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Getting ready for TLJ, by building a lightsaber

The Doctor

The Doctor

Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
I know it's only June and TLJ is a long ways off, but I wanted to go to the movie in style and I've always had an itch to own my own lightsaber replica. So, I took the plunge.

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The Graflex, the original lightsaber and just a beautiful thing to look at. This particular Graflex is the Korbanth 2.0 variant, which is built to facilitate adding light and sound while still retaining a very accurate external look to the original prop. Here, it's in the TFA configuration.

Inside, I built an internal chassis to house the tri-led in Blue-Blue-White, sound/led controller, battery and speaker. The main parts are from Shapeways, which has several very nice options for Graflex internals. The crystal chamber is my own creation, cobbled together from hard drive parts and a couple of quartz crystals from the hobby store.

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And the blade, a thick-walled duelling-grade polycarbonate tube, with dual-diffusion to try and emulate the look of a real lightsaber.

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I'm super-happy with how it turned out. Anyone else collecting/building sabers? I'm so very much looking forward to taking it to opening night.
 
I find this great. I enjoy the idea of showcasing the internals of the saber and its functioning. I've been wanting design my own saber, since I'm not 100% sold on the Graflex design and this has inspired me further.

I can never decide which saber I like the most, so my own personal design will be based upon a combination tennis racket handle and katana, with the leather wrapped handle, and Kanan's saber, with the ability to disassemble it.

I've also been looking at Obi-Wan's or Qui-Gon's from TPM, because I have always enjoyed the grip style. So, it's a work in progress.

What are the dimensions?
 
All of these are from Ultrasabers (which I discovered from an ad on this message board):

Only the two at the bottom have been kept, the rest were given as gifts of one kind or another last year.






Both have programmable sound (Obsidian v4) and a LED board (Emerald Driver) that can be changed to any color.

I have a third that is similar to Luke's ROTJ lightsaber (almost identical to the one above) but has their newer "Diamond Controller Board" which does both light and sound as well as gesture recognition, but I have not yet done any real experimenting on that one.
 
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fireproof78 said:
I find this great. I enjoy the idea of showcasing the internals of the saber and its functioning. I've been wanting design my own saber, since I'm not 100% sold on the Graflex design and this has inspired me further.
Click to expand...

I thought about doing something with the modular hilt system from thecustomsabershop.com or building a sink-drain saber but I just had that graflex itch. It’s just a beautiful piece of ingenuity, finding just the right look for an otherworldly lasersword in a box of old cameras.

I also wanted to build/assemble the saber myself and practice my very rusty soldering skills.

I can never decide which saber I like the most, so my own personal design will be based upon a combination tennis racket handle and katana, with the leather wrapped handle, and Kanan's saber, with the ability to disassemble it.

I've also been looking at Obi-Wan's or Qui-Gon's from TPM, because I have always enjoyed the grip style. So, it's a work in progress.

What are the dimensions?
Click to expand...

Well, the hilt itself is just under 11 inches long and about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. The blade is 7/8 inch in diameter and 36 inches long. About two inches of blade are ‘lost’ in the blade holder, making the effective blade more like 33-34 inches long when inserted. By total fluke, the balance is actually really good and I can balance the saber on my finger just above the top of the hilt.

The chassis was a design that I found on Shapeways. It’s a two-piece design, with the central chassis holding the battery, soundboard, wiring and speaker the outer shell is decorative and hides the board, wiring and features an outlet for the recharge port. If you search for Order 66, you’ll find it.
 
One has to presume at this point that collectors of vintage camera accessories have acquired a very particular dislike for Star Wars fans buying up and vandalising all the old Graflex flash tubes...on the other hand it's probably also driven the price up to a ridiculous degree, so I'm sure some of them have profited from it too. ;)
 
Reverend said:
One has to presume at this point that collectors of vintage camera accessories have acquired a very particular dislike for Star Wars fans buying up and vandalising all the old Graflex flash tubes...on the other hand it's probably also driven the price up to a ridiculous degree, so I'm sure some of them have profited from it too. ;)
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It's a very big sore spot. If you go on some vintage photography forums there can be strict rules about asking after Graflex flash tubes for laser sword use.
 
Can't say I blame them since at this point those things are antiques. Lightsaber hobbyists really ought to be going for alternatives like resin casts or 3D printing. If they haven't already, I'm sure some fan would be willing (eager even!) to build some screen accurate parts in Maya and release the file for free.
 
There are plenty of "saber smiths" that make their own lightsaber hilts. Most likely make a Graflex look-a-like, and I think there is a company that make Graflex clamps to resemble the activation box, since that is used on both the Graflex and Luke's ROTJ saber.
 
