Work in progress - my first PVC saber

[jgunn]

My first saber period, actually. I've lurked around here for a while to learn about the electronics aspects, and drew some basic construction ideas from Jay-Gon's epic PVC thread and others.

The saber is for my nephew for Christmas. I really liked the look of the fluted hilts that TCSS sells, but I hadn't seen anyone do that in PVC. So I can't say its an original idea, but I think it's uncommon at least. If there's interest I can post details on how I did that. Obviously freehanding with a Dremel doesn't cut it. ;)

Internals are a modest 3xAA battery pack, an economy Obi-Wan board, driving a Cree green LED using a transistor and a micropuck.

Here are some shots. The only things left to do are put in a blade retaining screw, and paint. I'm planning a combination of light silver hammertone, dark silver hammertone, and black. Comments welcome.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1013/5180191223_86f92166ae.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1257/5180791150_9766ff8475.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5180191407_db97177a27.jpg

[iamdrake]

I do believe your nephew will be quite happy. I think the paint will really pull it all together.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Nice. :)

I really like the flutes that you did.

How old is your nephew? Just out of curiosity. It doesn't really matter, I'm sure he'll like no matter how old he is. ;)

Can't wait to see it painted.

[equinox13]

looks good. ^_^ can't wait to see it painted. i'm sure he'll love it. ^_^

[RevengeoftheSeth]

I have GOT to know how you did that fluting. Totally jealous.

[jgunn]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. :)

My nephew is 9, and I'm sure he'll love it, but I think I need to shorten the blade a bit. As it is, the saber is probably about as tall as he is!

Let me put together a few pictures to explain how I did the fluting - maybe someone else can learn from my experimentation. I'll post back shortly.

-J

[Knighthammer]

Great, simple design, I love seeing what people come up with using PVC.
I'm going to try one myself one of these days soon.
Can't wait to see how you did the fluting.

[jgunn]

OK, so the short answer to the question of "how did you do the fluting" is... I used a table router.

A better question is... how did I run a smooth PVC tube along a table router, perfectly straight, without slipping and losing a finger. :P Let me 'splain.

I don't have a CNC machine, and I liked the fluted look, so I started thinking about options to reproduce that. To make the flutes look right, they have to be perfectly straight; any deviation really draws the eye and sticks out badly. The original plan was to make a jig that would hold the tube, with a slot in the top that I could run my Dremel with a round cutting bit through, to give me a straight rounded channel. The bottom of the jig had a V-cut to cradle the tube and "dogs" that grabbed the inside ends of the tube; this would solve two problems - keeping the cuts straight, and keeping the tube still. I had issues getting that set up to my satisfaction, the top of my jig was too thick for the relatively short bit shaft to reach the material below. This might still work, in case someone wanted to pursue that if they don't own a router.

Anyway, I turned the idea upside down. I would use a table router, and make a "carrier", more or less like a paper towel roll holder, that grabbed the tubes by the end, with an open bottom where the cutting would happen, and a flat wooden back that could run along the table's fence so it went in a perfectly straight line. Like this:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5182812193_219f53c84a.jpg

You can see, I just used some scrap wood I had kicking around. Nothing fancy. One of the "ears" on the end is intended to be fixed permanently in place, and the other I would move depending on the length of the tube. They are attached with wood screws on the back:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1028/5182812413_e23edc76ac.jpg

There are rubber stoppers crammed in the ends of the tube. This is to give grip when the tube is in the carrier; they squish enough so I can move the ears close together so the opening is a little too small and force the tube with the rubber ends in between. The stoppers came from the hardware department at Home Depot, they are about 1 1/8" which is good for 1" PVC. In this picture I'm doing 1 1/4" PVC so I just wrapped them in duct tape to bulk them up. They gave enough friction to keep the tube in place but not so much that I couldn't turn it with some effort.

On to the router table:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1404/5182812373_3b823be4b3.jpg

What I have here is a strip of wood acting as a fence behind the cutting bit. I used wood because my fence wouldn't move far back enough, so I just took it off the table. The positioning of the fence is really important; the cutting bit needs to run down the exact middle of the tube in order to give you an even cut. So I positioned the fence at half the diameter of the PVC tube (in my case, OD was 1 5/8" so half was 13/16") plus the width of the back of the carrier (3/4"). I tested a cut at this point and it looked okay, but I realized I didn't want the cut to run the full length of the hilt handle, so I added the two red C-clamps as stops; they keep the carrier from going past about a 1-1.5" area at the end of the tube. Leaving the clamps in place means each cut will start and stop in exactly the same place.

