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

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Which screw are you talking about? The one that holds the blade is a standard 8-32 socket head screw that screws into a threaded insert that is screwed throught the pvc. For that I used a 15/64 bit. The screw that holds on the end caps is also an 8-32, but for that I tapped into the pvc. For that one I used the standard #29 bit that is required for tapping those threads.

[traydemark]

Well what I meant was....when you drill holes into wood, you use a bit smaller than the screw so that the screw can thread itself into the wood. I was wondering if it was the same idea with pvc.

[Novastar]

Trayde... you're thinking about "self-tapping" screws, which are sharp... and generally wouldn't be used in attempting to penetrate aluminum or steel.

You are correct though that in general, with ALL kinds of drilling and tapping/threading... you would want to drill a hole that is slightly smaller than the screw... and then use the correct tap to weave/cut the threads into the material being made ready for a screw.

Yup... the threads can't sit in the middle of the air!!!

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Okay, I see what you're getting at Traydemark. the wood insert that I used for the blade screw is threaded into a slightly smaller hole like you would drill for wood, but the endcap screw is drilled and tapped like a screw hole in metal, using the #29 drill bit and the 8-32 tap size.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

Okay, I believe Barmic asked me about using a white led in one of these:



Here's my new hilt design:


I thought the full coupler at the front of the hilt made it look out of proportion, so I cut off about 1/2 an inch, then put the extra piece on the pommel end. I think that balances out the look a bit better.

[Barmic Rin]

Thanks for the pic Jay.
That should be bright enough to keep a 4yr old happy without burning retinas!

[Jedi-Loreen]

I'm really liking these kid friendly sabers, Jay.

Makes me wish I could afford to build a bunch of them because the Orange County Saber Academy is going to start doing little "Jedi Training Academy" events with some of the local Boys and Girls clubs.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

That sounds like a lot of fun, Loreen! These really aren't that expensive to put together, and are very simple in construction. I built four of them in a matter of a couple hours. The biggest cost factor in them though, is the micropuck driver. At around $10 a piece, the really add up fast!

[Hasid Lafre]

that and you can get pex pipe and use that for blades.

[Jay-gon Jinn]

I made up a couple more:



This is a Lil' Tyrant II, I guess. I was asked if I could use the angle cut on one of them, and found a way to do it.