Custom Lightsaber Diy

I love Star Wars same as you if you’re looking to make this project. Also making stuff out of scraps.

The lightsabers you can buy directly are pretty expensive nowadays, what used to be a kid's toy is now just collectibles or props. The goal of this is to get people to use their creativity and make best with what they have.

Reminder: this doesn’t have to look perfect, it’s to hold a piece of work you made and be proud of it. Now let’s start making a custom lightsaber! (I have mentioned all measurements in the pdf at the end).

For this project you’ll need some essential and some optional or decorative items which are;

Essential:

1. a 3.5-4 feet pvc pipe
2. a sturdy cardboard roll approximately a foot long
3. an X-Acto knife or box cutter
4. spare cardboard
5. paintbrush
6. black, red and metallic silver paint (now these can be changed with respect to your sabers colour
7. black marker, pencil
8. ruler
9. double sided foam tape and paper tape
10. b-7000 glue (or any long-lasting strong glue) and superglue
11. tape carriers (the plastic or cardboard roll that holds tape on top of it)

Optional: (decorative and can be changed or switched as per the makers wish)

1. varying size small nuts
2. washers
3. small pieces of insulated wire
4. zip ties
5. paper clip
6. faux leather or any material for the grip
7. buttons
8. random pieces of small metallic hardware
9. anything you can find to spare that would look cool on your saber.

Gather your cardboard roll, some extra spare cardboard, a paper, pencil and the X-Acto knife.

Start by drawing a rectangle on a piece of paper, where the length is the circumference of the roll and the width how long you want your shroud to be. Trace a sine graph like curve on the paper. Here my circumference = 10cm so I took the length as 10 and the width as 5 cm.

Now if you want a steeper or more aggressive looking opening, keep more gradient but if you want a shallower or smoother opening make a smoother curve. In the 3rd picture the initially cut curve was too shallow for me so I traced another line steepening the curve which made it more aggressive. Put it onto the opening of the cardboard roll to test how it looks.

Once you’re happy with the result trace one half of the curve onto another rectangle of the same size as you drew this curve free hand and it might not be perfectly symmetrical. Then fold it along its vertical line and cut it out. Now wrap the template around the roll with a little bit of tape with its top end touching the rolls top end.

Trace out the template on the roll with a pencil and cut where you taped it with the X-Acto knife. Don’t throw away the template as it will be used again to cut the same shape from the spare cardboard. Cut out the outline of the curve from the roll with the X-Acto knife and sand the edges down.

Now cut the shape from cardboard leaving a bit of slack on the two horizontal parts to allow it to stick perfectly. Put your glue on the cardboard and stick it in line with the shroud cutout. You can use a bit of superglue to hold its ends while the main glue cures. Sand the top edges of the cardboard to make it more seamless.

Now we’re adding this to raise the height of certain sections so that there’s a feel of depth to our lightsaber so it looks more natural.

Cut out two rectangles of length a little bit more than the circumference and height as per your choice. I cut mine at 10.3 x 4cm and 10.3 x 5 cm.

If you want to make a vent or an outlet for wires (which I did), trace the design on a piece of paper and put it on the larger cardboard strip temporarily with tape. Cut it out using your X-Acto knife.

Paste the cardboard strips with a small equal gap between them to the hilt, with the cutout vent section one being lower than the shorter one.

I used 3 tape carriers of different sizes joined together to make it work for my size, you can also use more or less or just cut it out from cardboard if this doesn’t suit you.

If you’re joining different sized carriers, the biggest or widest part goes on the bottom and tapers upwards.

Try to find tape carriers that are just the right size for your roll. If it’s a little loose cut out some very thin cardboard strips and glue them the roll before attaching the pommel to it. If its a little tight, try warming it a bit with a heat gun so it expands and is easier to insert.

Use a bit more glue than required to secure all ends as this needs to be sturdy.

Now choose a colour that you want the majority of your hilt to be and paint it. I wanted a metallic worn down look so I first painted a base black colour and dry brushed metallic silver on top.

This method is supposed to add silver to the highlights and a dark blackish look in the depths.

My mistake here was that I painted too much of the silver and it started to look bad. I later rectified this by mixing a little of black paint with a large quantity of water so that it looks black but has a water consistency and spreading it all over the painted part. Then I used a tissue to lightly wipe off the excess until I got the desired look. Leave it out to dry.

There is a lot of ways you can emulate grips, you can use electrical tape (which I did my first time making a lightsaber), badminton racquet grip tape, rubber bands glued down or any piece of fabric. I had extra faux leather so I cut out a long strip and wrapped it around the grip section.

I used 1.5 x 120cm of fabric to wrap around the part of roll of circumference of 10 cm and length 14 cm. the wider you make your grip strip the lesser length you will require so you can cut out the fabric accordingly. Cut the starting at a rough 30-degree angle so it’s easier to wrap.

Now to make a clear and precise ending I cut the end at an angle that allowed it to sit perfectly in the end gap. Start by applying a bit of superglue to the fabric and sticking that, then apply your main glue (or contact cement if you have) in small sections and roll the wrap on top of it slightly overlapping the past round and angled upwards.

The ending part is a bit tricky, so I referred to this video which gave me all I needed to know how to wrap a lightsaber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJd_5hCAEWY&list=WL&index=25 .

If you want to go a step further this is a really cool video on how to do a cross pattern on the grip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwa5NKbV6us&list=WL&index=26 .Now I weathered my grip a bit as I was going for a weathered lightsaber look by sanding very lightly and adding small nudges with a black acrylic marker and rubbing or smudging them after a few seconds.

Tip: while wrapping your grip stretch it tightly and keep constant tension so you get a nice and equal finish. It doesn’t need to be perfect but try keeping an equal distance between the rounds.

