Tool of the Jedi Master....Use the Lathe Luke

[jjr2001]

Well I really needed to make one of these. Not about to spend $300 to $$$ for the parts on line, I found the following in my shop:
Aluminum
Brass
Lathe
New tool bit for the lathe:

Lathe Tool Bit used for many operations on my Lightsaber
Universal Insert Lathe Tool bit Holder....Get any angle on that tool bit.

Adam Savage makes a light Saber (found the source drawing on line) See next post for link

I designed mine so I could bore it out and install the electronic parts for sound and light instead of just making it in one
piece for a prop replica. Dimensions should be quite accurate overall.

Ordered a sound board and some switches on the bay and made a set of Cad prints to build from based on online pics and dwgs. (Just a bit over dimensioned!)
Also needed was a 3 watt led. They are supplied on a large aluminum heat sink but I modified it by removing the large heat sink and adding
a (1/4" x 1/4") brass rod and soldered it to the base of the led in place of the aluminum heat sink. Heat shrink to insulate it. My version uses
a 1/2" polycarbonate solid tube for the saber. Not the brightest method but quite simple and direct.

Source for sound board:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lightsaber-...0AAOSwDkVaLGk8

I used a 3 cell AAA flashlight battery holder for the power. (used some E6000 glue to insulate any electrical connections.
One other note not on the prints. I used a mylar sleve to insulate the parts from the shank and also heat shrinked a tube over the board.


So here are the pictures and prints in jpeg format:

[jjr2001]

Link to Adam's build:

Adam Savage Builds A LightSaber

[FEM2008]

Nice!

You might be able to get better brightness in the rod by roughing up the surface. The trick is to have uniform and fine texture (think frosted look). A light baking soda bead blast would probably be prefect, but fine emery cloth would also work fine. The rod ends should be flat and polished as much as possible. I would add a mirror on the far end to reflect back into the rod. It would have to be perpendicular to the rod. Test first on a scrap piece of the rod.

By the way, I have had good results using micromesh pads for polishing plastics. The light pink (I believe it is rated at 12000 grit) works well.