2 New PVC lightsabers, Destiny and Unnamed Jedi

[Sloda Foade]

It has been a while since I built a saber, the last 2 were PVC, a jedi "Padewan" with amber blade for my son, and a sith. These were based on Jay Gon Gin's PVC saber designs, but the sith has a joystick handle with the switch in the original trigger button.
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After several months of illness, I have managed to get back into building and am working on 2 new PVC sabers. One called "Destiny" for my sister and an as yet unnamed Jedi as a stunt saber.

Destiny will have a light blue Cree (I believe) and the unnamed will have a green Cree (I believe) that I have had lying around for several months. Power is from 2x AA batteries with a mini buck puck. Both sabers will not have sound as I can't get a speaker small enough to fit into the PVC pipe which is smaller than that in USA. Also my sis didn't want sound.

So here is the initial build pics of Destiny, I will add those for the unnamed one as I get to it.
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The end of the battery holder screws off. There will be an o ring placed between the cap and the body as it doesn't sit flush due to bad thread moulding. 3x hard drive screws hold the outer sleeve in place, another screw clamps down on the LED housing to hold it in place if the blade is removed. The two holes near the front give accent holes into the side of the blade for more interesting look.

It is now ready for painting, I'll add more info as I proceed. I'll try to remember to add the pics of the electrics this time. Basic colour scheme will be chrome-silver and black.

[Sloda Foade]

Sorry about the double post, but there was no other way to show the rest of the photos.
Destiny is finished - painted and wired. The only thing I still have to do is grind down the tip of the blade and glue it in place, which I'll do tomorrow.
The black paint is a hammerite smoky black, and the chrome silver is a high shine paint for detailing. It will take a day to set properly, but if it doesn't I have some silver hammerite that I can re-spray it with. It won't be as shiny, but it doesn't come off in your hand.
Simple electronics - 3V mini buck puck with 2x AA batteries in single holders wired in series and a micro rocker switch (the same one I used in the Padewan saber). The switch locks into the inner tube, with the two outer sleeves cut wider to allow it to lock in place but be recessed to reduce the chance of an accidental de-activation.
The LED is hot glued into a cut off of blade tube which acts as a blade stop as well as allowing the LED to be held in place by the top screw just in front of the switch.
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These LEDs don't run hot, and the ones I have used so far have run for long times without any heat problems.

So here are the final shots. The one with the blade is without a flash, the other two with flash. You can see the grip grooves made using Jay Gon Gin's pipe cutter technique, and the top has 3 fluted grooves hand cut with a straight edge and a rounded router bit in the dremmel. The battery holders are wrapped in a thin foam sheet, and there is a padded foam insert in the bottom of the screw cap.
The blade is a thick walled 19mm acrylic tube sanded inside and out, with several wraps of clear gift wrapping film inside. If the blade seems dim in the photo, it is probably because I used some well used AA batteries as I don't have any new ones in the house at present.

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I hope you like it, and any comments or constructive criticisms welcome.

[jgunn]

That's some serious PVC work there, big thumbs up. Miles ahead of the stuff I've been doing.

Cheers,
J

[Sloda Foade]

Thanks jgunn, I would rather be building my War Machine MHS saber, http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?10800-SW-other-genres-crossover-sabers/page9&highlight=Sloda+Foade but can't afford it yet so I have to make do with what I have lying in my bits box (which is getting empty as well). My problem is that my imagination is more active than my bank account

[bk_renesis]

Welcome back Sloda, yeah this PVC thing is growing in leaps and bounds have to make me another (destroyed my last one)!!! Hope you get back to full strength soon. Cheers.

[Sloda Foade]

NOOOOooooo! not that really cool red and black one. That was great. What happened?

[RevengeoftheSeth]

Great looking design! Nice work!

[Darth Midian]

My problem is that my imagination is more active than my bank account

I know how that is. That's a great looking saber, good job.

[bk_renesis]

NOOOOooooo! not that really cool red and black one. That was great. What happened?
I needed some pipe for speaker resonance so I chopped it up like a mad man! Then I rebuilt it with a 1.25 sinktube. Then I needed the BH from that for my dark vaapad saber. So I ripped that apart too. I get crazy sometimes but I will rebuild the sink tube sith samurai. One day...

[Sloda Foade]

bk - but wouldn't it have been easier to just go buy another piece of tube? After all the work you put into building it...ah well, maybe the rework will be even better eh?
Darth Midian and ROTSeth, thanks for the positive feedback.

I'm afraid that I had to re-spray the chrome inner tube with silver hammerite paint as the chrome just wouldn't seal properly even after 48 hours. At least the hammerite paint seals so you can handle it without coming off in your hand, but it isn't as shiney as the chrome, more sort of sparkly grey.

I am still fiddling with pieces for the unnamed Jedi stunt saber. About all I know is that it will probably have a green LED. Maybe I'll do some piece placements and post them here, then you can all comment on which combination I should use.

