First build - Custom Saber from scratch.

**Rhianolord** · 12-24-2015, 10:07 AM

Ok, so with the new Star Wars movie coming out and my love of building things, I wanted to build a light saber. So, I asked my industrial design professor if I could build one for my final project in my Advanced Prototyping and Manufacturing class. His answer was a resounding "H*** YES"!!! I'm very new to the saber building scene, but I knew that I wanted to build mine from scratch. At my university, I have access to Bridgeport style mills and a few floor lathes. Ive had enough experience on these machines to feel confident that I could build one. After browsing the web and a few sketches in my sketch book, I honed in on a design/form factor that appealed to me. At this point, I must give an acknowledgement and a shout out to Rob Petkau at Genisiscustomsaber.com, the style/design I went with was inspired by his Corren Horn light saber.

This lightsaber is still under construction.
Currently its it about 90% completion (its functional, but needs a few kinks and finishing touches added.)
I'll post more when I get further along.

(Also, I'm by no means a professional machinist. You may see some setups and tooling methods that are unconventional and not necessarily what should be done. I tried to accomplish this lightsaber with the tools, fixtures and understanding that I have. Just about every step thing I did was done for the first time. I did do practice passes and test piece through out, because I only made one of each piece/component and I was a on tight deadline.)

(Lastly, I'm not an Industrial Design student, im working on my architecture degree and im not good at sketching, so be gentle...)

After buying all the electrical components and the blade, I got to work with the sketching...
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This design is the one I went with.
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After modeling the saber in some 3D software and making some CAD drawings, it was time to get my hands dirty.

My hilt breaks down in to into 6 main pieces... Pommel, Grip, Switch Sleeve, Switch Block, Emitter Sleeve and Emitter.

If you have any questions, let me know and Ill do my best to answer.

**Rhianolord** · 12-24-2015, 10:21 AM

The pommel is made from 316 Stainless Steel. I choose stainless for its weight and anti corrosive characteristics. Its a pain in the A** to machine, but I love a challenge.

It started as a 2" hex bar stock.

Roughing the general profile...
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Boring the inside (lots of cutting fluid)...
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Further boring of inside profile...
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Inside profile mostly finished...
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This end of the outside profile finished...
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**Rhianolord** · 12-24-2015, 10:33 AM

Continuation of the pommel build...

Starting the pommel groove detail...
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Pommel groove and bottom finished...
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After parting the pommel from the hex bar stock, I had to turn the inside of the unfinished (bottom) end of the pommel.
Here the pommel is held in a 3" 3-jaw chuck which is held by a independent 4-jaw chuck. (might not be the best method, but it worked well for what i needed)
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Finished end of the bottom of the pommel.
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**CET** · 12-24-2015, 10:36 AM

Jealous. I have a soldering iron and a dremmel.

**Cire Yeldarb** · 12-24-2015, 10:51 AM

Fascinating to see your process!

**Ty_Bomber** · 12-24-2015, 11:04 AM

Beautiful pieces, and great that you're doing it from scratch!

**Rhianolord** · 12-24-2015, 11:11 AM

Ill post more today, sorry its taking longer than i thought to post this stuff...

**Rhianolord** · 12-24-2015, 12:49 PM

After the pommel was "mostly" done, I had to move on to building the grip. The grip was made from 6061 seamless aluminum tube. Rough stock size was 1.25" ID and 1.5" OD. The inside diameter was governed by the size of the speaker and soundboard. The final outside diameter would be about 1.375", which I found to be the most comfortable grip size.

Squaring up the aluminum tube on the lathe between a 4-jaw ind. chuck and live center using a dial gauge.
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The grip after turning the tube to 1.375" and adding a shoulder on the upper end where the switch sleeve will attach.
Preparing for the knurling...
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Grip after the knurling... (I did a test knurl on some scrap stock before I did the final piece. You can see where the knurl started and wasn't completely engaged, oh well...)
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After parting the grip from the stock and test fitting with the pommel.
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**Rhianolord** · 12-24-2015, 01:18 PM

Here is the mill setup I used the most for this build. Pictured here is a 3-jaw chuck mounted in the spindex which is all mounted in a milling vice. This "spindex" is a milling attachment that allows you to rotate stock 360 degrees about its center at 1 degree increments. Its great when you have mill or drill in round stock. For this part of the build, I needed to drill 6 holes at 60 degree increments around the base of the grip which would be threaded for fasteners to attach the pommel.
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Using 1/8" 3-flute milling bit to mill a flat spot for each hole, this helps to keep the drill bit from wandering off center.
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After milling a flat spot at each hole, using a centering drill to drill pilot holes.
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After threading the holes in the grip and the counter-boring holes in the pommel. (Sorry, I forgot to take photos of me milling the pommel. I got too excited and wanted to finish it.)
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Close up of the pommel and grip attachment. The screws are 6-32x1/4" anodized aluminum socket cap screws, complements of McMastercarr.com
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**Cire Yeldarb** · 12-24-2015, 01:59 PM

I was actually just about to ask based on your last post how you are attaching the pommel to the grip, but you've just answered that!

I really like the color on those screws!