First PVC Saber - "Vader Prototype"

[HankPym]

I've been lurking around this site for months and finally have something to show for it so I thought I would share my simplistic little saber with everyone.

If you want to hear the story of my eclectic road I took to get to this point, read below. If not, just skip to the pictures!

For my first saber, I wanted something simple and easy in design, similar to Darth Vader's saber. I used one of my cheap collapsing hasbro sabers as a basis for the design and then I got some PVC, saws, spray paint, and whatever else you need to make one of these things. The first issue I had was with the blade material. You see, I'm pretty frugal, so I didn't want to spend the money on clear PVC online. But to my surprise, I saw this clear-ish PVC pipe at my local Menard's called PEX, I thought it was the perfect blade since it was really cheap. Only problem is this stuff is really weird with the dimensions. The 5 foot piece of PEX I bought was 3/4", but had an internal diameter of 5/8" and outside diameter of 7/8". So the next problem was finding a proper cap for this weird tube, which took a while to find, but I ended up using some 5/8" white furniture caps with a 1/2" steel cap inside of it to act as a reflector. They don't look the best, but they do the job for now! I started out making a component blade (following some wonderful tutorials on this site!) but that didn't work too well after painstakingly bending and soldering about 100 of those buggers together. No matter what sytrofoam I used to wrap the led string, nothing seemed to diffuse right (I was using the super wide strawhat LEDs) unless I did a lot of wraps, but then it wouldn't fit into my 5/8 ID blade! So I eventually gave up and ordered some generic 3w red LEDs along with some 5 degree lenses. They finally arrived today, so I attached the LED to a copper cap and assembled the whole thing together! The blade isn't really bright unless it is pretty dark, and the light seems to dissipate towards the top of the blade (it is 2.5 feet by the way) but I attribute this mostly to the fact that my blade is a bit off center from the LED lens because of my blade stop screws requiring nuts since I drilled the wholes a bit too wide. But that really doesn't show much in pictures.

I'm not a huge fan of how the spray painted PVC looks. This was my first time really spray painting anything, so it is probably user error! I think I'll try doing some sink tube sabers next. I'll eventually move to some of those higher end LEDs (e.g. Rebels) but I had to order 10 of these red 3w LEDs, so I think I'll stick with my cheap alternatives for a while. Well enough ranting, here are some pictures!






May the force be with you!

[Mineral]

Looks great. An alternative or maybe enhancement to spray paint might be shiny aluminum duct tape (thick adhesive backed al foil). It really gives the PVC a good metal look, but it's not super durable.

[FenixFire]

Did you use "silver" paint or metallize paint. I have not worked with it on PVC but on SLA and FDM(3d Printed) parts if it is prepped properly (several thin layers high-build primer sanded baby butt smooth out to 600 grit) I have had good luck simulating plated parts with the metalized chrome, dark chrome, bronze, and copper paints. For aluminum look I usually use the chrome and hit it with a very fine mist of matte clear to dull the shine of the chrome a little.

[Cire Yeldarb]

I like this take on a simplified Vader saber!

[Jay-mo]

As someone who is still perfecting their PVC carving, well done! I can't wait to finish my 2nd PVC hilt, hopefully it will look as nice as yours! I'm still using what I now call the "Test Hilt".. the paint didn't layer quite well, I suspect i didn't wait long enough between layers.

I made my first hilt with a rebel 1-up in Deep red, a 700mA buckpuck and a custom 4-cell AAA pack. I still cannot believe how bright those rebels are- even with my amateur diffusion, my blade can illuminate a room and still shows some decent glow during the day.

Keep up the good work! Definitely one of the best PVC hilt's I've seen!

EDIT: Your paint job looks great, by the way! Im currently working on layering- Black primer, Hammered Iron, Followed by Gold. When I get it right, it looks like a weathered bronze or brass hilt- when I rush between coats, the hammered effect is ruined.

[HankPym]

Looks great. An alternative or maybe enhancement to spray paint might be shiny aluminum duct tape (thick adhesive backed al foil). It really gives the PVC a good metal look, but it's not super durable.

Thanks! I may try that out and see how it looks. I think I may actually have some of that from trying to find a reflector for the tip of the blade.

Did you use "silver" paint or metallize paint. I have not worked with it on PVC but on SLA and FDM(3d Printed) parts if it is prepped properly (several thin layers high-build primer sanded baby butt smooth out to 600 grit) I have had good luck simulating plated parts with the metalized chrome, dark chrome, bronze, and copper paints. For aluminum look I usually use the chrome and hit it with a very fine mist of matte clear to dull the shine of the chrome a little.

The paint I used for the silver part of the hilt was the Rustoleum Metallic line. I think the problem with mine was that I only used up to 220 grit before painting. I had to do multiple coats for it to look smooth, but it still had some minor imperfections which was most likely due to the sanding. I'll try your method next time! I have plenty of PVC left over.

As someone who is still perfecting their PVC carving, well done! I can't wait to finish my 2nd PVC hilt, hopefully it will look as nice as yours! I'm still using what I now call the "Test Hilt".. the paint didn't layer quite well, I suspect i didn't wait long enough between layers.

I made my first hilt with a rebel 1-up in Deep red, a 700mA buckpuck and a custom 4-cell AAA pack. I still cannot believe how bright those rebels are- even with my amateur diffusion, my blade can illuminate a room and still shows some decent glow during the day.

Keep up the good work! Definitely one of the best PVC hilt's I've seen!

EDIT: Your paint job looks great, by the way! Im currently working on layering- Black primer, Hammered Iron, Followed by Gold. When I get it right, it looks like a weathered bronze or brass hilt- when I rush between coats, the hammered effect is ruined.

I wouldn't say I did much carving. Just a miter saw and box is all it took.

I had trouble with layering with my test pieces before painting this hilt. With the spraypaint I used, I did about 2-3 light coats a few minutes apart. Waited an hour or two for a second coat to be applied (per the instructions on the can).

I need a keep a lookout for the current saber you are working on. Post it to the gallery when you are done! I really wanted to try using the hammered looking spray paint on my hilt but I wasn't sure how it would look.

[bigkevin61]

I really wanted to try using the hammered looking spray paint on my hilt but I wasn't sure how it would look.

Like this:
IMG_3121.jpgIMG_3124.jpgIMG_3127.jpg


Rustoleum Hammered. Black, Hammered, Antique Bronze Hammered (the dark grey, and my personal favorite, after the Copper), Silver Hammered, and Copper Hammered.