Who Are You? Why Are You Here? a.k.a: Introductions!

[Sohryu76]

So I started this thread, mainly because I didnt want to clutter up another thread that I started to post it in...
so here it goes... I know alot of you older guys (Red Squadren, Blue Squadren, and even parts of Gold Squadren) all know eachother, and probably know eachother's stories... but how about for the rest of us? the new guys on the block... ok so this is mainly so I can get to know my fellow boardmates... but I'm sure everyone else will find it interesting...

So tell us who you are (real name or whatever name you go by on here) and what brings you this way... what about Star Wars you like... besides maybe lightsabers...
and like Corbin, if your character has a story, share it! I'll have to get back to you guys with my back story for Sohryu (who is one of my Star Wars Galaxies characters, who has transitioned out...)

but here goes:
I'm no where near as huge a Star Wars fan as most people on here seem to be. But I have always loved Jedi and lightsabers...
*prepares to get flamed*
I've always liked the first trilogy, but my favorite parts were the lightsaber scenes and the space/hoth battles...
so when the prequels came out, I was terribly excited, and I must say that I like them even more than the originals. (mostly because Lucas really amped up the lightsaber and space battle time) But I really liked Qui Gon and the young Obi Wan (Eps I, II, & III), I also really like the Clones... reading about them in the novels (Clone Commandos Rock!) has really been interesting. Not to mention the story of the 501st in Battlefront II.
I've also loved many other video games and Star Wars. KOTOR I & II (III where are you?) Jedi Academy I & II, and like i said Battlefront and Star Wars Galaxies... Which is where I became obscessed with Mandalorian Armor... Currently in that game I earned myself a helmet and chest armor... So on top of my lightsaber project I've started here, you guys will also see my custom Mandalorian armor I'm also going to start working on...

Nice to meet everyone!

Sohryu
But since Jedi and lightsabers has always been my favorite things... i think its fitting that I'm here making myself a lightsaber.

[chase]

Well, my name is Chase, I have a "Jedi character", but I'm still working on it constantly. I got into lightsabering from just looking around to find something better than a hasbro but not a FX. I wanted my own custom creation...when I found this place I was in heaven, and still am. I got into Star Wars hardcore just a few years ago but have always dueled with fake lightsabers. The thing I love most about Star Wars is the Expanded Universe. The different characters you don't see in the movies are always the most interesting to me, but I still love the movies (especially Episode I, II, and III). I started reading the books and met some people who costume by going to Dragon Con on a whim last year and that really got me into developing a character/costuming. I've also been working on a comic book/ fan film for the past year. It's pretty rare to find someone who is as into Star Wars as I am where I'm from because I live in a college town where everyone just wants to drink/party.

[ArkaiHalon]

Name is Kevin. I'm just a huge sci fi geek, specifically Star Wars. I've loved sabers since the first moment I saw Luke activate his in Obi Wan's hut.

A small blurb of my charactor story

Arkai Halon
The son of Corellian Jedi Master Aelin Halon, and an unknown Miraluka male.
A descendent of the Halcyon family line, Arkai is blessed with the abilities of Energy Absorb and Alter Mind, able to hold a Lightsaber by its ignited blade, or create very potent illusions in the minds of others. Unfortunately, he also suffers from the limited telekinetic ability attributed to that family, although due to his Miraluka heritage, he does posses stronger skills in this area than any other Halcyon. He also has the gift of Force Sight, but again due to his mixed heritage, not to the same degree as full Miraluka.

[Atomic]

My name is Joel, I live in Chicago and I've been a sci-fi fan for as long as I can remember. I would say that Star Wars (EP4) is my favorite film of all time, but I was extremely disappointed with EP 1-3.

I was in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) for a good few years and did a lot of full contact armored fighting.

As for lightsabers, I had played with the MRs every time I walked into a Sharper Image and consider buying a floor sample Yoda, but they just didn't do anything for me over the initial coolness.

I have a lot of hobbies, but the biggest and favorite is airsoft. (This ties in, really.) I ran two games last year, a Battlefield 2142 scenario and a Zombie night game, both went very well and a few people request more sci-fi, tho current milsim is the majority favorite.

Well, when a Wisconsin field announced that they were having a summer game called: Star Wars, Attack of the Angry Airsofters, I contacted the coordinator, having just bought a Ultra Stunt saber. I got the role of the Sith Lord :) Now my lightsaber end of the hobby has done a 180.

Now I need to practice and be prepared for unscripted dueling with 2 or 3 Jedi and a pair of Shawdow Jedi that I just might be able to turn to the dark side...

Which brings me to TCSS, where I have until June to make a saber I can literally fight for my life with.

[Sohryu76]

unscripted?
i hope you are all professionals...
I've only done three improve fights in my life (all whopping 27 years) and none of them involved any types of weapons... I've done martial arts for nearly 16 years... but recently retired from competition...
i wish you the best of luck with your unscripted dueling.

[Atomic]

Basically it's a hit from shoulders to hips is a kill. We're all friends, so no one is looking to hurt each other. Combat will be fast, but underpowered. We also each get a pistol which is our "force". I can shoot a common soldier with it and eliminate them before they ever get near me. A touch of my lightsaber to a simple solider (who remember, can't shoot me when it's lit) is dead.

What we are going to do is practice, and focus on keeping the blades in the correct defensive positions and attacking the blades. The Jedi/Sith are really more for show than anything. The soldiers we command will be the ones taking and holding objectives. BUt when we do get into duels, we want them to last, and give one side a chance to escape/run away.

If you don't know airsoft, it's like paintball but with smaller "pellets". Hits are all on the honor system. Almost all guns are full automatic. I am much more worried about getting sprayed in the face by a surprised player (happens, which is why we wear protection) than getting bopped with a lightsaber :)

[Sohryu76]

ah well if you know the other combatants (duelists) then you are in a much better spot than i thought... you should have an idea what they can/will do... and yeah I'm familiar with airsoft and paintball... but I hope its fun and exciting!