Jedman67 said:
Aren't there more modern types of handles that are fairly close?
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Yes. That's what this saber is built from.
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/ScratchDent-Graflex-20-Saber-Kit-P1168.aspx

There are also near-perfect replicas of the camera flash itself, without a built-in internal core that is intended to house the electronic guts that make up a lightsaber prop. Since I am, at heart, cheap I jumped at the opportunity to own a Graflex replica for $50 off retail. :lol:

Ithekro said:
There are plenty of "saber smiths" that make their own lightsaber hilts. Most likely make a Graflex look-a-like, and I think there is a company that make Graflex clamps to resemble the activation box, since that is used on both the Graflex and Luke's ROTJ saber.
Click to expand...

There's two that produce these kits en-mass. One is Parks, which originated the kit I used, and the other is Roman's props who make a reproduction of the Graflex camera flash handle, right on down to the logos on the clamp and pommel. This hobby goes crazy-deep and I've just barely scratched the surface.
 
Well, I think that getting a complete DIY hilt and blade kit is worth the money.

Strangely, the wife disagrees with me :D

I actually built my own lightsaber hilt when i was in middle school and really into Star Wars - I used a paper towel roll, aluminum foil, a few D batteries and lots of clear packing tape. I used one of the posters from Jedi Knight as inspiration.
 
Reverend said:
Can't say I blame them since at this point those things are antiques. Lightsaber hobbyists really ought to be going for alternatives like resin casts or 3D printing. If they haven't already, I'm sure some fan would be willing (eager even!) to build some screen accurate parts in Maya and release the file for free.
Click to expand...
No, I don't blame them either. And seeing @The Stig internals, I really want a 3d printer now.
Jedman67 said:
Well, I think that getting a complete DIY hilt and blade kit is worth the money.

Strangely, the wife disagrees with me :D

I actually built my own lightsaber hilt when i was in middle school and really into Star Wars - I used a paper towel roll, aluminum foil, a few D batteries and lots of clear packing tape. I used one of the posters from Jedi Knight as inspiration.
Click to expand...
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My friends and I use to make them from PVC and did the whole fan film saber duel thing, complete with "Duel of the Fates."

I personally want to get some scrap metal pipe, the right diameter, and cut it down, and greeble it.
 
If you don't want or need a sound card, you can get one from one of the saber smiths for like $55 USD that is aluminum with a polycarbonate blade that can be dueled with. Also bright as all get out LEDs. You could even get a random hilt and "Trust the Force" to be something interesting.
 
Ithekro said:
If you don't want or need a sound card, you can get one from one of the saber smiths for like $55 USD that is aluminum with a polycarbonate blade that can be dueled with. Also bright as all get out LEDs. You could even get a random hilt and "Trust the Force" to be something interesting.
Click to expand...
I've consider that as well, and the blade is tempting. Also, a plain hilt would be fine by me, since I plan on wrapping it with a leather or grip.
 
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All mine are from Ultrasabers, which I have seen ads for on this site. I know they are having a sale until the 17th of July that is 10% off. Aside from that I don't know too many of the other sabersmiths, though I get the impression that a few that are more the mass production types have similar prices, while the more custom built places can be ten times as expensive....for quality work.

If nothing else, they will not be plastic hilts, and their blades are resilient if you decide to swing it at stuff or cross blades with someone.

One thing. Nearly all pictures of these sorts of lightsabers look better than they are in person. This is because the light from the blade overexposes even digital images, so they look like the old rotoscoped effect from OT or digital lightsabers from the PT. In person, the blades are a solid color. In one of he pictures I posted, there is one that has a reflection in the glass (as oppose to the mirror), the color in the glass reflection is closest to accurate as to how they really look. That particular color is called Emerald Green and I got it on St. Patrick's Day.
 
I'd like to use some unique designs for sabers.

Weapons from India might fit the bill:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pata_..._1700s_-_Higgins_Armory_Museum_-_DSC05546.JPG

A good design might be a katar dagger with eloborate Pata style handle.

Like Maul's saber, this has two blades, but they are both forward--and the sabers form an Isosceles triangle--with the hilt at the "bottom."

Between the two blades, you see some crackling energy--and one of the uses is to trap other sabers in the hollow space to disarm an opponent.

PS--we need more fans like this: http://up-ship.com/blog/?p=34953
 
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publiusr said:
I'd like to use some unique designs for sabers.

Weapons from India might fit the bill:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pata_..._1700s_-_Higgins_Armory_Museum_-_DSC05546.JPG

A good design might be a katar dagger with eloborate Pata style handle.

Like Maul's saber, this has two blades, but they are both forward--and the sabers form an Isosceles triangle--with the hilt at the "bottom."

Between the two blades, you see some crackling energy--and one of the uses is to trap other sabers in the hollow space to disarm an opponent.
Click to expand...
Sounds like an interesting idea to me.
 
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