Jay-gon's PVC Hilts - Full tutorial on last page

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I used a plumbing pipe cutter, not a Dremel.

Also, Fenderbender, the paint I used doesn't require priming....just clean the pvc with paint thinner and allow it to dry before painting. That's all the prep that was involved, and i haven't the paint wear off of any of these to badly....and I built these over a year ago.

[FenderBender]

Yeah, I could probably get away with not priming them, but old habits die hard. I always prime everything before I paint.

[Darth Mortis]

thanx

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Here's how I painted these:
I find it works best to hang the hilt from a piece of coat hanger or wire of some sort, like this:






They were just hung from a bungee strap and hooked in the hole for the blade retention bolt insert. I srayed each hilt with one light even coat to start. Allow 5-10 minutes drying time between coats. I applied approximately 5 coats of paint to each hilt, and allowed them to dry for about a day before finisheing the assembly. In this picture here, you can see the brand and type of paint I used:

It features a "hammered finish" when dry. It actually uses a condition called "fisheye" to to achieve the look.

[Darth Mortis]

to quote Borat...."Very nice."

did you have any problems with the layers of paint filling or gunking up the grooves that you set?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

to quote Borat...."Very nice."

did you have any problems with the layers of paint filling or gunking up the grooves that you set?

nope!

[astromech_kuhns]

Actually, I do happen to have a picture:


I find it sometimes helps out when doing something for the first time to have a picture to use as a guide.

so did you use one of the electronic kits for this? and what blade did you use? also is that setup a 1 watt amperage?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

That is a Luxeon I led, a micro puck driver, and a 2-AAA battery holder. That is not a kit from the store, as Tim doesn't sell the Lux I led's. I got the led and the micropuck from ledsupply.com, but you can also order those from luxeonstar.com. The blade I made myself....it was a 24" thin-walled polycarbonate combination film blade that I call Dual-Core Diffusion.

[astromech_kuhns]

so the battery pack i can get at radio shack and the blades i can buy on here im sure so would i need 1" blade if my pvc is 1"? also i can get the switch at radio shack and then could you get the LED and micropucker at radio shack?

[Sairon]

Jay-gonn have you ever considered using aluminium duct tape on the straight sabers. it would give them a nice shine