[eastern57]

Hello, my name is Josh, and I'm a 30 year old Star Wars nut (everyone: "Hi Josh").

Most of my enthusiam leans towards the novels and graphic novels/comic books, but I'm still a fan of everything else SW. I've got a [dedicated] room full of SW books, and action figures (sort of gave up on the action figures after 04). My favorite books are "I, Jedi" and "Hard Contact." But "Darth Bane: Path of Destruction" was very good aslo.

I've been into building lightsabers for about 5 months (before that, I was into airsoft, but gave most of my guns away). I've learned tons about electronics, mechanics, lighting - from reading the forums and trial & error... Not to mention, dented my bank account pretty significantly on parts... but, dang, it sure is worth it!

I'm a teacher, so my natural tendency is to get people to answer questions for themselves - so if I'm rather evasive when addressing questions, just tell me to "focus".

The end.

How rude of me...

It's nice to meet you guys too!

[Klaatu]

Hello all,

Im Jesse. I have been into SW for several years now but got in to it very heavily a few months before EP3. I even stood in line for 8 hours to see EP3 it was there I decided I had to get a Jedi costume. A few years of Collecting with by when a opportunity came about(GENCON Indy) to wear a Jedi costume so I obtained one. I built my first hardware saber as part of the costume and went dressed as my Jedi character, Klaatu.
I had a great time and was stopped too many times to count to take pics with random ppl.

My friends and I will be making some SW fan films and some saber fights so we will be needing sabers to spar with which brings me here. I just ordered my first parts from here this week and cant wait to get started on my next saber.

[fawnheart2000]

Stands up and says "My name is Shannon and I'm addicted to building lightsabers."
I'm an RF tech at Kennedy Space Center and have been making lightsabers since I found Jedi-Loreen's post on Theforce.net. I've been a member of this site since darn near the begining when Tim was first trying to get it put together, but I've mostly been a lurker in the shadows, not at the forefront. I first created an EL lightsaber, but now I only deal with LED sabers, except for a HALO plasma sword that once finished will have EL in it. I also have a jedi costume and a Darth Vader costume that I've jerry-rigged alot of electronics in. It was great meeting everyone.

[grayven]

Hello My name is Mike I'm 37 year old with ADHD.:), I'm a roaming addict. I move from one addiction to another.
For the last few years now I have been addicted to collecting and building lightsabers and other Star Wars collectibles. I like many saw Star Wars when it first appeared at the movies back in the late 70's. I'm a HVAC controls specialist (Tech Geek), and naturally love working in the mechanical and electrical field of my trade.

I also have a good size collection of Macross transformable toys.
I also have just about every type of remote controlled mode of transportation. Which include cars, trucks, plans, helicopters, boats, submarine, tank, and train.
I also like to play video games. I currently have a PS2 with about 100 games and a Wii with only about 10 games.
I have two hyperactive kids and a gone crazy wife.
I also have ADHD.:D
My name is Mike!

[LeMoel]

Hello My name is Shaun, I live in Kamloops,British Columbia, Canada. I grew up playing hockey and football . As a major hobby I took up sword fighting lessons and always just had a huge passion for it. Combined with love for Star Wars I starting viewing this forum and practice by making practice sabers until I feel I am good enough to make one I really like im almost there!

I was shocked when I saw the Master Replica force fx lightsabers and ever since then I wanted to make my own and ended up here.

Making lightsabers are a very fun hobby...:p

[Sethski]

Hi folks - I'm Seth, AKA Sethski to a lot of my friends, 35 years alive in the UK.

Like a lot of people, I got hooked on sabers via the Master Replicas FX route - bought one, was totally bowled over and bought another so I could do a bit of duelling, this led to buying a couple of luxeon conversions/customs as well...

...and then I sold them when short of cash and thinking it was a novelty thing, but I missed them, so I've started again, this time round initially modding FX and EL hilts to LED. Next plan is to make a couple of customs, for which I have a growing shopping list for TCSS stuff when I can next afford to splurge.

I've always loved the Star Wars films (and a lots of sci-fi), especially the look and design of the settings and characters and technology - it really catches my imagination. For me, this eclipses stuff like the not-so-goodness of Jar Jar and cringey portrayal of young love in the prequels; mind you, I still appreciated the "Phantom Edit" and "Attack of the Phantom" re-edits. I'm not sure with the EU stuff, I just find it difficult to find the stuff I like amongst the stuff that I'm so-so about - always open to recommendations tho! And curious to see the upcoming Clone Wars and telly stuff.

I like the fact that there's an established saber building community that's friendly, helpful, creative and cooperative. It's a pleasure to be among you folks!

When I'm not waving my lightsabers about I'm studying animation, having gone "back to school" - my background being in the housing and homelessness, mental health and drug and alcohol fields - rewarding work which I began to find very stressful over time, and probably would have eventually led to me having my own problems in the housing, homelessness, mental health, drug and alcohol fields if I hadn't decided to have a change lol.

Oh - also love my music - getting hooked on stompin Balkan and Gypsy stuff at the mo, which there seems to be plenty of here in dirty London. Yay! :twisted:

[Moordak]

Hey all. I'm from Charleston, WV. Moordak was my medic's name from Galaxies and EQ so I carried it over here as well. I work for what a friend of mine calls "the evil empire". He's referring to the healthcare industry. I'm a CPA and the assistant CFO of a hospital. Perhaps that's why I prefer Sith to Jedi? I've always enjoyed Star Wars and sci-fi in general as well as computers/tech, so this is right up my alley. I remember having a plastic lightsaber when I was a kid and was hooked since.

A friend of mine told me about the Force Fx sabers and I had to get one. Then another and another and... I did some searching around and found this place and found a new hobby. My friends think I'm crazy, but everyone is to some degree. Personally, I would actually like to find someone in my area to duel with, but doubtful that will happen.

Until I found this site, I never knew there was such an extensive community of sabersmiths out there though I should have guessed. Thanks again to all the posters for the tips and advice.

