Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

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Jay-gon Jinn
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Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Jay-gon Jinn »

n)As some of our Michigan members know, I've gotten pretty good at building sabers using parts from TCSS and your common sink drain pipe. Scott's been after me to build him a better saber to use with his Qui-gon Jinn costume for a while now, and I just happen to have some time to do it, so this topic will follow the build of his new saber. I know a few of the garrison members have shown some interest in how these get built, so I thought I'd show you guys first hand.

It won't be any type of replica of Qui-gon Jinn's lightsaber, but it will look really good when finished....I hope! The parts from TCSS (The Custom Saber Shop) arrived today, so here's what I'll be starting with:
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Scott wanted it to be brass and black, so I ordered the parts powder coated in "Solar Flat Black." They look good!

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The blade will be green, and we'll be using a Luxeon K2 to illuminate it. The copper disc is the heatsink and mount for the led. The other clear plastic piece ifs the focusing lens for the led.

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There are two switches to pick from at the moment, but we can decide on that later. The battery pack is a 4-AA, for 6 volts. That's enough to power the led and the soundboard, which will be an Ultrasabers Ultrasound v2.0.

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The Ultrasound requires a 1 watt, 8 ohm speaker, so we'll use the "premium" speaker from TCSS. There is also a black anodized, machined aluminum CT wheel so that Scott will be able to remove the blade, and hang the hilt on his belt.

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This will be the speaker grill. A simple snap in sink strainer from the hardware store. I might change this out later on to a piece of simple black aluminum screen...we'll see how the chrome strainer looks on the black and brass saber and decide at that point.

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Here's a closer look at the black sections of the hilt. This should be pretty cool when done!
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Kal »

I too also build sabers from time to time. I made the 4 we gave out at the last 2 MCCC's 2 of them were converted MR Force FX sabers. (1 Vader & 1 ROTJ Luke)

I look forward to seeing the build. This one looks like it will turn out very, very nice. I am sure Scott will be very happy with his new saber.

I just have one question about the LED you are going with. I see that you have a K2. Why did you not go with the 5 star led ? I have done a few with sound boards and the 5 star and overll with the Green LED's the 5 star is a bit more bright.

If it was a cost thing thats cool, The K2's are still pretty Darn bright. + with out the string of MR leds, He will be able to wack the heck out of it. :twisted:
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Jay-gon Jinn »

Well, we decided against the Luxeon V because of battery pack size, and cost of the led. $7.50 for a high-current K2 on a star base versus $23 for the V.

It's time to start cuttin'!!
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I wrapped up the saber with some news paper to protect it from scratches and cut it off. I cut this nice and slow to prevent burning the edges of the brass where I cut it. I have a metal cutting blade in my compound miter saw. I've done this several times before, and it makes a really nice cut at whatever angle you like!

As always, before using any power tool, make sure you use the proper P.P.E. (Personal Protective Equipment)
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Done! Now let's see if I burned it....
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Success! One slightly discolored spot....not biggie! That should give it a little character.

Now to be-burr it:
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I took it over to the drill press because it has a nice little vise on it and clamped the tube in place. I'll use an 80 grit sanding drum in my rotary tool to remove the burrs:
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And a little teaser as I check the fit:
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Jay-gon Jinn »

One of the designs I like to build has a cut-out window for the grips, similar to Qui-gon's and Obi-wan's Ep. I sabers. I'll do that for this one, too.


I got it set up to do the grip cut-out:
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I'll use the pattern I used on the other brass ones for this one, too.

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The pattern has the location for the switch already marked, and also for the mounting screws for the MHS adaptor.

I set it up in the drill press' vise again:
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I'll use the rotary tool to cut it out using a heavy duty cutting disc. These brass tubes are commercial grade 20 ga. pipe, so they are a little thicker than the average tubes found at the hardware store. I'll probably have to change the disc; this one is a little used....
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Wags »

Awesome Jay!!! Cant wait to see this done. I always wanted to see one of these built!!
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Jay-gon Jinn »

I thought you armor guys might get a kick out of seeing how a lightsaber can be built!