(Later EDIT)

Ok, so here is the basic idea, as listed on the pic, O rings will go on the screw connection in the middle, the section just behind the emitter can be lengthened or shortened to suit (before being built of course). The end cap is a screw end nut with a rounded cap slid over the top of the nut. The idea is to get the rounded cap right up to the flange of the base of the hilt, but be able to unscrew the rounded cap to replace the batteries. The only problem is I would need 2xAA holders in line (which I don't have on hand).

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/RoundScrewHilt.jpg

The other option is just to leave off the rounded cap from the nut and just have the nut showing. This is what I did on Destiny, but screwed into a different connector.

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/BoltScrewHilt.jpg

The last version has just PVC tube inside the sleeve and the end cap, and the end cap has a screw through it into the pipe for retention. This would allow me to use a 2xAA side by side battery pack which I have on hand.

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/RoundHilt.jpg

I want the battery part chunky and heavy to partially balance out the blade, so it can be spun at the thin section of the hilt. Sort of an older power cell from an early age. I want to round off the flat flanges at the connectors at either end of the thick connector at the cell area, and possible cut grooves in the thick connector to replicate the Mara hand grip.

[bk_renesis]

Sloda I did rebuild it as a sinktube... Till I butchered that also!

Back to topic:

I think the first pic looks the best as it is. The pommel reminds me of an obi tpm the way it is separated from the rest of the hilt. Good stuff there, I'll keep a close eye on these builds.

Cheers.

[FavaSSJ5]

Hi Sloda
i add you in the skype, if you can help me in the construct of a pvc saber

thanks

[Sloda Foade]

Hmmm bk, yes I see what you mean. I'll review the tpm Obi and see what I can do for a PVC homage. Watch this space.

Hi Andre, I'd be glad to help, but if we discuss it here instead of on skype, others may also be able to learn something, or might be able to answer other questions. Also I live in Australia so we will have a big time difference.

[FavaSSJ5]

ok \o
i see the pics u put of a basic idea of pvc tubes to make the sabers
http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/RoundScrewHilt.jpg
if is not too much to ask can u show pics of the pieces before being cut, so i can try to find here
like the size of them too which one can put the piece of blade glued with the led?
i tryed to found a pvc tube that fits the blade but i only found the same size or large
this tubes is used for what in the original form?

thanks

[Sloda Foade]

Ok, I'll try to give you the info. The pipes I use are metric so are slightly smaller than in USA, I also have to buy polycarbinate 20mm tube for blades rather than the 1" size they use in USA. this means I have to grind my own tips for the blades

Basically I wander round my local hardware store fitting together water & electrical PVC pipes and connectors until I find a look that I like.

Starting with the end cap it is just a 25mm rounded endcap
Inside this is a 20mm screw plug, this screws into a connector - 20mm screw thread and 25mm clean tube (no threads)
this is glued into a 25mm joiner, with another 20mm screw to 25mm clean connector (all up there are 3 of these on the saber)
This has a 20mm threaded to clean connector, then a piece of 20mm pipe cut to length.
At the end is another 25mm to 20mm threaded connector. this has the threads ground out so the pipe slips inside.
There is a 20mm coupler with the inner shim ground out so it slides over the tube. this may or may not be on the final saber
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and here is the latest pic. I have smoothed the edges of the couplers and started to glue parts together.
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[FavaSSJ5]

wow thanks now i think ti will be easyer to find

and the destiny?
what size of the tube u used?

thanks =D

[Sloda Foade]

Destiny used the same 20mm tube with one threaded 20mm nut and a different connector which had a 20mm clean end instead of 25mm. The rest was 20mm tube and some electrical PVC tube as outer shroud (32mm I think) this then had a lot of dremmelling to get the shapes cut out.

[Sloda Foade]

Well I liked Destiny so much (as did my sister), I decided to make a similar one for myself before finishing off the other saber above. Here are a couple of pics of the unfinished PVC saber called "Leverage". I will do a different colour scheme for this one, maybe do some airbrushing on it to age it. Anyway here are the pics.

Top
http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/Top.jpg

Bottom
http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/bottom.jpg

The ribbed grip is some electrical flexible conduit and the pommel is slightly different, but you can't make an exact duplicate otherwise each saber wouldn't be unique.

I'll post more photos once I have it painted.

[Bothrops]

So Destiny and the similar unnamed one here are 3 layers of elect. conduit? What's the ID of the innermost one, and the OD of the outermost?

[IG-88]

Very nice work Sloda. Is this one also going to sport a blue blade?

[Sloda Foade]

IG-88, I could go blue or green for this one, I haven't decided yet. The blue does look nice though.