[Klaatu]

Stands up and says "My name is Shannon and I'm addicted to building lightsabers."
I'm an RF tech at Kennedy Space Center and have been making lightsabers since I found Jedi-Loreen's post on Theforce.net. I've been a member of this site since darn near the begining when Tim was first trying to get it put together, but I've mostly been a lurker in the shadows, not at the forefront. I first created an EL lightsaber, but now I only deal with LED sabers, except for a HALO plasma sword that once finished will have EL in it. I also have a jedi costume and a Darth Vader costume that I've jerry-rigged alot of electronics in. It was great meeting everyone.


RF really? I am also in the RF biz. What do you work with. I work with Broadband over wireless equipment. (not wifi)

[DarthFender]

My name is Fender and I like the bad guys in most movies, because "Good is dumb!" To quote Dark Helmet from Space Balls.

I got into this hobby because my nephew wanted a lightup saber. I built an EL saber. And once I "ignited" it, it was all over. My nephew did eventually get a saber. I have a couple of FX's and the remains of that 1st EL saber. But the pride of my collection is my LukeEPV.

Ilike all manner of sci-fi. I am almosy as much as Trek nerd as a Star Wars nerd. But nothing will ever be as cool as a lightsaber.

[Logan Cade]

Hey everyone, my name is Greg and I’m from out of the Chicagoland area. I have always liked Starwars, but what I appreciated most about Lucas’ universe is the battle of Good against Evil…the Jedi vs.the Sith.
As a lifelong student of the Martial Arts, the whole Samurai aspect of the characters really appealed to me. I find the whole Jedi and Sith philosophy and lore fascinating. I can give or take the whole spaceship, Chewbacca, Stormtrooper thing, but 2 Warriors battling with swords and you got my attention. I had quite a few years of Bo training when I was younger and when the Phantom Menace came out and I saw Maul with the double bladed saber, I was hooked all over again.

I’m an Auto Mechanic by trade and find I’m fairly competent at the electronics, designing and machining aspect of being a Sabersmith.
I’ve purchased half a dozen of the MR’s so far for conversions and have just started to delve into the offerings of some of the producers that run these forums. So far it’s been a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to the warmer weather coming so I can start some unobstructed weapons training.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee28/logancade_photos/LS2.jpg

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee28/logancade_photos/LS3.jpg

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee28/logancade_photos/LS1.jpg

[eastern57]

HA! Those are the best pictures! I love the utter chaos that is a sabersmith bench.. although, your's look rather tidy, but no less busy. I think I'll take a picture of mine... maybe not, it's just plain dirty...

[Barmic Rin]

I'm 26, failing to grow a decent beard & addicted to all things starwars.
Mandos, Jedi, Wookiees, the lot.
I can answer most questions concerning a galaxy far, far, away (movies & EU)

I started looking into sabers back before Tim had set up, when we were forced to go to Lightech or Parks. Loreen got me into trying it myself when I read her guides.

Those that have been on here a while would have seen my Tattoos that prove the addiction (and aliitle bit too much ass crack).
My dumb comments can sometimes offend, but I mean no harm in them. Always willing to help out a board member where I can.

I'm Assistant Manager of an electronics store, (so I get afew bits for the hobby there) but am looking to join the police this year.

Barmic Rin is the name of my Character on Galaxies, comprised of the 1st three letters of my names.

[Sohryu76]

I'm 26, failing to grow a decent beard & addicted to all things starwars.
Mandos, Jedi, Wookiees, the lot.
I can answer most questions concerning a galaxy far, far, away (movies & EU)

I started looking into sabers back before Tim had set up, when we were forced to go to Lightech or Parks. Loreen got me into trying it myself when I read her guides.

Those that have been on here a while would have seen my Tattoos that prove the addiction (and aliitle bit too much ass crack).
My dumb comments can sometimes offend, but I mean no harm in them. Always willing to help out a board member where I can.

I'm Assistant Manager of an electronics store, (so I get afew bits for the hobby there) but am looking to join the police this year.

Barmic Rin is the name of my Character on Galaxies, comprised of the 1st three letters of my names.

which galaxy are you on?

[Barmic Rin]

Was on Bloodfin. Been clean nearly 2yrs. NGE killed it for me.
The twenty regular kids duelling with sabers in theed square peed me off.
It's after ANH dammit! Back in the day becoming Jedi was a real badge of honour & respect!
Hopefully KOTOR MMORPG will be as good as Galaxies used to be.

Sorry guys, off topic there.

[jash1]

My name is Jonathan Ash. im 23 years old. I work as a security officer at a lvl 1 psyc hospital. Up till recently ive been on the sidelines watching people make sabers and costumes. I am a star wars nut....ive played star wars galaxies for three years, and i did earn jedi the old fashioned way. I am reallly excited to start doing this. im trying to talk others into it as well. yall have been real nice to me even though im asking tons of questions...

[Drichar Deis]

Hiya, Im a member of the UK chapter of TCSS (Smirks!), 26 Years young, A wife, A 14+1/2 year old daughter (STRESS!), A 10+1/2 year old son (MAJOR STRESS!), And a 5 month old baby boy (AWW CUTE!). Just reading back through this just thought i better quickly explain, the two eldest are through marriage!

I am a veichle recovery operative/breakdown guy.

As everyone was, i was into star wars as a kid, then after settling down with a pot-noodle-family, I took the boy to Celebration Europe and that started my addiction all over again.

Hoping to order my first saber in June.

[Enolmano]

Hello all...
Well, if I start all this from the beginning, I got inte sabers/saberbuilding for about a year ago. It was when I saw the FXs. One problem reamined: I couldn't afford one.
And since I live in sweden the shippping costs are sky-high so I wasn't close to being ablo to afford it. So I started saving, and while I did I started looking into builind on myself.
But I didn't have a clue how to do it. After that I spent like two weeks constantly searching the net. I found a lot of crap. And som good stuff. And then I found TCSS. And I was in heaven:D And that's the way. One MHS so far, and one of my friends got one two.
My MHS is my neverending project, partially beacuse I'm never satisfied and partially because I haven't got that much of money, or tools.