Start by gathering all the optional extras that you have for accessories. You can use anything around you that you like example: Watch belt loops, nuts, washers, bolts, wires, buttons, zip ties, key rings etc.

If you have lots of small objects keep them in a container safely stored as they can tend to get misplaced.

Wires:

Now I used two different coloured wires, you can use same-coloured ones as well. Cut them approximately the size of the vent that we made earlier. Cut out any internal copper thin wires showing through.

There are many variations for this like making it cross wired, parallel to each other, curved inwards or outwards. Once decided stick the wires inside the vent with glue.

Buttons:

Grab a few random nuts and washers. You can also use shirt buttons or any small circular object. Give a light sand then paint them with different colours if you like or you can keep them as it is if you want a metallic look. I went for a black, red and metallic look. Stuck two of them in the mid-section and one on the emitter shroud.

I stuck a weathered washer on the pommel to give it a functional look. You can also go for a large nut. I gave it a weathered look was the same: sanding then lightly giving a few strokes of black acrylic marker and rubbing it with paper towels.

Activation box:

I used a random metallic rectangular piece I found in my toolbox. Couldn’t identify what its called. You use small cardboard pieces of size around 4.5cm x 1.25 cm stacked on top of each other, painted metallic silver to give it the desired look.

You can also use a watch belt loop as shown in the picture which kind of resembles the box or you can find something that works for you.

Top grip:

I had a few spare zip ties so I cut those into six equal sized pieces a bit shorter than the cardboard section for the top grip. I coloured them black with a marker and stuck them to the cardboard strip stuck earlier with equal distance among them.

To do this I took a strip of paper wrapped it around the cardboard strip, marked its circumference and divided that into six equal parts, marked them onto the strip and stuck the zip ties.

Now we need something inside our pommel so that when we insert the pvc blade it doesn’t fall through (only required if you’re planning on making the blade removable but can still also be done for aesthetic purposes).

I found a random plastic piece that had a hole in its center that fit the roll perfectly so I used that. You can cut out a cardboard piece of the same diameter as the roll with the help of a divider and make a small hole in its center.

(This step is completely optional):

To make a hook so we can hang our lightsaber hilt to our belts, take a paper clip and straighten it as much as you can. Then make a small hook shape at one end and thread the other straight end through the hole we cut in the base earlier. Bend it at the junction and fold it so it doesn’t fall through then glue it down.

Stick the base with the hook facing out at the pommel entrance and paint it black or a colour which suits your lightsaber.

Take your pvc pipe and sand it with a low grit sandpaper (100 grit). Make sure to sand the edges nicely as they can be sharp. Wear glasses and a mask of some sort so none of the particles or dust goes inside you. Then sand it again with a higher grit sandpaper to make sure the paint sticks to the pipe nicely. Wipe it with a wet cloth to ensure all particles are removed.

Now I didn’t but if you have primer, you can also apply that for a better finish. I painted my blade with a red acrylic paint in two to three light coats. If you have a spray paint of the colour you want your blade to be that works wonders.

Leave it to dry for a few hours.

You have two options:

1. either attach the blade permanently (much better for dueling) or
2. make it removable (slides off if swung quickly) which can allow for better display or attaching the hilt to your belt for cosplay.

Lay the blade and the hilt side by side with their bases aligned. Mark 2 points on the blade with a bit of separation, one closer to the bottom and one closer to the top. Take the double sided foam tape and wrap it around the blade at these two points.

The more the difference in diameter of the blade and pipe, more foam tape you’ll need. I got it done with one rotation and a bit of overlap. Check if it fits snugly. If loose add more tape little by little, if tight then cut some off. After both the points are done remove the liner/backing.

Here is where you face the choice removable or non-removable.

1. If non removable then insert the blade exactly like this while rotating till the end so it doesn’t stick too early.
2. If removable then add a few layers of paper tape on top of the double-sided tape tightly so it does fit snugly but can also be removed by rotating and pulling outwards. Remember the width of the tape does get smaller if paper tape is applied tightly so add more paper tape layers accordingly.

You have now finished your lightsaber!

A few points to go through while making your lightsaber:

1. Start with a rough sketch, what details you wanna add, what shroud design you want to make the length of everything etc.
2. Look at a few pictures for inspiration on pinterest or the internet like maybe something similar to a jedi or sith you’re fond of.
3. Try to not do every step the exact same, use your imagination and creativity to personalize your saber.
4. Now the lenght of the hilt and blade depends on what kind you're going for. Example: if you're making a shoto saber like the one yoda or ahsoka have then the lenght of both will be reduced but the ratio of the hilt to the blade (not inlcuding the hilt) should be around 1:3 to 1:4. Mine was 2:5.
5. You can watch a youtube video of this amazing creator @mustardmakes4041 as a sort of a guide as it uses pretty good techniques to make his saber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6-KWvr0TNg&list=WL&index=27

1. Make sure everything is aligned before gluing it. Also press it down hard for a few seconds so it doesn’t slip off before it has completely dried.
2. Check for any inconsistencies in the paint work at the end and rectify those.
3. Put some newspaper down before starting painting as removing acrylic paints from surfaces can be tough.

1. Share your work here and with your friends, and display what you made.
2. This project took me around 6 hours to make distributed along 6 days not including drying time so need not be done in one sitting.
3. If you have any other way of doing a certain step, please share it down below as it helps a lot knowing new techniques or materials you can use for the same idea to me and others viewing this instructable.

1. The other lightsaber in the picture above is actually one i made over 4 years ago with half of the same techniques i used this time, so basically a prototype for a better version. I've given more attention to detail in mark II and it turned out better than i thought and maybe it will for you too.
2. In the pdf below I have given the original rough sketches and the dimensions for everything. Good day and May the Force be with You!