Thinking of how to design a Lightstaff.

[Darth Biff]

Greetings everyone,

Sorry I've been so absent these last few weeks; my place of work recently upgraded it's facilities, and being one of the press ganged Lab Monkeys, well, I've been busy. Anyway, I am comtemplating my next project; a Lightstaff.

I'm woking on design drawings right now with a much more artistically inclined friend (an animator in fact), so I'll hopefully be posting some images here in the next couple of months as the idea comes together. Essentially, this Lightstaff is a 48-60 inch long hilt with a medium-short blade (between 24-30 inches). I've been mulling over ideas, and thought I'd set them down here for feedback, if the learned sages of saber smithing felt so inclined as to bless me with some of their wisdom (OK, I'll stop spreading it on so thick ;)).

1) Wood. I already suspect that using wood, especially in a hilt that might conceivably be used to duel with, might be a bad idea. My concern is in building such a long hilt out of metal. Even though aluminium is light, it's still going to weigh about 5 times what a regular-sized hilt would. Also, I kinda like the aesthetic of wood in a staff, even if it's used more for accents. I'm also thinking of trying a composite design; the ends and center sections out of aluminium or another metal (brass or copper most likely) at 12-18 inches each, and 2 staggered sections in between of some high quality hardwood (oak or ash maybe).

2) Sound. I have a couple of US 2.5 cards, and as this is likely going to be a present for someone, I'd like to add sound to it. Where should the speaker mount in something like this? There's a lot of potential empty space in a 4-5 foot long tube, and if I decide to go with rechargable batteries, I would most likely mount them in the bottom end of the hilt. So, where does the speaker go?

3) Balance. Does anyone have any experience with building an extra long hilt? I am concerned about having a reasonable balance to the hilt, primarily with the blade attached. I can adjust the length of blade I decide to use by +/- 6 inches or so once the hilt is assembled, but some insight before I start planning my Cram-Fu would be helpful.

Thanks in advance for your help. Much appreciated.:p

[jjshumpert]

wood would work, ya just have to consider the flex. my waxwood staves will flex up to 20 inches with a strong cross strike

if you do all metal i would say your best bet is to put a coupler on the end of your hilt akin to the double male adapter, that way you can build it just like a regular hilt and have male threads to attach it to the longer section of the staff body. doing this would also allow you to place your speaker just inside of the connector so your "hilt" body would hold it and this would make the "staff" into your resonance chamber. you could also use a quick connect on a long lead and place another speaker in the bottom of the staff with a few cross drills up the staff body. doing this i would imagine make for a very loud, deep, and full sounding saber staff...

my 2 cents :D

[Bianchi]

I've built a light pike/staff once (check the purple blade pics thread in "LED colors/blades"). I'd say using a wooden rod in an aluminum tube works very well. you'll get used to the weight. Use a polycarbonate blade around 32 inches long and remember to screw it well (an overhead "halberd swing" will make it shake, even if it does not hit the ground, so, if possible, use 2 to 4 screws to keep the blade in place).

Hope this helps you :]

[je-rel drood]

if it helps, Gemini Concepts built a Shadow Guard pike that was around the size you're looking at. IIRC, they used metal, and even had a place to put the blade inside the shaft! (those guys...)