Sword of Megatron Made From PVC

Hay guys this time I will explain you how I made any an iconic weapon from the movie transformer.The weapon I made is a sword used by Megatron.I decided to make this particular weapon because of its simplicity.its nothing but a fancy sword and you don't need to have any power tools.I used only PVC to make the sword.this was my first attempt to make something using PVC but I have seen a previous instructable which explains how to make a robot fish using PVC so that instructable inspired me to do this one.PVC is very easy to get and I am only using leftover pieces to make the sword.We don't need long or particular sized pieces for this project do its very easy to get all required materials.we also need pvc cement and cutting tools sand paper for this picture 1 shows all different sections of a sword take a look at this picture before reading below steps.picture 4 is only half scale drawing of the original model all other drawings are same size as the sword

Supplies

PVC pipe
PVC cement
Hacksaw(jewelers saw if available)
File,sandpaper
Screws
Tile filling
Paint

Making Blade

So in this step I will explain how I flatned pvc pieces and how I made the Blade part. I am using 3/4 inch pipes but size doesn't matters since we are going to cut them to make flat Pieces.Keep pipe length below 10 cm this way it will be easy to cut and flatten them.If you use a single long piece to make the Blade it won't be strong enough to hold straight with out bending.My Blade is 42cm I cut 12 PVC pieces ranging from 10 to 6 cm long.To flaten these pieces PVC draw a straight line on the surface of it from top to bottom.Using a hacksaw Blade cut through the line this way you will get a Straight cut then heat the PVC from an open flame till it become soft while doing this do not place it directly on the flame because it will burn the pipe leaving bubbles and burn marks,so keep it above the flame and after a minute it will be soft enough to flaten.place this hot soft piece on a flat surface and open the PVC using along the cut.using a flat wooden panel press and hold it tight untill it become a flat piece.hold it for couple of minutes and it will be hard enough to stay flat.its important to have to flat surface to press the PVC otherwise pipes won't be flat and smooth any cracks or bumps on the pressing wood surface will be copied to the PVC panel.after cooling cut the width to 5 cm then use a metal file or a sand Paper to make edges straight and smooth.if its not straight it will be hard to Glu them together or there will be gaps in between the layers.Sand the panels before sticking them otherwise the bond won't be very strong do this for all required pieces.Next step is to Glu them to make a Blade I used PVC cement for this,some things to take care while Gluing is first you need to clean the edges and cut the flat piece as straight as possible Glu half of the first piece to the half of second piece and glu the third pieces half to the other half of second piece and repeat the steps. For the beginning and ending side cut and Glu suitable sized pieces.use clamps or weights to hold while the glue is drying.PVC cement bonds slowly but permanently.My sword Blade is 42 cm long but always make it a little more longer so we can cut it straight and sand ends smoothly.i will explain about the black part in 4th step

Making Flared Tip

Next we need to make the bottom part use the above drawing as a reference when cutting required pieces.to avoid wastage of material i cut the pieces only to required size.It was hard to make a big two layred flat panel to cut out the Flared Tip.I made this in three separate parts and later glued them together (see the pictures)draw the design on the panel and cut it using a hacksaw Blade thinner Blade works better because of its angle But I was not able to cut it through the markings so I filed it along the lines then sanded to smooth out the edges.I made two tips of the sword separately the same way.Befor Gluing the parts together I sharpened the Blade using a file.i was not actually making it sharp but trying to give it a sharp Blade look.to do this mark 1cm along the edges of the Blade and the Flared tip.mark only where the Blade needs to be sharpe,places where we will be sticking the parts together should be avoided.Use a file for sharpening,sand paper also works but to get a straight sharp angle you should use file.hold the file at an angele and start filing Untill the markings on the PVC are gone. After finishing one side turn it over and file the other side also.Some pieces may get sepperated while filing Glu it again and finish the work.after filing use a 100 grit sand paper to smooth the edges.this way you will get a straight and sharp edge.connect all pieces only after completing sharpening.

