Lightsaber help?

bambistark

bambistark

Member
I'm looking to construct a custom lightsaber for myself to go with a costume I'm working on.

Going the custom route because I don't wanna have a costume only to have some one go and point out "Hey! That's 'so-and-so's" lightsaber!" It kinda takes away from your own original character.

My issue is, I don't have a clue how to do any sort of lights or sound for one.
Building the hilt is pretty straight forward, but it's the blade and extra stuff that I don't know what to do with.

I haven't started it yet in case I put something together wrong and cant add the lights and such. So if anyone can point me in a direction with some good simple instructions (and preferably not too pricey parts) it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks :'D
 
The custom saber shop forums are full of useful information, and obviously the main site will sell any parts you need for the hilt aswell as LEDs\lens etc.
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/

I've never built a fully custom saber but have used this forum for information on how to convert a couple of Force FX sabers.
 
I can also recommend www.ultrasabers.com

They sell ready to ship simple sabre hilts with blades and sounds (and without if you want to save some money). That way you have all the electronics ready etc and can just customise the simple hilt yourself :)

They also sell the individual electronic parts and blades etc in varying strengths, depending on wether you want to be able to hit lots of things or not ;)
 
JediFran said:
I can also recommend www.ultrasabers.com

They sell ready to ship simple sabre hilts with blades and sounds (and without if you want to save some money). That way you have all the electronics ready etc and can just customise the simple hilt yourself :)

They also sell the individual electronic parts and blades etc in varying strengths, depending on wether you want to be able to hit lots of things or not ;)
Click to expand...

Oh, I like how you can get simple like, one tube hilts. Gives you room to add and customize it yourself. :thumbsup
 
There are also many many discussions and tutorials over at the fx-sabers forums. For your first time though, you're best off just getting a simple ultrasaber as mentioned or even better, one from saberforge.com.

Sound is tricky. Ultrasabers doesn't always carry sound, likewise with saberforge. You'll have to contact them and ask if they have any in stock with sound and/or can make one. Most custom sabers that you see with sound usually just have a sound board ripped out of an MR or Hasbro FX lightsaber, but to rewire and remount them takes some skill. Some lucky few have Crystal Focus sound/light boards made by Plector Labs, but they've been long since sold out and the new Version V has not been officially released yet. There's a waiting list and it cost several hundred dollars, but you will never ever find a better board.

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss things in more detail. I'm a wealth of information.
 
I don't know much about adding the light-tubing to making a custom saber...honestly, my own is just some cheap aluminum pipes from Home Depot...however, I do have light built into the hilt itself that shows through the top part, which is just a drain pipe that I screwed in after adding an LED wand. I'd think a glow-stick would also work, but I've not tried it yet.
I'm looking to probably upgrade it at some point with brighter LEDs once I can get the building of a light unit down, but it works for what it's got and I always get complements on it.
 
Before ordering anything from Saberforge, read this and this. I'm not going to recommend or advise against going through him, but you should have his feedback available to read before putting your money down. This goes with any sabersmith, actually. Should you decide to buy a custom, rather than build one of your own(and there's nothing wrong with that... saber building is a time and money intensive hobby and there is a learning curve), the FX-Sabers forum has listings, galleries and feedback for most of the reputable sabersmiths out there.

On the other hand, if you really want to build your own, hop on over to the TCSS forums linked above and be ready to read... a lot. The amount of information on building lightsaber hilts is staggering, and the community at that site is very DIY... they will expect you to have done your own fieldwork(aka search feature and going through the tutorials) before you ask questions that already have answers available. That said, it is a fun, if expensive hobby, and you may find yourself addicted.

MTFBWY
 
Scars said everything I was going. I'm not gonna say anything good or bad about saberforge except do your research and come to your own conclusion. You may also want to go to the rebel legions boards and research over there as well

Wink wink
 
Depending on how much you'd like to spend - there are a ton of options out there.

The lightsabers for sale section on fx-sabers is a good place to find a reasonably priced saber with sound. If you want your own design then you could contact one of the reputable sabersmiths on fx or dig in and do the research on TCSS.

Building your own is rewarding, below is a photo of my 1st and I have 2 others I'm currently working on:

DSCF1309.jpg


DSCF1313.jpg


Green P4 LED with a Sith MR soundboard, lighted switch - 2 custom cut shrouds over a TCSS body and runs on 4AAA.
 
If you're interested in something completely custom (vs. putting together stock parts), I can machine custom sabers to your designs/specs. I have a small lathe, not some big CNC thing, so I have some limitations but I'm pretty creative with my techniques and can achieve lots of looks. I've done work for a few people here on the RPF. Here are a few examples of my work.

avalon4.jpg

banshee.jpg

monolith04.jpg


I've only done one with electronics in it...it was several years ago and I simply bought a blade kit and a sound module and crammed them into the hilt. Unfortunately I don't remember where I bought them...though both blades and sound have come a long way since then. As you can see in the pics, the blade is removable...and the pic of the saber ignited is completely unaltered.

apocalypse00.jpg
 
LeEnfantSamedi said:
Dude..that puts my shoddy first(and currently only) saber to shame. *Hangs head* I'm gonna go into Jedi exile now...
Click to expand...

No no no - no exile. Hehe.

Just 2 months worth of work and study plus getting my dremel-fu up enough to create the shrouds, and eventually buying a small drill press and cut-off saw. And re-learning electronics, thank god my Dad taught me how to solder way back when.
 
Yes, you did actually. I still love the thing!!!! Seriously, I've owned a LOT of sabers in my day and yours is as great at some of the top quality ones I've received :)
 
Sorry, I was talking about WAY back when....in the beginning we even had contests to see who could make the best saber from dollar store items :)
 
To Calaeryn: that is some pretty nifty work there. I don't know if this is something you do regularly or not, but you should check out the sites mentioned above. I think you'd be fairly well received by the saber community, and you might learn a few things(especially regarding the electronics part of the hobby).

Don't knock the "stock parts" approach though. Like the electronics, that has come a long way as well( as evidenced here), and can be a great way to get into the hobby. Of course, fully machined is great as well.
 
obiwan2 said:
Yes, you did actually. I still love the thing!!!! Seriously, I've owned a LOT of sabers in my day and yours is as great at some of the top quality ones I've received :)
Click to expand...
I believe you were the one who wanted fins on the emitter? If so, did you ever get that done?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Logermeister
Spinning Inquisitor Lightsaber Build
Replies
6
Views
740
Logermeister
Logermeister
guabe
Legends Dooku Jedi Knight lightsaber
2 3
Replies
44
Views
1,898
Halliwax
Halliwax
13doctorwho
Battle Damaged Anakin Lightsaber
Replies
2
Views
212
13doctorwho
13doctorwho
mikesprops
Help me prove this "Production made" Lightsaber is a lie (LIE PROVED)
2
Replies
20
Views
1,347
thd9791
thd9791
Anakin Starkiller
Sneak Peak at new Rescuer Extreme Lightsaber
2
Replies
32
Views
1,808
Halliwax
Halliwax
Back
Top