Finngarh
08-29-2012, 02:39 PM
Hello there !
So. I made my first Lightsaber.
The story is quite long (and uninteresting), so hold tight to your seat and read... ;)
At first, I saw the movies, I guess like all of you too, and the idea of being a Jedi was thrilling. Weilding a LightSaber might have even been more thrilling to me as a kid.
And the idea of possessing a saber faded away and came back for many years.
Many years passed and Star Wars: The Old Republic came out. I was thrilled. I played it. And the thought of getting a saber came back to me, and soon became a need.
Of course all three trailers didn't help at all this urge I had. Beautifull animation, music, characters...
Always thought Darth Maul had one of the best fighting style, but had one fault. He had fallen into the dark side. Thus chose easy power.
"There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs." -unkown
So I didn't chose lightning and visual effect... "ce n'est que de la poudre aux yeux" like we say in french. (it's only illusion)
I had a saber in game that looked really cool (I still have it somewhere...). And it was my first idea. Kinda would have looked like this:
7563
The problem was, TCSS didn't have all parts needed, and since I'm not a so good craftsman with metal (my "speciality" is more fabric and leather) I would have had to order on plenty of different sites, and the attach system for the claws didn't appear to me so good. So I couldn't decide myself to go forward.
And one day, I saw the Trailers again, googled Satele Shan, to find some background of who she was and so on. I ended up on this:
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/094/f/9/swtor_satele_shan__s_lightsaber_by_risiavyle-d2s19c3.png
Since then I wanted a saber as close as possible to this one. At least the emiters...
And on that same day, I found this: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Screw-on-LED-blade-holder-style-22-P730.aspx
That was it. The fins were missing, but hey, whatever, I'll sure find a way to attach some to it. "Shouldn't be a too hard work" I thought...
Of course, sometime later I saw something that completely depressed me, but on the same time, motivated me. I saw Sloth version of Satele Shan saber (http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?11704-slothfurnace-s-TOR-Consular-saber&highlight=consular). Damn that was good. Damn I won't be able to achieve something even as close.
Don't care, young padawan, do it as you feel.
So I ordered my pieces. And together with a friend we built them.
I want to thank also Iria and Tim for this threat:
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?8798-Basic-Buck-Puck-Variant-LED-Wiring-with-a-Latching-Illuminated-Switch
As I have the exact same setup on mine (same LED and switch). Really helped me for the wiring.
Lot of fun, until we realised that all screws were in inches, and we forgot to order a couple of screwdrivers... We only had them in metric system. Impossible to screw a couple of them...
So I went on a quest today to buy some inch based screwdrivers. Well guess what. Impossible to find any one who sells them in Switzerland. I would have used the Force. But it was useless. No one had inch based tools...I ended up going to a Harley Davindson shop to get 2 screws screwed. ^^
Inches based mesurement system ? Screw you !
Then had a huge question on voltage. The problem is, rechargeable batteries don't exist in 1.5V. Only 1.2... Tried it, it worked ! Great.
Finally, after driving almost around the whole Léman Lake (Lake of Geneva), I got all part needed !
Here is what it looks like :)
7564
And lit:
7565
Unfortunately TCSS doesn't have purple LED. So Blue would also do it well. I'm sure I'll find some later.
For the engraving symbols on Satele's, first I thought of doing the exact same. But then, it's not mine, it's Satele's.
So I looked for something more personnal, or something I enjoyed more. It might not be at all "Jedi", but I ended up with some maori faces.
7566
One for each handle. One looks mad, angry, and the other more light, his tongue out, almost making fun. And together it makes it even in front of the Force (or does it ?)
7567
For the rest of the saber, I plan to grave a Moon on one, and a Sun on the other (not sure yet whichone on which saber), on the other side from the face. Also with this "maori art" kinda style. Might be mixed up with Native American art (yeah... strange).
The goal is to have the saber fully "tattooed" like Maori warriors.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01629/Maori_1629467c.jpg
And then also ink/color in black the engraved parts. I tried on one with acrylic washes. Works, almost. Not sure of it yet, but why not. The problem with aluminum is that it is already oxydized, and it prevents color to attach to it. So any ink (I have some leather ink) won't stay on it, unlike brass for example (impossible to wash out leather ink on brass).
Also, should I try to polish the engraved parts ? I did it with a Dremel, it's may be only a half milimeter deep (could go deeper). Polished it might look better. But the color won't attach as good.
Time will tell us.
One thing I'm mad at myself is that I didn't specify while ordering to have the holes for the switches lined up together. Fortunately they are not too badly appart one from another. But still. I guess this is something that could have been easily avoided. Too bad ^^
Overall I'm really happy with this thing. I'll surely post future picture for the engraving. And who know maybe some day of the fins on the emiters :)
Finngarh
(said it was gonna be long, sorry !)
