First Complete Lightsaber

[Big_Furry_Oaf]

Sorry if this seems like a repost but it now has a modified appearance, enhanced electronics and is no longer what I would consider a "stunt." Anyway...

"Yggdrasil"

As the title suggests, this is my first lightsaber. It was intended to be a static, empty hilt that would only be used for display along with my copy of the Jedi Path book. After I got it, though, I got the bug and wanted more.
This saber was made to resemble a more European style hilt since I'm a big, European style guy. It was originally intended to resemble a tree, with a green blade to represent the leaves, the long choke the branches and trunk and the pommel represents the roots. I also had a string of 9 beads to represent the 9 worlds of Norse myth, hence the "Yggdrasil" but I eventually made those removable and moved a bit away from that idea. I settled on the name since... well, I needed a name.
On a practical level, it fits my grip almost perfectly and the pommel is ideal for pommel strikes, which was prevalent in European swordplay.

It has a Luxeon Rebel Star LED, Obi-Wan Economy Soundboard and chargeport.

PICS:

I call these the "Rats Nest" pics. The wires have heatshrink but I had to use electrical tape on a few of them.

And a quick pic of my holocron if anyone cares:

Parts:
1" Hilt safety plug (Clear)
Luxeon Rebel Star (Green)
Screw on LED blade holder style 18
8-32 x 1/2" thumb screw w/ drill and tap hole
Tip42 transistor
TrustFire Protected 3.6V 880mAh 16340 Lithium Battery
Hasbro Obi-Wan 2010 Economy soundboard
MHS choke style 3 Long
2 of the Trim Ring 3 (Bare metal)
3 inch Double female threaded connector
SPDT Momentary switch with red button
Machined button for Covertec clip
MHS choke style 1 short
2.1mm Power Jack
Hasbro Obi-Wan 2010 Economy Speaker
MPS Pommel style 4

Internal view

Besides chokes, I only had 2" of space to work with. I think the 2 trim rings may have added an extra .5" but I didn't get those until after I'd plotted and wired everything out.
I'm very happy with it. I couldn't have done it without the help of the community, namely Tahm, Azmaria Dei and Invisas1979.
I'll try to post a video soon. I barely have a functional still photo camera, let alone a video camera.

[Sunrider]

The top pic is so sweet. Wittow lightsaba tucked in for bed.

Nice job on your first saber.

[Hasid Lafre]

deffinatly an origional and sleak design.

[Big_Furry_Oaf]

The top pic is so sweet. Wittow lightsaba tucked in for bed.

Nice job on your first saber.

Thank you. And that's actually kind of what I was going for.
I had the idea for a box and searched around for some jedi symbols. I eventually ran into a pattern that's on the outside of the Jedi Temple in Episode 3, seen when Obi-Wan and Yoda are cutting through a bunch of Stormtroopers. I put a variation of that design on the outside, a Celtic knotwork design around the outside of the lid, a Norse Runestone design on the inside (with Aurebesh writing inside like runes), the Jedi Order symbol and a symbol for Jedi Master on the lid.
The interior "bed" is supposed to be this kind of cloth:

This is from the Republic comic series, where Mace Windu and Eeth Koth exchange sabers. I imagine you'd use the cloth to wrap it up when you gift or transport the saber, then keep it folded and used as padding when that saber is in storage. I don't want to cover the hilt entirely, so I thought I'd make it look like it's a little bed with the saber tucked in. What doesn't show up in this pic is an illuminated portion for the emitter to rest on. It is clear acrylic illuminated with 1 blue led and 1 UV led, rigged with a latching switch and 9v battery supply.
Here is a crappy vid where you can see the box, as well as my incomplete saber (you can hear the saber a bit, too)

[Rafalema]

Nice saber...

And more pics of the holocron please!

[Big_Furry_Oaf]

I don't have many more pics to post, really. Here's where I found the original template:
http://paperkraft.blogspot.com/2011/...-holocron.html
I did it in a kind of... roundabout way. I'm sure there's an easier way to do it. I don't have access to a color printer, so I printed it in black and white on some transparencies I've had for years. I then colored them with a blue highlighter and taped a sheet of white paper behind them as a diffuser.
I went to Hobby Lobby and found a plastic cube for around $4 and used a 50% off coupon. The papercraft holocron fits almost perfectly inside the cube. To light it up, I used a $2 blue safety light from walmart (they can flash or stay one color and are shaped kind of like a carrot - they're scattered through 3 or 4 different departments). I cut the shaft in half and simply taped it to one of those mini dvd's that comes free with the new lightsaber toys (where I harvested my sound card). The dvd gives it a solid base and helps reflect the light to spread it around a bit.
All i have to do is pop open the top, pull out the light, mash the button twice then sit it back inside the cube and it glows very well. It seems to have a substantial battery life as well.
That's my fiercely low-tech, $5-ish Holocron.

[dgdve]

Great saber rework! and great find on the holocron project!! .. maybe you should post your build in the A->Z build threads