So, that's my saber history.

Other interests in life:
-nature, and outdoor stuff
-Fire arts. Fire breathing, fire eating and some juggling. Looking into builiding a fire-sword.
-Computer and everything Apple do.
-Music: Metal, goth, synth, some reggae and lots of more un-known stuff.

Cookies to the people who read all of this.

[Drichar Deis]

Cookies? what flavour?

[Kant Lavar]

I am an intelligence analyst for the US Army. (Consider the inevitable "military intelligence is an oxymoron" joke said. Also, just so we're clear, any and all "raaagh military is evil/Bush is a stuipid-head/Iraq War is illegal/etc" posts, emails, and PMs will be set upon by my winvincible deadly miniature ninjas of ignoring. :p) I am also a Star Wars geek. I decided that upon my return to the US (being stationed in Kuwait and all) I would put together a Jedi and/or Sith costume. My searches for "custom lightsaber" discovered this place. Hence my presence.

[Angelus Lupus]

Hi, I'm Lupus, my interests are nature, wolves, runes, the esoteric, sci-fi and fantasy, woodworking, Star Trek, medieval history, archery, swords, music of many sorts and unusual/odd bottles.
I'm mainly here for the robes and cool light up weapons that go 'woosh' :)

[Barmic Rin]

I'm mainly here for the robes and cool light up weapons that go 'woosh' :)

And what a lovely robe you have dude! Mine is just plain old brown.

Drich, did we meet at CE? I've probably asked that b4?

Enol, I love the Goth/reggae mix. Could be an interesting look to go for.... LOL!
Seriously, what flavour are those cookies.....

[SpectreT65]

Name's Tom, the handle - well, that's layered.

Back in the BBS days, I was The Silicon Spectre. Over the years, it got shortened to Spectre. I tacked the "t" on, as it is my initial, when a place already had a registered user named "Spectre". My Birthday is 6 May, so throw in the infamous Incom T-65, and I think you see where this is headed...

My Jedi alter ego is a contemporary of Anakin Skywalker's, named Sodus Bey (Stole the name off a road sign during a trip to Buffalo, NY) Sodus had been trained by nearly all the Jedi, but his favorite modern philosopher was Qui-Gon Jinn, and his lightsaber style is, like Dooku's, modeled after fencing and stage sword-fighting (Because that's what I know, of course). He had the great good fortune to be working a courier mission when General Order 66 was executed, so the small group of Clone Troopers he had with him were pretty well doomed. He went to work with the underground on his homeworld of Corellia briefly, before hooking up with the Alliance to Restore the Republic. He managed to avoid any official notice, though his special ops were important in securing allies and materiel for the Rebellion. (Several years of on-and-off campaigning in various incarnations of Star Wars: the Role-Playing Game provide his current bio.)

So that's me...

[Drichar Deis]

[QUOTE=Barmic Rin;80199]

Drich, did we meet at CE? I've probably asked that b4?

QUOTE]

Erm, doubt it, me and the boy where walking round with Plastic double ended sabers, (Hasbro build your own lightsaber) we got there at opening time on the saturday, but by 12/1 he was bored and wanted to go home! GUTTED!

[Jonitus]

I'm Jon. Jonitus here at TCSS and JudgeSabersmith over at FX-Sabers. Owner and operator (along with craftsman, R&D, shipping and receiving, customer service, etc.) of Judge Sabersmith.

I'm a 30-something, so I was around when the first movies came out. Admittedly, I was more of a Star Trek nerd as a child, because there just wasn't as much cool stuff for merchandise for Star Wars.

When the Force FX sabers came out, I really wanted one, but my then (now ex) wife wouldn't let me get one.

After she and I divorced (nasty proceedings...would rather take Darth Traya out on a date), I found TCSS and began dinking around with building a saber here and there. I found that I liked it and was fairly adept at it, so I began to build more and more of them. Pretty soon, I began making some money from the things I built, so I got a business license and went into production full-time (even though it was on evenings and weekends).

By education and profession, I am a Safety and Health professional. I'm the guy who keeps people off the radar of entities like OSHA and EPA. It's thankless, low-paying work, but it pays the bills.

My fiance doesn't share my enthusiasm for my hobbies, so we're never going to be one of those disgustingly cute couples that goes to cons together, but she is supportive of my endeavors and she appreciates the work that goes into the sabers I build.

I have what you would consider a very selective fancy with Star Wars. I like the lightsaber...and that's about it. No costumes, no role-playing, no fan-fiction, no figures or other collectibles. I just want to build awesome sabers.

[CybKnight]

My name is Martin, I am also a saber addict ;)

I am around thirty, work with deliveries of telephone systems, PA and misc electronic supplies for marine vessels. There is a lot of (tcp/)IP technology these days.

I recently started collecting. Being fascinated with Star Wars since I was a child, I always wanted a lightsaber like Luke had. I visited the fx-sabers forum for a while. When I found that MR was going to loose the license, I bought as many as I could afford, while they still where available.

I joined fx-sabers forum (same nick), to discuss with like-minded, and found a world of sabers far more colorful and imaginative than the MR sabers. Ended up buying a Yoda's Obi-Wan rebuild on Ebay. Maybe one day I will make my own custom, but until then I will pick up any nice looking custom saber I find, whenever I can afford to. Still missing a couple MR hilts, but I think my money is better spend on luxeon hilts.

I looked up this forum after seeing a post by Aluke123 @ fx-sabers on a Dooku hilt that looked very excellent. I think I will be regular customer with Tim from now on. I might also participate in a thread or two on the forum.

[Zero Unit]

I feel so young at only 17, almost 18 years...:oops:

Anyways...

Greetings, I'm Raymond.