I could PM you some links to the other 17 or 18 that I've built this year, Wags, if you want! :wink:

I did some more work to this saber tonight:

I got it all set up in the vise, and began to cut out the grip window in the brass tube:
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I'll do one side at a time...using as steady a hand as I have, I made sure to leave a little extra material in so I can file it by hand later to straighten it up.
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With all four sides of the window cut, I'll need to cut across the corners to remove some of the extra piece:
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I had switched out the smaller cutting wheel for a new one to cut the sides of the window, and went back to the smaller, worn wheel to cut across the corners. Now I had to use it again to remove a bit more of the material from the corners:
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I'll switch to the sanding drum to do the rest:
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Done!
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Now to straighten everything up with a hand file:
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I de-burred all of the edges and checked it for fit:
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Hmm....needed a little more removed on the vertical edges....
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That's better!
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Now to get set up for drilling and tapping the mounting screw holes for the MHS adaptor:
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Wags »

[quote="Jay-gon Jinn"]I thought you armor guys might get a kick out of seeing how a lightsaber can be built!

I could PM you some links to the other 17 or 18 that I've built this year, Wags, if you want! :wink:

Dude, the work looks AWESOME!!! Yes, please PM me the links. This is something I would love to do!! I dont know though, I have so many projects, maybe I just have you make me one!!!! lol But really, I love the attention to detail. It is going to look kick arse!!

I need a blade for my Mace MR hilt that I..... have... ummmm... that is..broken off..... due to new years eve fun for the last 3 years... lol
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Mieal_Deneb »

Awesome work, Jason! That is going to look incredible when it's finished. It looks incredible now! Whenever we can afford it, you are going to make my Jason a saber! :thumbs: I might even want one! :D
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Jay-gon Jinn »

Mieal_Deneb wrote:Awesome work, Jason! That is going to look incredible when it's finished. It looks incredible now! Whenever we can afford it, you are going to make my Jason a saber! :thumbs: I might even want one! :D
Thanks Rachel! I have an idea for one that might not be too expensive to do, and I'll let you know when I have one done, so you can get an idea of what you'd need.

Anyway, I did get more work on this done yesterday, but ran out of time to post the pictures, so here they are!

I put my pattern back on the saber with the MHS pieces inserted so I could drill and tap for the mounting holes for the MHS to sinktube adaptor:
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I had it set up in the drill press, and drilling the holes went so fast, I forgot to get pictures! Oh well....I drilled it for 8-32 threads using the #29 bit in my tap and drill set, then tapped the holes:
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I installed the screws to see how it looks...I think it'll look better with some black screws, or maybe some fully chromed ones....next I had to cut the brass tube off at the emitter, so it'll be easier to remove the emitter (you'll see why later!):
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To keep the shroud from falling off the emitter, I drilled and tapped for another 8-32 screw:
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This is on the "bottom" of the saber. I'll drill and tap for the CT belt clip wheel after I score the rear section of the hilt for the rear grip:
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And here's a teaser of how the finished saber will look, basically:
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Ripcode »

Nice! :thumbs:

Hmmm all of us clones should have light sabers... you know with colors that match our paint scheme! :mrgreen:
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Jay-gon Jinn »

Ripcode wrote:Nice! :thumbs:

Hmmm all of us clones should have light sabers... you know with colors that match our paint scheme! :mrgreen:
While that would be really cool, I don't think it'd be considered "canon" would it? :wink:
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Ripcode »

Jay-gon Jinn wrote:
Ripcode wrote:Nice! :thumbs:

Hmmm all of us clones should have light sabers... you know with colors that match our paint scheme! :mrgreen:
While that would be really cool, I don't think it'd be considered "canon" would it? :wink:
We could say the sabers are Post Order 66 souvenirs..... :lol:
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Terrell78 »

But concept stormtroopers had blue lightsabers :D .
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Ripcode »

terrell78 wrote:But concept stormtroopers had blue lightsabers :D .
Lightsabers for everyone! :cheers:
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Kal »

Ripcode wrote:
terrell78 wrote:But concept stormtroopers had blue lightsabers :D .
Lightsabers for everyone! :cheers:

Here ya go Rip

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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Jay-gon Jinn »

Those Stormtrooper sabers were pretty cool, and there are some makers out there that can produce them, if have enough $$$!

