My good friend  zelandeth and I got an idea from another friend of mine, SPark, that it would be some good geeky fun to make our own lightsaber hilt using found plumbing parts from the local hardware store. The idea evolved as we went, and with Zel being a bit of a lighting nut we ended up fitting some electronics into it and making it a blue LED flashlight as well. We're both very proud of the saber, and it even glows blue when activated!

The general design of the slightly long, two-handed grip comes from my idea for Jedi Knight Rin sel Dronathien's 'longblade' lightsaber which is based on a traditional weapon used by his tribal people, the Argothae. The wider spacing of the grips allows for greater leverage and control over the longer blade, which is roughly a third again as long as traditional Jedi lightsabers. If traditional sabers can be thought to be similar to katanas in terms of size and fighting style, the Argothae longblade is closer to a European greatsword.

Parts used: The basic shell involved a sink drain, a coupling, and an extension below that, all in chrome-plated brass 1 and 1/4 inch pipes. Hose clamps were used to add detail and affix a keychain belt clip. The pommel cap is the plug from the sink drain, fitted in place with a little electrical tape and a little genius from Zel. The switch is a simple push switch fit through the opening that would be the drain plug control. The grips are a bunch of rubber O-rings fitted side by side. On the inside, 4 blue LEDs, a bit of perf board cut into a circle and held in place with electrical and duct tape, a holder for four AAA batteries, two resistors to regulate the circuit, and some rather creative soldering make up the flashlight part. Suppliers used in the end were Lowe's Hardware for the plumbing stuff and switch, Radio Shack for the electronics, and Amazon.com for the keychain and O-rings. Credit for the original idea goes to SPark, and credit goes to Zel for creative consulting, photography, and copious amounts of jiggery pokery. Overall cost of materials was around 60 dollars, and that probably could have been reduced a bit if we'd looked around for cheaper LED's, etc.

It made for a really fun geeky project with Zel, and one of the major Jedi rites of passage is the construction of one's own lightsaber. It's a neat feeling to have something physical and tangible that came initially from one's own creativity, to be able to actually hold something that began as an idea you had yourself.