I am a huge geek and well read in pretty much every major science fiction universe ever created, including Babylon 5, in reference to the title of this thread. Personally, I prefer the more realistic universes, so Star Wars is not as high on my favorites list as other intellectual creations. My favorite is probably the above mentioned, followed by Dune. Including drafting my own unique science fiction universe and storyline(s) (of which I have one currently six years in the making), my other interests include:
-Eastern bloc military
-Airsoft
-Drawing/sketching
-History (specifically late nineteenth and 20th centuries)
-Star Trek
-Music (playing the violin/viola, in particular)
-Steampunk
-Physics.

I joined this forum because, like most of us here, I think lightsabers are uber cool, and because the expertise on this website is and will be useful for a future endeavour of mine, involving a sword with a hollowed out blade with a cutout down the center on both sides for a 3/4" polyC tube to shine through (UV), powered via proto-saber-esque electronics. I currently have one saber project involving an old Hasbro on hold, because I need a smaller battery :oops:.

As for profession...well...suffice to say an "N/A" will have to fill this space:p.

[eastern57]

Steampunk, eh? I'm still looking for [perspective] discriptions for my steampunk sound font, care to HABU?

[Pullo]

Hello
My name is Mike and I live in the the south west of england.
The greatest thing about star wars for me is the fact that not only was I there when the first film came out, (I'm 37) my son now loves the genre as well. I'm not a fan who says that the new films aren't as good as the original trilogy because i think the maul/qui gon/obi wan fight is awesome, revenge of the sith is fantastic while the ewoks suck big time. The greatest thing about the prequel trilogy for me is the fact that as a fan of Star Wars
we got to see what the Jedi were capable of. I got into sabers via a force FX, saw one on the net had to get it, and another, and another...oh and another one as well. I have converted my Luke RTOJ (Thanks to parts from TCSS) and am currently building my own sink tube Lux III. my wife doen't understand, but she does "let me get on with it" My son loves to duel and he can twirl a saber exceprionally well for a seven year old. I am new to the forum and I think it is geat as I don't know anyone else who I can talk to about sabers, that don't think i'm mad I mean.

Cheers

[Zero Unit]

Steampunk, eh? I'm still looking for [perspective] discriptions for my steampunk sound font, care to HABU?

HABU?

*Is not familiar with the acronym.*

[Dark Helmet]

ok, it's about time.....my name is Swan,I was a musician for a while, and i made a nice name for myself ( i opened for godsmack, jet,silver sun pickups,buck cherry, my band was minus-one) the list goes on... but that was a life full of ppl who demaded too much..."YOU NEED TO LOSE 6 POUNDS!" um.... I'm 5'9" 150 lbs....YES 6 LBS OVERWIGHT!!! ok.... im no heroin addict...so i couldn't do that, then, my brother passed away, he was a fire chief.....horrible time for me, but then i realized that there was more to life than just counting success by the ppl i shared a brief moment with, those bands will never remember playing with me..... so i left my band, i just needed to sit there for a while and find myself.....and while looking at a friends saber collection, i wanted my own....thats how i ended up here. this story could have gone on much longer, but i didn't want to spare the details ...btw, my brother is not a "detail"... I just would rather not be typing for days on end about him, he saved a lot of peoples lives, It's just one of thos things that stay on my mind....I have an Ill temper, and i like to joke around and play a lot.....these things don't seem to mix, but here I am, both of 'em.....I have done so many things that a can't believe really happened, it's such a great thing to find so many ppl into what i want to do..... it seems so wonderful the way life can find resolve, i found building sabers in my spare time... good ppl and good fun at the same time...I'm not sure if i ever did find myself, I'll have to keep an eye out, but many of you have made me feel at home, see. i ramble about whats on my mind..... i can't keep a thought in my head for long at all..
thanks prolly a lil too much, but thats who i am and its whats on my mind...
this was the band i left... i wrote so long, the rest i only co-wrote and btw, the best show since i left... bennigans lol........................... i wish mine could be happier, but this is who i am, you asked for it..............
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=8152907&MyToken=e35179ac-a0d8-4df3-8d8c-f80e3bf566d

[eastern57]

It really surprises me at how many ridiculously talented musicians there are here. Seriously, makes me gag at all this sick talent. gag in a good, complimentary way that is....

I was in a band that opened for Quiet Riot... at a USO show in Korea in 2000, not necessarily the most glamorous, but a high point for me.

I'm very impressed with everyone's talents - for music and saber-making.

btw, HABU = Hook A Brother Up... I kind of hoped you knew that, now I 'm embarassed at how corny that sounds...

[DDanDevious]

yo yo yo.

Im all about more introductions.

Im Dangerous Dan Devious... or DDD for short.

Im about to hit the dirty 30 in a month or two.

I love Star Wars so much it probably annoys people.

I win Star Wars trivial pursuit against my friends in a single turn.

Im a musician, 15 years playing the bass, but also play drums guitar, seal head, etc.

I went to school for music production/studio engineering but knocked my girlfriend up, married her and joined the AF.

got divorced (thank god) stayed in the military, got 9 years left till retirement.

met a wonderful woman, got remarried, in our self written vows, she vowed to put up with my bass collection (I have 7 and counting) and my Star Wars obsession.

I coach the Roller Derby team here in Panama City, been at that for a year and a half now so im constantly surrounded by crazy girls.

I love lightsabers, my wife bought me the Mace Windu MR and I decided I wanted to build my own, but just got serious about it about a month ago... my first build is done, doing some refinements at the moment but Im very pleased with the results so far.

I have a crazy sense of humor so if I say something that makes no sense thats just how I roll.

Thats me in a nutshell (man this post was long, sorry hahahahah!)

thanks for having me!!!

