New to this.

[Thorgal Pain]

I have recently found myself wanting to build my own lightsaber from scratch. Im planing on machining the hilt, crystal chamber and saber skeleton, but will be buying all the electronics except for the LED part.
I must say that finding this forum was a benediction of the force, until now, i was mostly making mistakes in designing and was trying to figure everything out on my own.
So thank you everyone for sharing all that knowledge.
Im still at the drawing stage but when i do have something to share you guys will be the first to see it.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Welcome to the Forums.

[Miraluka]

Welcome to the forums. Good luck with your design.

[Thorgal Pain]

Quick question, im working on a full interior design, no chassis, all the parts would be in machined compartments to be as close to a true lightsaber would look like from the inside and im starting to worry about weight.
Would the extra weight help balance the saber once the blade is in?
Is weight even an issue?
Finaly, what would be an acceptable weight for a lightsaber?
The lightsaber will mostly be for display but i plan on using it occasionnaly.
Thank you!

[Miraluka]

I can't really tell you what weight is acceptable to you. You'll have to decide that for yourself. As for balance, that depends on the blade you use. If you use a thick wall blade, it might balance better but if this thing is mostly for display, you'll probably want a thin wall blade.

[Thorgal Pain]

Again with yet another question.
Im looking to buy a soldering station, i read it needs to be ESD safe (what ever that means) but what about watts and temperature, what am i looking for?
I need to start practicing so i dont ruin my electronics when im ready to start building. ��

[Jay-gon Jinn]

ESD= Electro Static Discharge...which happens when static builds up in your clothes and you get a shock when you touch someone else, or something metal...the current in one of those arcs is a lot higher than you might think and will destroy electronics. There are topics around the forum already that have suggestions for soldering stations, it's a very common question.

[Thorgal Pain]

TY, i will dig through the forum some more.

[rlobrecht]

Is weight even an issue?


You didn't mention what you are machining your hilt out of. Aluminum is pretty light, and I would think that even a solid aluminum hilt would be "light enough", so once you hollow it out some you will be fine.

[Silver Serpent]

I think you'll find that adding in li-ion batteries will do wonders for the weight of your saber. I have one saber with a pair of 18650s in it, and it's a beast in my hands. When empty, that saber is fairly light.

[Thorgal Pain]

Good to know, and reassuring. The hilt will be made of aluminum and the core too, gonna sculpt the interior to look like a real saber with compartment to hold the electronics and such. But in the mean time i will order hms parts and make a sleeve and shroud to customize it to my likings. Im learning a lot trying to build one from scratch but seeing im not even close to have a design i like i will start with a mhs just to get things going and practice on it.
Thanks for the replies.

[Thorgal Pain]

One more question, is the distance between the blade and the LED assembly important? If so how far from it should it be for best result?


Sorry for double posting, realized i did once the reply was posted. My bad, wont happen again.

[Silver Serpent]

You can push the blade right up against the lens if you like.