My whole design philosophy is that form follows function. A lightsaber is first and foremost a weapon. Weapons are not supposed to be flashy or highly decorative, they're supposed to work. They're supposed to be comfortable in the hand and easy to use. They should be robustly created and easy to maintain in less-than-ideal circumstances.
I also wanted to make something that looked "real" all the way through. I have a few replica sabers in my possession and they look pretty great on the outside, but once you open them up they're just battery packs and wires and PCBs and it ruins the immersion.
First, here are some pictures of some of the other designs I've come up with:
Since I don't live in a house with a garage or workshop space, I am limited as to what I can do. I decided to go with a main body built out of MHS (Modular Hilt System) parts from the inimitable Custom Saber Shop. Using their builder I played around with a few ideas and finally came up with a desing that I liked.
MHS Builder View |
Then I modeled up those parts in Creo and assembled them so I could design the shroud.
MHS Parts |
I then designed a shroud to cover the entire saber
Saber with Shroud |
I ordered as many of my parts as TCSS had in stock, which turned out to be the main hilt piece, the switch box, the double female adapter and the switch box, as well as the shroud material. Everything arrived quickly and was completely perfect.
First Round of Parts |
I have to say, TCSS has great quality items. The machining is clean and precise and the parts fit together perfectly.
I still have to wait for several more parts to come into stock, but I will keep updating this build log as I have news to share.
Thanks!
-Zack