DDD

[DARTH KALEL]

What's up guys, my name is Brian, 28 years old, been a SW fan ever since I could walk, also one of the largest superman fans of all time as well. My sith character is still being written but he lives in or around the time of Revan but mainly in the shodows unitll years later. Never really getting involved with the surrounding entanglements. Instead searching for knowledge and power at the rims of the known galaxy. My jedi character is new order a few hundred years after Jacen Solo, decendent of Luke and Mara and greatgrandfather Ben Skywalker, still working on the stories but will post with pictures when all done. I am also working on a expanded story of superman vs the Jedi, involving the sword of destiny. it's turning out pretty good and should be done this summer as a 10 part comic written and drawn by me. I came to TCSS because Tim is great and knowledgeable and people like Do Clo and others really make it easy and fun to get involved in something that will out last all of us!!!!!

[DARTH KALEL]

I have also been studying martial arts and sword play since I was 7 I have competed in over 50 full contact fights with weapons from staffs to single and dual blades and some sai but not much, and over a 20 full contact fights. Because of a bad break in my hand last year was forced to retire. I have studied 3 of the 7 forms quite fully and have added many technics of my own. But I am always learning and searching for knowledge, power. lol.

[eastern57]

DDD - panama city, is that herbie? What do you do?


Kal-el - curious if you have any vids of your skills, they sound very impressive.

[DDanDevious]

DDD - panama city, is that herbie? What do you do?



Herbie?

hmmm, not sure who or what that is (the Volkswagon Bug that has a mind of its own? hehehe)

I am a radio technician in the Air Force... its a livin.

I also wrestle the fabled giant radioactive space squid on my spare time.

hehehe.

DDD

[comingcurse]

...greetings and salutations!

My name is Anthony and I am a 35 y/o father of 2 who is another ridiculously talented musician :P and NYC Paramedic. I recently left my last band Zandelle mainly due to time issues, but we've opened for numerous bands(way too many to list but ex. King Diamond, Children of Bodom, UDO, Saxon etc.), and put out 4 albums - 2 internationally distributed while signed to LMP records and one still awaiting release. But enough of that.

I have been a Star Wars fan since I saw the first film in the theatres as a child, and like most others here, was immediately entranced by the lightsaber. I bought my first saber in 2005 a MR LED Vader after pining for one of the original EL versions I saw in Disney. My next 2 sabers were Parks EL sabers, and I recently bought an Ultra Sabers Wraith stunt(pretty cool - bought it just to practice spins without tearing up my hands).

I have contemplated buying an ALW custom, but have recently decided to complete my Jedi training by constructing my own lightsaber - which is what brings me to TCSS. :D I have almost no experience with wiring, so this ought to be one hell of a good time, and hopefully not too expensive! I am currently reading up on the forums so I can learn as much as possible before I embark on this endeavor. I'll put up pics and post as I go along. If anyone has any advice, I'd be happy to hear from you.

Dark helmet - Sorry to hear about you brother.

Fawnheart - You need to post pics of the Plasma Sword when it's done. I have to see that!

Sohryu - Thx for starting the thread.

I hope to see you all on the boards and maybe meet a few of you in person. May the Force be with you!

[DDanDevious]

you opened for King Diamond? NICE.

GRANDMAAAAAAAA!!!! SHE WAS TALKING TO THEM!!
BUT THERE WAS NOBODY THHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHERRRRRRREEE!!!

good stuff.

welcome.

DDD

[Ghostbat]

Well I'm not in the old guard when it comes to Sabers but I think I'm firmly in the middle guard now having been posting for a bit under a year.

As a Star Wars fan I am firmly old school having seen first seen it when it opened in San Francisco at the age of 6 and running up a total of 25 theater viewings before home video was a common reality and who knows how many times I rented it until I finally had the vast wealth needed to own a copy of it on tape. Growing up in Marin County the movie was woven into everyday life for me, during Junior high and High school I lived within (a long) bike ride of Skywalker ranch. I used to sell spraypaint and tools to the peeps at ILM. Cult of Lucas has been strong in my life.

These days I consider myself much more a fan of the props and costumes than of the franchise itself, Lucas dropped the ball hard when he did the prequels and though the original movie still has a lot of appeal for me I am far from as obsessed as I could once consider myself.

Anyway, I have given my 'intro story' here before when I joined but that's probably buried now so here it is again:

One hot and dusty afternoon at Burning Man In 2006 I was rudely poked awake and commanded to follow... I found clothes that weren't entirely encrusted with playa and followed my friend grumbling and blinking my eyes.

Barely awake I was handed a pair of sabers and told to start recruiting, to my amazement there was a pile of boxes and a bunch of people getting ready for a fight!

In short, I had the time of my life.

So then I find out that it's back in 2007, bigger than before AND the camp would be within spitting distance of my own (well if you were a very very impressive spitter).

I had to prepare! I unpacked my sabers from last year and despaired, no amount of coaxing would get the LEDs to light and the blades rattled in their thread from the beating they had taken the year before. I needed something better.

My eye went to the Hasbro toys sticking out of the bucket where I keep toys that I can whack my friends with... not good enough! I knew there were nicer ones, I had seen them on the intertubes! My search began anew!

Holy crap these things could get expensive!

With time a-wastin' I decided that the ForceFX was my best value for the money what with time being a factor and all my other projects running over budget. It was not considered a great dueling choice but what the hell!

To shorten this part as well... time of my life. I ruined the blade of my Annakin, converted it to Luxeon, and have been buying parts ever since. A move disrupted my projects but I am almostset up again to start drilling and cutting and have a total of 6 Saber projects in the 'laying about in little baggies' stage and my Annakin and several Joe Jedi sabers I haven't pulled apart yet to scare the cats with and keep me sane till I have a workbench again.

[Hasid Lafre]

Ah lets see here my name is Sidney but my friends that are SW nuts like me started calling me sidneyious so that stuck as my sith name.

Iam round abouts the age of 24 or 25 years old, I stopted counting/lost track when my grandmother died. We shared the same birthday of september tenth, first in the family to have the same birthday as my grams. Got a couple of cousins that have the same BDay but there not as close to grams as I was.

But anyway Ive been a SW nut ever since I first saw luke light up his saber in rotj when they around them times) first started to show the movies on tv.

