How to Build a Lightsaber
(Mostly)
With a trip to your local hardware store, a bit of enginuity, and a fair amount of patience, you too can join the ranks of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Count Dooku, Darth Vader... the list goes on. Here is a brief description of the construction process I went though. I will provide you with the basics of prop lightsaber construction so you can experiment and make a 'weapon' that is an extention of your imagination! No step by step here.
Ingredients vary, as does the price you will pay. I went out and bought everything I needed, so I wound up paying about $80 for the above piece. However, it is possible to find valid parts around the house. I've read articles / seen pictures of a prop made completely from a broken vacuum cleaner. So the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
Here is a list of items I highly recommend including in your shopping basket:
Resin / Hardener Combo epoxy
12" long 3/4" diameter chrome sink tailpiece
A wooden dowel that fits as close as possible to the diameter of your sink tailpiece
Black spraypaint
Rotationally symmetric sink water knob (hot or cold will do)
A drill w/ reasonably sized drillbits
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I used rivets as fasteners in my saber, but screws work just as well.
The choice is yours. Screws will be cheaper.
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I'm really vague about the parts I used for decoration here, but you'll see in the pictures. What you use will be determined by what your hardware store happens to have and your creativity.
Here is a mostly all-encompassing list of what I used for my lighsaber.:
Emitter:
Sink aerator
A pair of hose repair parts
Rubber grommet
Several o-rings
Extra long wood screw
Body:
Dowel (see above list)
12" Long 3/4" Dia Chrome sink tailpiece
Cheapest possible 1" Dia chrome sink tailpeice
Random Radioshack rectangle thing
A few rubber button like things
Rivets
Windshield wipers
Soft plastic spacers
Several O-rings
Pommel:
Rotationally symmetric sink water knob
Extra long wood screw
The Creative Process
You should start with the body of the saber first, that way there's a way for you to guage the rest of your build. I used 2 sink tailpieces to generate a 2-layed effect on my saber. If you don't feel like shelling out for the bonus, you can just go with a single tube. A single tube saber will be easier, faster, and less expensive, so you can go that route if you so please.
The first thing you'll want to do is get your dowel jammed into the sink tailpiece. Cut it to about 1/4" shorter than the length your tailpiece is. The total length of my saber is 14 1/2" but the sink tailpiece is only 10" long. Therefore, the dowel inside is 9 3/4 in long. The dowel serves as an anchor for your pommel and emitter. It also gives your prop a realistic weight. Pick a spot to set a screw in order to insure the pair are fastened together. You can hide the screw with a larger sink tailpiece, as seen below, use your creativity to integrate the screw into your control assembly, or allocate it to some purpose unforseen by yours truely.
Your next step is to make the control panel. If you use one sink tailpiece, you will be drilling into your dowel. Otherwise, cut your larger diameter sink tailpiece to the size you would like. I just cut mine down to the size of the radioshack panel thingy I found, and then fastened it to the tailpiece after drilling holes in the appropriate spots. To the left of the middle river, you'll see a rubber washer type thing. I fastened one to the opposite side of the control panel. As I mentioned before, what you use is totally up to you. See what you can find and put it to work.
Here, I've pictured the other side of the control assembly from a top view. You can see that I've placed a 1/4 inch spacer inside the tube. My smaller diameter tailpeice is 3/4" diameter, and this one is 1." I wonder if they'll fit snug? Be sure to place one spacer at each end of this component. And one in the middle for good measure.
BAM
In the final product, that thicker bit is just chillin there. In hindsight, I should have found a way to fasten it there. It not like I swing the thing around, so its definately good enough. But fastening definately adds longevity. Which is good.
For the emitter, I started with two garden hose repair parts. Honestly, I can't even imagine how you'd even begin to fix a hose with those things. The very tip is a sink part of a sink aerator, and the base is a rubber grommet and o-ring. I also slapped an o-ring below the teeth looking part. Anyway, The brass and black add a nice contrast and focal point to my saber. If you're not going to do anything amazing to the body of your saber, do something fancy for the emitter. It's really where you have the freedom to whatever you please.
Don't forget to paint your rotationally symmetric sink knob black!
This is the pommel end of the saber. I painted extra 1/4 inch spacers black and threw them on there for decoration. Nothing special, but it does add contrast against the chrome and smooth out the transition from think tailpiece to thin tailpiece. I put a spare o-ring on the other end of the control assembly. I wanted to save as much space as possible for the grips... and not distract the eye from them with a fancy pattern. Whether or not I succeeded is up to those admiring my work, but it's good enough for me.
The pommel is simple to install. I painted the head of a wood screw black, and then screwed it through the knob into the dowel. A nice snug fit!
I did the same thing for the emitter - I popped that aerator off and sent a screw down my saber's throat. Then I expoxied the aerator onto the hose repair part. It's not going anywhere.
As a final touch, I cut off the part of the windshield wiper that actually touches the glass. I was left with a square edged piece of rubber.
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