Thread size questions for custom hilt

[brakndawnt]

Hopefully that subject brought the right people here for what I'm going to ask about. I've been wanting to make my own lightsaber and about a year ago I bought all the parts, but in the process of putting it together, I blew the soundboard and batteries with bad wiring. Luckily it was just a toy soundboard, so no real harm done there. But I lowered my self confidence a bit and just bought an ultra saber and will do my modifications to it instead.

Since I was a kid, I've been trying to design what I believe would be my ideal custom lightsaber. But, the more I research for ideas, the more I caught myself becoming more interested with how (according to lore and text descriptions), the parts of a lightsaber actually look like. Well, it dawned on me about a month ago... I don't really care what my lightsaber looks like on the outside. What I really have been wanting is a lightsaber, that when taken apart looks less like a glorified toy and more like what a lightsaber should actually look like. And it still needs to be a fully functioning saber.

So, here's my idea. Given the detail work involved in this endeavor (threading wires through crystal chambers, encapsulating the battery pack to look like diatium cell, camouflaging the soundboard to look like an energy channel, etc), I want to replace the hilt with a clear polycarbonate or acrylic tube to act as the hilt. Then, I'd use a machined sleeve or two to fashion around it to "lightsaber" it up a bit, but that can be removed to display the cutaway innards.

But that's where I need help. I'm not sure where to find a clear tubing of that length, diameter, and thickness that would allow it to remain flush with the rest of the saber. I assume if I have to machine it to be flush, it wouldn't have the crystal clear look, but would be wrought with scuff marks. I understand that acrylic buffs out really nicely and can be flame polished as well, so if machining is needed, I'd prefer that. Likewise, I would need to know the thread code. J-saber had a great topic on how to read these standards, as well as the measurement for the smaller holes, but I need the main connection dimension.

There are other threads on this, but none of the seemed to have the dimension, nor were they able to find it. Someone went to machinist to find out, but then never replied with their findings and that was years ago.

So, my question (yes, there is one in here somewhere), is does anyone know where I can find the kind of clear tube I need, preferably either already the right size, or possibly a place that would do a custom cut for me? And does anyone know the female connection thread size, or would be able to point to to the right place/person to find the answer?

Thanks for all your help, if any. I'm excited to finally be on my way to fulfilling one of my many childhood dreams!

[Silver Serpent]

Acrylic can be rather brittle. It's fine for a show piece, but not so much for a dueling saber. There are a few good plastics manufacturers on the net. Some of them sell polycarbonate and acrylic tubes in sizes you could use. I have no idea how well acrylic would support being threaded.

[brakndawnt]

That I'm not really sure about either. The with all the manufacturers on the net that I've found so far (went like 6 pages into a Google search) is that most of them that sell a workable variety of size tubes (polycarbonate or acrylic, I've been looking into either), only do so in increments of .125" of wall thickness (.25" increments of diameter for those joining in). So, my choices lie with with 1.5" OD x 1.25" or 1" ID. Depends on the hilt that comes in, I haven't measured it yet. But, as I understand, the diameters used in MHS parts are to 0.05" increments, which means I would have to machine it to the right size. Something I have neither the tools or know how to do.

On the other side, I have found only one site that will do the kind of custom cutting that seems to be needed for this, and they require a minimum order of $1000. And I am on a strict budget of $999.99 per single tube.

On the other hand, someone just informed me that thread gauges exist, so when the parts get here, I'll just use one of those and let you guys know the threading standard. Still on the lookout for a site that can provide me with the tubing I'll be needing, if anyone can assist with that.

***Edit***

Just noticed this probably wasn't the best place to put this thread. I could swear I had meant to put it somewhere else. If anyone has a means of moving it to where it would best belong, I'd be grateful.

[Silver Serpent]

As I mentioned in another thread:

The threading for MHS parts are not mentioned anywhere on the forums. They're Tim's trade secret.

If you have access to a knowledgeable machinist, they can measure the threads on your MHS parts and duplicate them. It's not usually an issue if you're only doing it for your own personal saber. You'll get a rather unpleasant reaction from the community if you start duplicating MHS compatible parts for profit (without permission from TCSS)

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

If you are doing a "custom" hilt, the threading could be anything you like. As far as MHS sizes, the only person who you could ask would be Strydur, but since it is proprietary, it is quite possible you might not get a specific answer. And I saw somewhere in the wall of text that you are trying to modify an Ultrasabers hilt, so Strydur wouldn't necessarily know what you have anyway.

[brakndawnt]

Sorry, that might be my misinterpretation. I had made the assumption that where Ultra Sabers and TCSS both say a hilt is "MHS compatible" would indicate that the measurements (at least on thread size) would be the same. Is this not the case? And the only part of the hilt I plan to be custom is the "hilt" part itself, and needs to screw into the pommel and emitter as usual.

As for proprietary information, I honestly had my pretensions that this would be the case. After all, it would kind of hurt their business if and Jo Schmo could go machining and selling hilt parts. And honestly, if I could send in some polycarbonate tube to TCSS and have them cut it right for me, thereby eliminating the risk of handing out the knowledge, I would. But I've got a feeling they don't want to do a billion custom orders from people either.

I'll send a message to Strydur and see if he can't help me out. Thanks!

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Sorry, that might be my misinterpretation. I had made the assumption that where Ultra Sabers and TCSS both say a hilt is "MHS compatible" would indicate that the measurements (at least on thread size) would be the same. Is this not the case? And the only part of the hilt I plan to be custom is the "hilt" part itself, and needs to screw into the pommel and emitter as usual.

As for proprietary information, I honestly had my pretensions that this would be the case. After all, it would kind of hurt their business if and Jo Schmo could go machining and selling hilt parts. And honestly, if I could send in some polycarbonate tube to TCSS and have them cut it right for me, thereby eliminating the risk of handing out the knowledge, I would. But I've got a feeling they don't want to do a billion custom orders from people either.

I'll send a message to Strydur and see if he can't help me out. Thanks!

You are correct that they probably wouldn't want to do a billion custom orders.

You should consider finding something to slide over the MHS "compatible" (and I'm using that term loosely here) and maybe just secure it with several set screws. It would seem to be the "easiest" way for you to kinda get what you are looking for, all you would need are a good set of digital calipers to figure out what you need.