Silverstalker
Active Hunter
So I have a few projects on the go at the moment, I am making big changes to my Fett which I will post an update in my Journal page later on...that said I got the itch to make another saber, if anyone saw my previous one I made from old bits and bobs well this is the same thing again and its loosely based on ANH saber with a few changes, however, this time I have made the whole thing inside and out so this one has a core!. same principals as always with my builds and that is to make everything I can from scratch and not spend a penny on it 
all the parts I used in this build were improvised from other things and I scored a beautiful part from the inside of an old style CRT TV set, and thats what gave me the nudge to build a saber round it....all made with a hacksaw, hand drill and a dozen mini files,,, no glue all bolted together apart from a leaver and to hold the core in...am quite proud of this one :rolleyes
I got a tray full of parts I gathered and cut up some pipe into 3 sections to start with
and this little part from the TV,
I needed a crystal so what I did was cut up some 5mm perspex into 3 sections and and molded them together and cut out the shape of a crystal/
after lots more carving I ended up with a convincing looking part....
I started making a cradle for the crystal out of nylon washers with a gold plated bit of tin I found on an old mobile phone case, I drilled out 2mm holes in the crystal and held it in place with aluminum wire used on bonsai trees...
the chassis was then raised and held in place with tubing from the aerial of a radio...
I used little coax parts here and there to help build it out
the part at the bottom was a 3 ring LED set from an old Hasbro saber
Once I cut out all the other parts and re wired it to work on a standard switch I was left with what will be the back lighting and stick it to the underside of the core...
after about a week of cutting, filling, drilling and going blind I got the core coming together...
then I built up the clamp section so it will hold it all together as well as the switch plate just like on the real Graflex tubes..
I made a switch plate to slide into the clamp, I used the little buttons from an old coded door lock for added effect... ( 'Like' the bubble strip) this one will have a small switch at the bottom to turn the lights on and off..
I used a round head hex bolt and filed off two sides to turn into a cam, so when I rotate it will pull on the side of the clamp forcing it closed, that will then hold the two sections tightly together and the switch plate in place...
some plumbing parts (whats a light saber without pluming parts
) this will make up the emitter end of the saber..
The top switch was part of an old door stop, a brass valve and the end of a pen! held together with and O ring and thread on to the top bolt...
the end cap is part of an old cupboard lock, bit of steel wire and some thin gauge tin plate, the cap its self (not pictured) came from the lid off an ''oregano'' spice bottle (who knew) and was such a perfect fit it needed no modification and make a perfect compression fitting.....
after a lot more of this and that I ended up with a saber, I gave it a real leather handle that is nice and thick and don't look all that bad.....
and here we are at the end......it took about a month to do.
here it next to my fist made saber, that one is hollow with nothing in it...
so that's another project done, I quite liked making that there was a nice flow about how it all went together... its heavy and just feels right when held....
I will be uploading progress on my updated Fett soon along with another costume build I am working on...
Cheers
all the parts I used in this build were improvised from other things and I scored a beautiful part from the inside of an old style CRT TV set, and thats what gave me the nudge to build a saber round it....all made with a hacksaw, hand drill and a dozen mini files,,, no glue all bolted together apart from a leaver and to hold the core in...am quite proud of this one :rolleyes
I got a tray full of parts I gathered and cut up some pipe into 3 sections to start with
and this little part from the TV,
I needed a crystal so what I did was cut up some 5mm perspex into 3 sections and and molded them together and cut out the shape of a crystal/
after lots more carving I ended up with a convincing looking part....
I started making a cradle for the crystal out of nylon washers with a gold plated bit of tin I found on an old mobile phone case, I drilled out 2mm holes in the crystal and held it in place with aluminum wire used on bonsai trees...
the chassis was then raised and held in place with tubing from the aerial of a radio...
I used little coax parts here and there to help build it out
the part at the bottom was a 3 ring LED set from an old Hasbro saber
Once I cut out all the other parts and re wired it to work on a standard switch I was left with what will be the back lighting and stick it to the underside of the core...
after about a week of cutting, filling, drilling and going blind I got the core coming together...
then I built up the clamp section so it will hold it all together as well as the switch plate just like on the real Graflex tubes..
I made a switch plate to slide into the clamp, I used the little buttons from an old coded door lock for added effect... ( 'Like' the bubble strip) this one will have a small switch at the bottom to turn the lights on and off..
I used a round head hex bolt and filed off two sides to turn into a cam, so when I rotate it will pull on the side of the clamp forcing it closed, that will then hold the two sections tightly together and the switch plate in place...
some plumbing parts (whats a light saber without pluming parts
) this will make up the emitter end of the saber..The top switch was part of an old door stop, a brass valve and the end of a pen! held together with and O ring and thread on to the top bolt...
the end cap is part of an old cupboard lock, bit of steel wire and some thin gauge tin plate, the cap its self (not pictured) came from the lid off an ''oregano'' spice bottle
(who knew) and was such a perfect fit it needed no modification and make a perfect compression fitting..... after a lot more of this and that I ended up with a saber, I gave it a real leather handle that is nice and thick and don't look all that bad.....
and here we are at the end......it took about a month to do.
here it next to my fist made saber, that one is hollow with nothing in it...
so that's another project done, I quite liked making that there was a nice flow about how it all went together... its heavy and just feels right when held....
I will be uploading progress on my updated Fett soon along with another costume build I am working on...
Cheers