My first saber was a hasbro Vader saber which I kept playing with to make the blade go all the way in the plastic hilt but ding that it would never light up again. meh oh well, set it aside and never really messed with it again. Ive been collecting ST action figures and stuff when they brought them back out again when the SE came out. I really want an atst thou. But could never find one so I gave up my search.

But my first real saber was an mhs and it was a horrible failure so now I sold off some parts and my corbin/mr setup and got my brother's CF 2.5 out of the deal.

So now iam spending many sleepless nights trying to design a saber that I know iam not gonna get as board with as I did with my previous mhs.

But I think I settled on a design but still not sure about it.

My saber designs, costume ideas all are part of a story I have in my head which I would love to get made into a book even if Iam the only one that likes it.

So saber design and costume ideas all must be 98% perfect as I will be a walking story.

I got an story/idea for an assassin that well dont want to ruin that one for ya. its gonna be a short story comic book style but sans the comic book, lol!

I would love to eventually get a machined custom of my own brainchild but Ive tossed away literally a million design ideas for various reasons and it also has to fit with the story so everything is gonna be based on my first real project as the first mhs I did was more or less a joke but got me a strong foothold in what Iam doing.


I came to these parts by way of my brother vortextwist cause he was looking at saber stuff, he found some custom places like randomsaber but didnt like that idea. He found this place cause it was more for what he was looking for when it came to making sabers which IMO is the only place that you can go to make custom sabers of your own accord by buying the parts.

So thats how I got here. Pritty boring huh?

I actually took long enought the site timed me out, LOL.

Edit, I forgot to mention that I would like to do a fanfilm thats long. IMO whats the point of doing a fanfim thats 10 to 30 min when you have to do all the work for the blades anyway, Might as well shoot for a hour or so long fan film. That snot to say the ones Ive seen arnt good but I would like to make a fan film movie.

I know alot of work , trials, and tripulations are ahead of me but its all good in teh hood.

[DARTH KALEL]

Eastern, yes i do still trying to get them on here, I actually have a spar scene with Ray Parks that we did at a comic con in 2005. just trying to figure how to get to my computer lol, i'm a geek but not a computer geek lol. But by the end of the month I will have at least 5 on here of some of the custom forms and some scenes of un scripted fighting.

[eastern57]

I actually have a spar scene with Ray Parks.

Holycrapthatsoundscool... Not to lessen your experience, but I've seen youtube vids of him showing people his moves, and running through some mini choreography - regardless of anyones' skills, it just looks so fun...

now, two professionals? that's a little different.

[Zero Unit]

I coach the Roller Derby team here in Panama City, been at that for a year and a half now so im constantly surrounded by crazy girls.

DDD

Panama City, Florida? That's my hometown. :cool: I miss that place...

[Darth_DevilGuy]

wow this one got one hell of a response.

Ok, I'm andrew, I'm in my mid 20's and work in the tech industry, I live in the SF bay area. I started looking into custom sabers around last christmas when I heard the MR's were going away, after finding a load of absolutely nothing, I somehow ended up here, the final parts for my first MHS which I'm calling "Talon" should be showing up next week, it'll have a 616 board, a corbin driver and lux III LED.

[DDanDevious]

Panama City, Florida? That's my hometown. :cool: I miss that place...

cool! Small world huh? Ive been here for quite a while... 6 years and counting, and I was stationed here in 97-99, went to Korea, went to Italy, then got sent right back! Hahahah...

good times good times. Come back for a visit so we can hang out and talk sabers.

DDD

[eastern57]

I just thought I'd bump this up.. It was interesting and fun. Just a good, wholesome, getting-to-know-you, friendly, chat time.

Can we get a sticky on this one? I would if I could.

[Er Dan Gill]

I'll play, I found TCSS completely by accident.

I used to post alot over at starshipmodeler.com. I've built plastic model kits almost my entire life, everything from a 69 Camaro to a lit 1/350th scale Enterprise( it's two and a half feet long). Well, they had a contest called "The Yellow Contest". Most of the builds were ok, but one kinda stood out too me. A fella over there built a sink tube saber from the designs at The Big Yellow Box, and painted a dowel yellow for the blade. I should never have clicked that link (http://bigyellowbox.tripod.com/):mrgreen:.

I spent a few days deciding on a design and settled on style six(the green one in my sig), granted it was just a hardware saber no EL, LED's or anything. A few months had passed and I started reading the LED saber threads on theforce.net, and "accidentally" found TCSS. So I started reading around here and converted my first sink tube saber, and the rest is history.

Sabers aside, I'm a thirty year old auto glass tech from Colorado. Been doing that for the last seven years. Married for ten years in October, with two younglings.

And ever since I found TCSS, I haven't touched any of my previous hobbies. It's odd, this hobby how it grabs you and holds on. I can't seem to get enough. Granted, it takes me a LONG time to build one saber,because I will rebuild something several times over before I like it. I haven't even finished my second MHS and I'm already planning number three and four, to my wife's dismay:roll:.
Later
Er Dan

[eastern57]

And ever since I found TCSS, I haven't touched any of my previous hobbies....

That's funny, not "haha", but you know... my guitar is collecting dust, the soles on my running shoes are hardening, and my expensive cookware has taken a back seat to papa johns and jimmy johns... but damn...

We're junkies, you know... damn you, saber cartels, damn you all to hell...




and thank you...

[Sam Skirata]

My Name is Sam, I'm 14, and not exactly new to the saber-ing scene, but still not that great at it. My inspiration was sparked at Celebration IV when I found a banner saying "The Jedi Assembly" and two people in costumes advertising. One of those people was dressed as Kyle Katarn, with one heck of a convincing replica, the other had made a few lightsabers out of hardware, and I figured I'd try my hand at it. A few bucks and a lot of work later, I had made a very interesting lightsaber that looked an awful like Aurra Sing's, only in chrome, not gold like it was in the comics. My character is a "grey" Jedi who, thanks to his Mandalorian and Jedi heritages, has a harsh but fair sense of justice. I have yet to design a lightsaber that's really.... him and am currently designing it. I make sabers from PVC pipe, Chromed brass, and any materials I can find from the dump, my garage, and junk dealers. Some of my lightsabers are made from vacuum parts, and I have never made a working lightsaber. I would appreciate it if anyone in CA could meet me some time to help me put my saber together, or possibly if someone could give me some diagrams.
Any help would be great, my Email Adress is BasiliskFighter@Yahoo.com .
May the Force be with you. Skirata out.