Scott suggested putting some o-rings on the rear section of the saber to even out the look color scheme a bit, so I picked up a few o-rings from the hardware to check it out:
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It might look better if I used some thinner ones....those are 1/8" thick...I could take them back and try some 3/32" ones on there.

If I put that many on there, though, I'll have to put the CT knob on the larger flange area:
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I'm not sure I like the o-rings, but I'll do it if he likes them. I have no idea how to make them stay put, though. I think if I used my tubing cutter to make some channels on the tube, that it may help hold them in place.
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Jay-gon Jinn »

Scott decided against going with the o-ring grip, so I went ahead with the sanded type grips. The first thing to do is layout where the grip rings are going to be. I thought the smaller spaced ones would look good on this one, so I marked off evey 1/4" for a total of 3 1/2" of grip:
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Then, using my tubing cutter, tightened up just so it was snug on the tube, I made the ring marks:
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They turned pretty good. Sometimes the ends of the line don't meet up, as the cutting wheel may wander as you turn the tube, but I only had two of them that didn't quite match up, so I'll call that good, and get ready to sand the grip section for a "brushed" look:
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I used simple masking tape, and a piece of 400 grit sandpaper. I laid the paper out in the palm of my hand, and wrapped it around the hilt. Then i just spun the saber in my hand unti lI got the desired finish:
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I think it looks good:
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It breaks up the polished brass, almost gold look to the rear half of the saber. Now I'll need to drill a hole for the switch.
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by TD866 »

Looks like you are having lots fun. :thumbs:
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Jay-gon Jinn »

Oh, yeah, this stuff is fun....but sometimes it can seem like work!

I had a few spare minutes today after I took down all of my Halloween decor (http://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=14369.0) so I worked on the pommel cap instead of drilling the hole for the switch:
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I test fit the chrome plated sink strainer that I usually use in these, but it didn't fit in with the black and brass look (even though the rear grip sorta looks chrome now...) and used a piece of black aluminum screen from a screen repair kit instead. I cut out the circular piece with my wife's Cutco scissors (these things can cut a penny in half!!!) and hot glued it into place:
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I could still see inside the saber, so I did what I usually do, and cut a piece of foam to fit in behind the screen:
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I think that looks good:
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Maybe I'll drill for the switch next!
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Re: Jay-gon Jinn builds Scott (Qui-gon) Sharke a new Saber!

Post by Jay-gon Jinn »

Again, I started to drill for the switch, but since the #29 bit was still in the press, I decided I might as well drill and tap for the CT wheel. I needed to find out first, though, where Scott wanted it:

Position 1:
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Or position 2:
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He chose position 2 as it is closer to where Qui-gon had the knob on his saber. It will not be in the way when handling the saber there, as that's usually where I put them anyway, and so far I haven't had any complaints!

So I set it up:
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And drilled it:
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Next, I had to tap the hole for the 8-32 threads:
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All done! Now to attach the CT knob:
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That's one of the plus's to using a 20ga. tube, it'll actually accept a couple of threads, allowing you to actually tap a hole and screw on a part. I'll replace the screw with a black one before I'm done. I just happen to be out of them at the moment.

Now, I can drill for the switch:
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I set it up in the vise, taking measurements to make sure it's centered, and drilled the hole:
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Done:
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Let's see how it looks with the switch installed:
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Not bad.....
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I like it!
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