Connecting Parts

Its time to Glu the seperate pieces together but the Glu alone was not strong enough to hold it together.There was no much surface area in between Pieces to add glue so I used thin nails and Glu for this purpose.Arrange all the pieces correctly and take two nearby pieces and make two holes in-between the layer(see pictures)use the same nail for making holes and don't make it too big because it should be a tight fit.then Mark the exact position on the next piece and make holes do this on all pieces.cut the nails to suitable size and put it in holes with some superglue and stick it to the next piece,there will be a small gap but we can clear it later.c connect all pieces similarly.

Second Layer

Once all parts are connected it's time to add the second layer(black).this layer is made of black plastic pipe but since there was no need of bigger panels I didn't cut open the pipe insted I heated the pipe and flatened it. this way I got thicker flat piece.I made four 11cm long piece for the Blade part.this one is slightly longer than the Blade so when connecting the end piece to this we can use the extended portion to screw the Flared tip.another piece is made similarly using same material(picture is given). these pieces are glued over the assembled tip.one more black piece is cut in to shape for the end part this one is fixed perpendicular to the blade use nails to fix it as we did earlier and finally we need 24 small black tips to stick along the Blade .I glued six on each side sepperated equal distance.repeat the same step on the other side also this black layer apart from aesthetic provides strength to the Blade and hold all pieces together.

Making Hilt

The Hilt is made of three parts cross guard,grip and pommel.to make one side of the grip we need 15 different sized pieces bove given photo shows all measurements.the six pieces shown separately will be used to adjust the hight of different pieces in the cross guard.First connect the smallest piece to the base panel as shown in the picture then Before sticking the next piece Glu the biggest of the 6 piece on to the panel(see pictures) then attach the next piece over this one this way the second layer will be slightly higher than the previous one repete the step on every layer.Make two cross gurd for both side.on the bottom side of the guard make two small hole for screws we will be using screws to attach guard to the sword.Next is the grip i am using a 30cm long black 3/4 inch pipe to make the grip first I flatned a 8cm long portion of the pipe and left the rest untouched.this flatned part will be used to attach the gripe to the cross guard.To do this make two screw holes on the flatened side if the grip and mark it as position on the guard part mark.On the end side of the handle I made a simple Pommel.to make this cut four 1cm×8cm long pieces and bend them as shown in the figure.then make 4 equally sepperated 1 cm long cuts around the pipe 3cm below the end.Pass one end of the bended piece through this hole.width of my cutting was a perfect tight fit for these pieces.do the same for all four pieces like shown above apply PVC cement or superglue for more strength.On the top side close the ends using thread.

Finishing Tuches

After all parts are attached there will be some gapes between layers and parts to cover this I used tile filling its very cheap nd available in almost all shades I used black and white powder for this one.i tried using white cement initially but it tends to crack and fall of once dried.this tile filling wont crack and can easily be used to smoothly finish the gapes. Add 30 percentage water to it and fill the gapes once dried use a sand paper to remove the excess material.use the same to clear any miss cuts or deformations. After attaching the Hilt to the Blade use a PVC panel to hide all the mess(see third picture)Once the tile filling is dried you can paint it I applied two cots of paint on the white part so it seems like a single piece instead of many smaller part also painting would hide all tile filling.after the paint is dried I used a sand paper to remove and smooth the sharpened places.i dident paint the black part but sanded it to give rough look.i painted the black tips on the Blade except the very end of it only because I was not happy about the looks.i dident do anything to the grip and pommel.Using a sand paper remove the paint from the sharp parts of the Blade.
My finished sword is 1 meter long and its strong enough to give couple of swings,but its not sharp to cut anything.in future update I will paint it with some metal colour.
Now try making one of your own may be a different design or size.Its very easy if you have a rotary Carver or something similar.

PVC Robot fish Have a look if you are interested