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

My turn!

My name is Darren. I live in a town in Central Ontario that used to be a nice, quaint little town, but in the last decade or so, has become a rather obnoxious, medium/large sized town.

I've been married for 10 years, and we have a 22 month old son. My little toddle-wan loves to play with his daddy's sabers, but I think I have a problem. I made some PVC kiddie sabers recently, and he seems to always go for the one with the red blade. As a Jedi, I don't know if I like the idea of my son going over to the dark side!

Like Sam, I started making sabers out of vacuum cleaner pipes, and other things I could scrounge. I also frequent the scrap yard for parts. I work for a charity thrift shop, so I get to pick through the junk that people drop off. It's amazing the stuff I've found! I'm still waiting for someone to donate a Graflex flash gun, but I'm not holding my breath.

Last summer, I found The Big Yellow Box, and was amazed. I wonder if this guy knows how many people he has inspired. Seeing these creations pushed me to kick it up a notch, and I made a couple of nice looking sabers. I even made a working one with the head from a 21 LED flashlight as an emitter.

Then one day, someone who was selling a saber on Ebay directed me here, and things have never been the same. I'm completely addicted. Like others have said, all my other hobbies got put on the shelf. I used to build model cars, but I haven't touched one in months. Since last August, I built one MHS saber, then tore it apart and rebuilt it, I built one custom brass saber, four PVC sabers, and I'm currently working on a steampunk saber. Count them, that's seven sabers! Somebody help me!

Anyway, that's my life in a nutshell. If I hadn't written so much, I'd tell you about the Gnome thing, but that's a story for another day.

[Sithblade]

Hi all

My name's Neil, I live near Preston in the UK. Been a SW fan since I was 5 years old and saw the first movie. About 5 years ago I started to see the Master Replica sabers on the net and badly wanted one but thought they were a bit expensive. When I came across the later ones (Vader, Luke ANH etc) going for £40 online a few months ago that was it...I had to have one. No, make that two. Actually make that four! I ended up buying the Vader, Yoda (had to go back as it popped an LED) and then the Luke ANH. I tried to talk myself out of buying the double-maul for about one month until I could resist no longer and picked up one of those too. I love the double-maul for the sheer scale of it, the vader for the weight of it and the Luke for the bright blade.

I'm now building my first DIY saber, it's a sith saber made from sinktube, uncured carbon fibre sheet, aluminium. I'm using a green K2 in it, the hilt is almost finished now and I have a CF v4.0 arriving later this week. 8)8):mrgreen:

Away from SW/sabers I like to play my guitar and ride my motorbike.

[thornwolf]

Hi everyone,

My name’s Karl and I grew up in Philadelphia Pa and I’m 27. I work for a pharmaceutical company in PA dealing with Cancer Research. Before that I majored in Biology, and I did a year and a half at medical school before deciding to switch focus to research.

One of my first memories is wanting the old plastic lightsabers that were released in Toys R’ Us for ROTJ. By the time my parents took me to get one they were all out. Thus at age 3, I became determined to get a lightsaber. As a result my wife picked me up the Vader ESB back saber as a b-day present a few years ago and for a while that was it. Now that we have settled and have a townhouse I recently began to devote more time to my sabers, picking up 4 more MR sabers. In March I discovered this site and began to work on my own. Now a few months later, I have mine, and my wife has hers and I have begun work on a third. Currently we are working on costumes to put together a few short vignettes by the fall as I have a nice program to add blaster effects and rotoscoped blades. This is really fun as a hobby because I have never worked with metals or any electrical components before so I am learning as I go.

Besides Sabers, My wife and I have started to take Iaido to learn how to swordfight better. We also play paintball and we go to Renaissance Faires in costume. I have 4 replica swords from the Lord of the Rings movies, and I had Aragorn’s Outfit costume made for me out of leather complete with his signature coat. She dresses as a Valkyrie complete with armor. When I get the time, I also play world of warcraft and warhammer 40k. I also play Hockey, both roller and on ice, and am a huge Flyers Fan.

[Leigh]

Hello, My name is Leigh, I'm 34 & I'm currently a sheet metal fabricator which includes TIG, MIG welder & machinist.
prior to this job I was a classic car restorer for 14 years.
I'm a big SW fan & have been since about 6years old, I got hooked on sabers via MR's FX & I have a Luke ESB FX, a Maul FX, an Ani FX (in bits), A Graflex replica (chromed) & a MR Ani LE.
I also collect vintage SW toys & have a reasonable collection including things like the cardbourd DeathStar, Imperial Shuttle, AT-AT etc.
I love all the SW films & watch at least one a week sometimes all six their a great form of escapism although watching them so much & being tired all the time I quite often fall asleep & miss the film.

Heres some pics of my toys:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/LJH74/Mine0026.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/LJH74/Mine0022.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/LJH74/Mine0020.jpg

[Darth Leximus]

Hello sabersmiths!

My name is Nate and I live in Chicago. I've been married for almost 3 years and I have a crazy 6 year old daughter who is already planning her Mini-Vader halloween costume.

I'm fairly new to the saber building game, but I think I've been a quick study. I found TCSS in March of this year and since then I've built 2 MHS LED sabers one red Lux III for me and one white P4 with lee filters to make purple for my wife. I'm gonna begin construction on a set of twin sith sabers probably in the next week or so and I before halloween I have to build a Yoda sized sith saber for my lil Mini-Vader.

I also design and write video games with a few friends of mine and we are in good shape to have our first title released within the year, so keep and eye out for Spec Ops Games!