32 thumb screw

8-32 x 1/8 set screw

From www.plecterlabs.com/catalog/index

Crystal Focus Saber Core

From Blast-tech.com

Six digit LED lens

In addition to this, you will also need to find the following items from any other source:

Red 5 mm LED

Green 5mm LED

2 blue 5mm LED

2 White 5mm LED

zener diode

model paint (or access to powder coating) in red, black, and gold

Resource Links

Progress UpdatesPublic

Part V - More Sink Tube Modification and Hilt Construction

April 7, 2009 at 12:45 pm by Luke-SkyMarcher

At this point, we need to cut the polished sink tube overlay for the brass controll collar. The best way to do this is with a dremmel tool. For a little more information on how to do this, see the link "Sink Tube Cutting in a Graflex tutorial" below. I drew my pattern on a piece of paper c...

Part IV - Early Hilt Construction

April 6, 2009 at 1:31 pm by Luke-SkyMarcher

Because building the hilt and assembling the electronics is often interconnected and/or simultaneous, I'll be switching between the two of them from now on. You can see in the upper left of this picture that I attatched the Luxeon LED to the heatsink. For more info on this, see the link below, &qu...

Part III - Blade construction

March 15, 2009 at 5:13 pm by Luke-SkyMarcher

I follow a special method when constructing my blades.1. First, sandblast the inside of the tube. Because the tube is transparent originally, this helps diffuse the light better. 2. Next, sand the outside of the blade with 600 grit sandpaper. This adds to the frosted look. 3. Next, you're going ...

View All Updates

Project ForumPublic

Topic	Replies	Posted	Last Reply
Ultimate Lightsaber Discussion	0	Mar 14, 2009 by Luke-SkyMarcher	1 year 5 days ago

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