Next I decided how many flutes to make. In my case, I did 8, that was easy to lay out, I made 8 evenly-spaced marks around one end of the tube. After running the carrier down the router that first time, it made convenient marks on the "ears" where the cutting bit cut the wood of the carrier - lining up my marks on the PVC with the marks on the carrier means I can predict exactly where the next cut will land. In this pic you can sort of see the marks - they are faint, they're in the closest ear of the carrier and I labeled the one from when I cut the 1" PVC and then the other mark which is for 1 1/4" PVC for the next time I use the carrier:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1423/5182812249_9276be79e7.jpg

At that point, it was just a matter of lining up a mark on the PVC with the cut line on the carrier, and carefully running it down the fence on the routing table. I would rotate the tube to the next mark, and do the next cut.

A few tips:

1) Look at the picture of my routing table - there are three surfaces. The actual table is laminate-covered MDF, and then the aluminum router plate, and then the red plastic cover in the middle. If any of these aren't perfectly flush, the carrier will get snagged as you push it along, and that will result in a bump in your flute cut. I shimmed the aluminum plate up about 1/16" with some washers to smooth mine out.

2) When you put the tube in the carrier, it has to be perfectly flush with the bottom of the carrier or the bit won't reach the tube or it won't reach evenly. Mount the tube and then rest the carrier on the router table (with the router off). Press down on the tube to make sure it's flush against the table.

3) Pressing down gently on the PVC tube with one hand while you're gently pushing the carrier with the other will help ensure that the cut is deep, even, and consistent.

Here is one more shot of a piece of test PVC after I put a quick (uneven, bleh) coat of hammertone paint on it. Not bad...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1038/5182812307_79e83494d3.jpg

Any questions?

-Jeff

[RevengeoftheSeth]

Ah, darn I wish I had a router. But good job on that, in either case.

[jgunn]

Well, you know, I usually look at these projects as opportunities to acquire new tools. :)

Craigslist is my friend...

-J

[Knighthammer]

That is some outstanding ingenuity. Big thumbs up!

[Vazan Maceu]

That fluted PVC section deserves my standing ovation. Very cool!

[RevengeoftheSeth]

Well, you know, I usually look at these projects as opportunities to acquire new tools. :)

Craigslist is my friend...

-J

I'm always looking for new tools ^.^ Found a miter saw for $30 practically brand new a couple weeks ago.

[Knighthammer]

My friend got a nice drill press when he and I got started in this, best of all, he left it at my house, since I'm the only one with a garage =)

[Darth Midian]

My friend got a nice drill press when he and I got started in this, best of all, he left it at my house, since I'm the only one with a garage =)
That's not a bad deal Knighthammer. Jgunn that's awesome, those flutes look great. I actually had the same idea of using a table router, I just don't have one, so I couldn't work it out. I also didn't think of making a jig. That's friggin cool, way to be innovative & taking pvc to the next level. Thank you.

[dgdve]

I love it... and as I see it now... this hobby will NEVER die... super super awesome way to "do what you can, when you can, with what you've got!!"(sry old military saying)... 5 stars bro 5 stars!!

[jgunn]

Wow, thank you all for your comments, I really appreciate it. I just got done building a sled/chassis for the saber and I took some pics. I'll post that too, I'm all about the sharing, so look for that thread...

-Jeff

[RevengeoftheSeth]

Personally, I very much enjoy reading new tutorials from people to get their take on how to do things. I've learned much from people like Master Jay-Gon and Darth Midian when working with PVC. Your additions will prove very useful, as well.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Indeed.

[Caine Drathul]

Nice job, man. It's great to see more and more PVC peeps doing some amazing work these days. I am sure your nephew is going to be the saber rock star of his block!

[Sloda Foade]

Great lateral thinking on the fluting technique, wish I had a router. I tried the same thing running my dremmel (hand held) along a straight edge. It took a few passes to get the flutes the same depth, but I was only doing 3 short flutes.
I like this saber, PVC sabers can be so underrated and this is a great effort for your first attempt.

[FavaSSJ5]

hi, i really like this pvc saber
have some questions here
u used the 1" blade?
what is the size of the pvc u used to hold the blade?
and the size of the others one u used to put up the main pvc?
u used the kit of led that TCSS sells?

Thanks