How long should it take to make a good saber?

[Ripper]

I made a post on another forum, and I got a repose that made me think. How long it takes to make a good saber? Now I make mine in a day or a week end if I got stuff to do. And yeah mine work as I want it to but, they look nothing like a TCSS saber. I only made me one with two TCSS parts mixed with some PVC pipes and that was the fastest because the cuts were easy and the TCSS parts just screw together. So to make a quality saber like vaders vault, how long should it take and what would the cost be? I guess around 2 to 3 hundred bucks! Is that worth it? But GOD! I want a sound card and TCSS parts, just waiting to hit the lotto first! lol

[Azmaria Dei]

in my limited personal experience... i've been working on my Hoth saber series for 4-5 months i think. i haven't been working on them consistently though, and i only have 1 complete. other times, it's taken me a week or two for a pretty decent saber. it varies a lot, and i'm sure others here will mirror that. ^_^

[jin starkiller]

One of my sabers took me almost a year to complete ...was trying to get a CF but haven't been lucky so I settled on the PC-L ....it has 2 crystal chambers ......internal chasis and 7.4 battery pack......this one was a few first for me

battery pack making
recharge port
internal chasis
2 crystal chambers

It can be found here

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?12818-perserverance

so it varies on the timetable and what you want to put into the saber

[Ripper]

I see, so I may be just rushing the work. I bet I could make a real nice saber if I take my time. Thanks for the info guys.

[Silver Serpent]

Time is kinda dependent on your tools, complexity of the build, your personal skill level, etc. I know it took me about a month to build my last saber. 4+ hours each night, about 3-4 nights each week. The detail work will eat up the majority of your time.

Cost is also difficult to calculate. You can easily spend $200-$500 on parts alone, especially if you're using custom MHS parts, Petit Crouton or Crystal Focus soundboards, etc. Remember that your time spent constructing the saber has a value. I calculate my saber building time similar to what I'm paid at work. Planning time is also included as well.

Not counting extra tools I had to purchase, the cost of parts and my personal labor for my contest saber easily exceeds $1500. I'd never be able to sell it for that price (nor would I want to), but there are excellent sabersmiths out there who make works of art of that value or higher.

The best advice I can offer, is to budget the materials cost. Then take your time to build. Rushing the construction process will either end up costing more from having to redo parts, or the quality will suffer.

Saber builds are like tattoos: Good, Cheap, Fast. Pick any two :)

[Ripper]

Just made my wish list at TCSS. My next thing will be a double bladed saber. I will be on here asking about the sound and so on. I will take my time with this and make it AWESOME. So basicly I'm making two more sabers. I can't wait to just wait for my parts. I will make orders over time. Thanks for all your help.

[Sunrider]

Take your time for a nice saber. The more time into it, the better the saber. ;)

[Loachri MacTalabh]

To Master Sunrider listen. Yeesssssss, hmmm. Been working on my saber for 7 months, have I. Herh herh herh.

[Skottsaber]

Well I got my CF back in December, so it's been over 6 months for me. All I'm waiting for now is my Li-Ions.

[JamoUp]

How long? Are we talking actual build minutes? Planning generally takes me a while. Then I do the assembly and wiring in groups of a few minutes here maybe and hour or two there over a few days. Assuming everything goes as planned. It can take a while.

[FenderBender]

I can say this, since I was used as a comparison: I have had sabers that I've been able to bang out in a couple of days of hard work. Doesn't happen often as I don't like to work that way, but we do have a few models that are repeats/variants/frontline that are fairly quick for me now. Most of my builds take about 7-10 days once I start construction from plan to finished pics etc. Our Starkillers, for just the INSTALL take a day per hilt EACH.

[hebert466]

I started my first back in feb, tossed it together. now I am 1 month in to my second, and taking my time on it (keeping the wires short and not looking like a rats nest).:D

[Crystal Chambers]

I think it's the unforeseen complications that can make a really nice saber take a while. Unless give yourself lots of space and try to keep it simple which can still be nice. Sourcing materials not available in TCSS can take a while too. Most of my sabers take weeks of design and planning to get them just the way I want them, but the bulk of it often over two weekends unless I'm getting really ambitious. In the beginning they took months of headaches and redoing parts. Crystal chamber reveals and utilizing a CF boards are WELL worth the time invested IMO.

[Loachri MacTalabh]

I think it's the unforeseen complications that can make a really nice saber take a while. Unless give yourself lots of space and try to keep it simple which can still be nice. Sourcing materials not available in TCSS can take a while too. Most of my sabers take weeks of design and planning to get them just the way I want them, but the bulk of it often over two weekends unless I'm getting really ambitious. In the beginning they took months of headaches and redoing parts. Crystal chamber reveals and utilizing a CF boards are WELL worth the time invested IMO.

It can also take awhile when you only get $100 a month.

[Umbral Lotus]

I have had to re-buy several pieces for my still not finished first saber, that I've been building for about 30 hours now (spread out over a few months), because I didn't take my time. That one moment you try to take a short cut or rush something, you'll regret it. I've spent about $250 on parts (and replacement parts) so far, not including the sound I took out of my Anakin force fx that i bought for $125 a few years back... Could have stayed at 150 if I didn't rush it...

My next saber that I'm planning isn't overly elaborate, but it's priced around $450 and that's with sound, lighted switches and a few tcss parts...

[Lord Dottore Matto]

I can say this, since I was used as a comparison: I have had sabers that I've been able to bang out in a couple of days of hard work. Doesn't happen often as I don't like to work that way, but we do have a few models that are repeats/variants/frontline that are fairly quick for me now. Most of my builds take about 7-10 days once I start construction from plan to finished pics etc. Our Starkillers, for just the INSTALL take a day per hilt EACH.

For me it is about the same as it is for Fender (for customs anyways). He also asked about costs as well and that can also vary greatly, but I have has projects be as inexpensive as $250 and as expensive as $1000 for parts only.

[brett]

As far as time is concerned I consider working on building a saber something I don't want to end! I take my time, and relish it.

[Ronan]

2 month for my crystal chamber Luke ESB.

Would have been longer to find certain parts, but TCSS community rocks :D

[cardcollector]

It takes me an average of 4-6 weeks to build a saber from start to finish. That is working 1-2 hours each night... you can do the math.

It really depends on how many electronic components you have adn the complexity of the hilt design. Heck, I can bang out a PVC saber in 2 hours. (not including paint drying time) But of course a PVC saber is... a pvc saber.