Mini Lightsaber Out of Spare Parts

Hi there! This is something that my son made. He is a huge Star Wars fan and he wanted to make his own lightsaber, but mini. It is about the size of his hand, and it looks very nice. It can definitely fit in your pocket. It is meant to be a replica of Obi Wan’s Lightsaber from Revenge of the Sith/Clone Wars. Here is some brief info on the lightsaber: Obi-Wan Kenobi's third lightsaber was the third, and final, lightsaber to be constructed and wielded by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi during the Clone Wars after he lost his second one prior to the First Battle of Geonosis. He would eventually use this lightsaber to duel his fallen apprentice Darth Vader on Mustafar, and would continue to wield the weapon during his 19-year exile on Tatooine up until his death at the hands of Vader during their rematch on the Death Star. Obi-Wan's second apprentice Luke Skywalker would later use this weapon's design as a basis for the construction of his second lightsaber. It is a fairly easy build and didn’t take that much time to make. The thing that inspired him to build it was because when they built the real one, they used spare parts and anything that they could find. I am so sorry that the supplies section isn’t very clear, but I do have images of the materials he used, so that you can make it for yourself. It isn’t meant to be an exact 1:1 replica, but it looks fairly close. Hope you like his design!

The supplies will be in the first step!…

Supplies Needed:

1. 1 Carriage Bolt Zinc Plated Bolts 307A CYI Steel Industrial Screw

2. 2 Medium Metal Washers

3. 11 Medium Black Metal Washers

4. 1 Small Metal Washer

5. 1 Large Metal Washer

6. 1 T-nut with no hole

7. 3 Small Hex Nuts

8. 2 Small Heavy Hardware Rings

9. Tall Brass Hex Nut

10. Medium Metal Hex Nut

11. 2 Metal Connectors

12. 2 Plastic Hooks

Tools:

7/16 in wrench

(Or you can use an adjustable wrench!)

Put 1 medium metal washer all they way down onto the main screw. With some pressure, it should be able to fit in the square portion at the bottom of the screw. This part will keep the metal connector in place so that it doesn’t fall out. If the washer isn’t going all the way down, try using a hammer or something similar to keep it down. This is an important part of the hilt.

Next, you will slide on the metal connector with the screw portion on the outside. This will act as the pommel to the lightsaber hilt. It will be loose, but later on will be held with some hex nuts. Put it on the side where the smaller hole is at the bottom, and the bigger one is at the top. In real life, when they first created the pommel using an Armitage Shanks Sink Knob: Starlite model – produced in the 1960’s.

Now, you will slide on the largest metal washer on top of the metal connector. It will still be loose, but will be held tightly later on. My son’s had a chrome finish, so that it would match up with the pommel. This metal washer helps because it has the exact same size hole as the screw, so it won’t jostle around much.

Next, you will put on four black metal washers. These will act as the lower grip to the hilt. This portion will be still loose, but will be tightened in the next step. In the real prop, they used a Browning ANM2 machine gun booster.

Now, put on the smallest metal washer on top of the black metal washers. Then, using the small hex nuts, tighten the whole thing together. You can use a 7/16 wrench to tighten if you would like. It’s much easier using that then tightening it yourself. But make sure everything is aligned before you tighten, otherwise, it won’t look good.

Then, add your medium metal hex nut. This will act as you activation card holder and your clamp. Then, using two small hex nuts, put the smaller nuts inside of the medium one, so that it’s fully tightened. It will look nicer if all edges are aligned. In the movie prop, they used a graflex clamp, which held the calculator bubbles, which were from a Texas Instruments: Exactra 19, 20, 2000 (European model) – which was produced in the 1970’s.

Then, you are going to add the rest of you black metal washers. There should be 7 in total for this step. This part will act as your grenade grip, or the main grip of the hilt. For the real life hilt, they used a British No.3 Mk1 Rifle Grenade – which was produced in the 1910’s.

Now, you are getting nearer to finishing the hilt. Add the tall brass hex nut on top of the black washers. Then add both small brass rings on top. Make sure this is all aligned before proceeding to the next step.

This is the final step to the finishing your hilt. Add a metal washer on top of the rings. This will hold the metal connector in place. Then, add the metal connector. Finally, add the t-nut to secure the whole thing together. But make sure that the diamond son both the tall brass nut and the metal nut are aligned. This is a harder part because you have to align three things at the same time. This will make it look better. Also make sure that the emitter section isn’t tilted because of the brass rings. Finally, add the plastic hooks; on on the nut underneath the activator clamp, and one in between the brass rings. And you are finished! The actual hilt used a Rolls Royce Derwent engine balance pipe as the emitter.

Thanks for viewing this Instructable! It was nice sharing this with you! If you want to have a battle-worn finish, I would suggest using sandpaper to roughen it out and look like it has been battle worn. This is a fairly simple project and is great for any Star Wars fan. It looks nice as a mini display piece. My son has also started to make other lightsaber hilts, with other spare parts. I hope this inspires you to make something out of spare parts you have. It goes to show you that useless junk can become a precious treasure. The possibilities are endless!! And May the Force be with you!

Since when my son first created this mini lightsaber hilt, he has been updating it to make it look more like the real replica. So these are some updated versions from his first one. It uses new pieces and some old ones from the first version too.