Bothrops, it is a combination of plumbing and electrical pipes and one electrical pipe joiner for the switch cover.
Starting from the pommel end, The screw plug and connector are the same plumbing connections as used for destiny (see component pics earlier in the thread). Then instead of using a plumbing connector to join the screw pommel to the main tube, it is inserted into a 27.5mm ID 32mm OD electrical conduit which is the main sleeve of the saber. Inside this is a 20mm flexible electrical conduit for the grip, and at the business end a piece of 23.5mm ID 26.5mm OD plumbing pipe which holds the 20mm (actually about 22mm) polycarbinate blade.
Over the top of the switch area is a 32mm electrical joiner with the inner stop at the centre ground out. The switch is a push fit into the inner plumbing pipe, and the sleeve and switch cover are ground out a little bigger to allow the switch to be inserted. This gives some protection from accidentally activating or deactivating the rocker switch. There will be some hard drive screws and glue used to hold the parts together. Unfortunately I don't have any more covertec buttons to add to this one.
The flexible conduit for the grip is pretty narrow inside. I can only fit AAA battery holders in there.

EDIT

I have finished the design of the new saber called Leverage, and am just about to go out and paint it. I added a plate screwed onto the back of the grip area to add some interest in an otherwise boring area of the hilt. Colour is silver inner tube, switch cover plate, grip top, and pommel sections. Main outer sleeve is black, and the ribbed grip is bronze. Anyway here is the photoshopped colour test. I'll post the finished hilt when it has dried.

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/Colourtest3.jpg

2nd EDIT

Well I have just painted and assembled the hilt (no electrics installed yet) and here are the photos. What I thought was Bronze paint turned out to be aged copper. The grip top is screwed on with 4 small hard drive screws recessed into the plastic. The silver hammereed paint didn't turn out quite right as the can was near the end and seemed to be flatter than before, ah well such is life. I would like to find a nice silver spray that keeps it's luster without staying sticky and coming off in your hand.
I have decided to go with the blue LED for this saber. I still have to make the blade and tip for this saber and once I have done that I'll post the finished photos. That could take a week as it takes a while to sand the blade, grind the tip and put the film inside the blade.

I am happy with the design of this saber, but not the paint. I think I'll have to source some better paint for the next one. What do you think?

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/FinalTop.jpg
http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/FinalBottom.jpg

[Sloda Foade]

Well it has taken me several weeks to get the blade made and the saber finished, but here it is. Photos were taken in moderate daylight with no flash. Hopefully my next saber will be a MHS one with a TCSS sound card... if I am lucky. What do you think?

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[Rafalema]

That looks awesome for a PVC! :cool:

MHS with PC? Sweet!

[bk_renesis]

Another example of Aussie ingenuity!!! Awesome...

[ajc17339]

can you give us the lengthh of the pipe and with

[Sloda Foade]

The Dimensions of the pipes are at the top of the thread. The blade was from 3mm wall 22.45mm OD polycarbonate tubing with old style rolled film inside. The end plug was hand ground from a piece of solid rod 22.45mm diameter with a ridge ground into the bottom to fit into the tube for better adhesion when glued in with clear contact adhesive.

[hopper0500]

bk - but wouldn't it have been easier to just go buy another piece of tube? After all the work you put into building it...ah well, maybe the rework will be even better eh?
Darth Midian and ROTSeth, thanks for the positive feedback.

I'm afraid that I had to re-spray the chrome inner tube with silver hammerite paint as the chrome just wouldn't seal properly even after 48 hours. At least the hammerite paint seals so you can handle it without coming off in your hand, but it isn't as shiney as the chrome, more sort of sparkly grey.

I am still fiddling with pieces for the unnamed Jedi stunt saber. About all I know is that it will probably have a green LED. Maybe I'll do some piece placements and post them here, then you can all comment on which combination I should use.

(Later EDIT)

Ok, so here is the basic idea, as listed on the pic, O rings will go on the screw connection in the middle, the section just behind the emitter can be lengthened or shortened to suit (before being built of course). The end cap is a screw end nut with a rounded cap slid over the top of the nut. The idea is to get the rounded cap right up to the flange of the base of the hilt, but be able to unscrew the rounded cap to replace the batteries. The only problem is I would need 2xAA holders in line (which I don't have on hand).

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/RoundScrewHilt.jpg

The other option is just to leave off the rounded cap from the nut and just have the nut showing. This is what I did on Destiny, but screwed into a different connector.

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/BoltScrewHilt.jpg

The last version has just PVC tube inside the sleeve and the end cap, and the end cap has a screw through it into the pipe for retention. This would allow me to use a 2xAA side by side battery pack which I have on hand.

http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y352/SlodaFoade/Saber%20designs/RoundHilt.jpg

I want the battery part chunky and heavy to partially balance out the blade, so it can be spun at the thin section of the hilt. Sort of an older power cell from an early age. I want to round off the flat flanges at the connectors at either end of the thick connector at the cell area, and possible cut grooves in the thick connector to replicate the Mara hand grip.
well, this is great material, but I don't know pieces when I see them and I would like to request a parts list.
THX!

[Sloda Foade]

Sorry Hopper0500, this was 2 years ago and I didn't keep a parts list. Mostly I just wander around the local hardware store fitting bits and pieces together until I think it looks ok. I never finished these PVC pipe sabres as I moved on to aluminium ones with sound and crystal chambers etc.