(is that on the good place on the forum ?)
So. I made my first Lightsaber.
The story is quite long (and uninteresting), so hold tight to your seat and read... ;)
At first, I saw the movies, I guess like all of you too, and the idea of being a Jedi was thrilling. Weilding a LightSaber might have even been more thrilling to me as a kid.
And the idea of possessing a saber faded away and came back for many years.
Many years passed and Star Wars: The Old Republic came out. I was thrilled. I played it. And the thought of getting a saber came back to me, and soon became a need.
Of course all three trailers didn't help at all this urge I had. Beautifull animation, music, characters...
Always thought Darth Maul had one of the best fighting style, but had one fault. He had fallen into the dark side. Thus chose easy power.
"There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs." -unkown
So I didn't chose lightning and visual effect... "ce n'est que de la poudre aux yeux" like we say in french. (it's only illusion)
I had a saber in game that looked really cool (I still have it somewhere...). And it was my first idea. Kinda would have looked like this:
7563
The problem was, TCSS didn't have all parts needed, and since I'm not a so good craftsman with metal (my "speciality" is more fabric and leather) I would have had to order on plenty of different sites, and the attach system for the claws didn't appear to me so good. So I couldn't decide myself to go forward.
And one day, I saw the Trailers again, googled Satele Shan, to find some background of who she was and so on. I ended up on this:
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/094/f/9/swtor_satele_shan__s_lightsaber_by_risiavyle-d2s19c3.png
Since then I wanted a saber as close as possible to this one. At least the emiters...
And on that same day, I found this: http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Screw-on-LED-blade-holder-style-22-P730.aspx
That was it. The fins were missing, but hey, whatever, I'll sure find a way to attach some to it. "Shouldn't be a too hard work" I thought...
Of course, sometime later I saw something that completely depressed me, but on the same time, motivated me. I saw Sloth version of Satele Shan saber (http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?11704-slothfurnace-s-TOR-Consular-saber&highlight=consular). Damn that was good. Damn I won't be able to achieve something even as close.
Don't care, young padawan, do it as you feel.
So I ordered my pieces. And together with a friend we built them.
I want to thank also Iria and Tim for this threat:
http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?8798-Basic-Buck-Puck-Variant-LED-Wiring-with-a-Latching-Illuminated-Switch
As I have the exact same setup on mine (same LED and switch). Really helped me for the wiring.
Lot of fun, until we realised that all screws were in inches, and we forgot to order a couple of screwdrivers... We only had them in metric system. Impossible to screw a couple of them...
So I went on a quest today to buy some inch based screwdrivers. Well guess what. Impossible to find any one who sells them in Switzerland. I would have used the Force. But it was useless. No one had inch based tools...I ended up going to a Harley Davindson shop to get 2 screws screwed. ^^
Inches based mesurement system ? Screw you !
Then had a huge question on voltage. The problem is, rechargeable batteries don't exist in 1.5V. Only 1.2... Tried it, it worked ! Great.
Finally, after driving almost around the whole Léman Lake (Lake of Geneva), I got all part needed !
Here is what it looks like :)
7564
And lit:
7565
Unfortunately TCSS doesn't have purple LED. So Blue would also do it well. I'm sure I'll find some later.
For the engraving symbols on Satele's, first I thought of doing the exact same. But then, it's not mine, it's Satele's.
So I looked for something more personnal, or something I enjoyed more. It might not be at all "Jedi", but I ended up with some maori faces.
7566
One for each handle. One looks mad, angry, and the other more light, his tongue out, almost making fun. And together it makes it even in front of the Force (or does it ?)
7567
For the rest of the saber, I plan to grave a Moon on one, and a Sun on the other (not sure yet whichone on which saber), on the other side from the face. Also with this "maori art" kinda style. Might be mixed up with Native American art (yeah... strange).
The goal is to have the saber fully "tattooed" like Maori warriors.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01629/Maori_1629467c.jpg
And then also ink/color in black the engraved parts. I tried on one with acrylic washes. Works, almost. Not sure of it yet, but why not. The problem with aluminum is that it is already oxydized, and it prevents color to attach to it. So any ink (I have some leather ink) won't stay on it, unlike brass for example (impossible to wash out leather ink on brass).
Also, should I try to polish the engraved parts ? I did it with a Dremel, it's may be only a half milimeter deep (could go deeper). Polished it might look better. But the color won't attach as good.
Time will tell us.
One thing I'm mad at myself is that I didn't specify while ordering to have the holes for the switches lined up together. Fortunately they are not too badly appart one from another. But still. I guess this is something that could have been easily avoided. Too bad ^^
Overall I'm really happy with this thing. I'll surely post future picture for the engraving. And who know maybe some day of the fins on the emiters :)
Finngarh
(said it was gonna be long, sorry !)
(is that on the good place on the forum ?)