Practice Lightsaber

Monster funnoodles with a glued wooden handle make excellent training tools for your next duel with Darth Andy.

Step 1 Summary

Tested in the meddle of combat, durable and hard hitting foam lightsabers have taught my padawans much in the way of the force. Costing only a few credits each, they have helped shape their bodies and minds. No blood has been spilled but a battle is well remembered by the combatants.
Not recommended for under 8 years old, anyone who decides that the sword is best used with the wooden handle end out, or going up against professional baseball players. I have not had any injuries for the past 3 years with up to a dozen teenaged boys going at it at once. Still???

Comments

[LilPurpleCow]

Just randomly... This totally reminds me of a "Struggle Bat" from Kingdom Hearts 2.

:) I will have to go make one of these. Or a collection of these.

Awesome!

[thing 2]

you could use pvc pipe for light weight and softer brace, so it doesn't hurt when you get hit by the wood part

[johnpombrio]

Not PVC. It has a couple of nasty features. It is almost impossible to slide in without ripping the foam up. PVC is very hard to glue to the foam, even with epoxy. Tried and failed miserably with PVC. Wood works fine!

[Travelsonic]

"It is almost impossible to slide in without ripping the foam up" I've done it quite successfully, guess it is just the noodles I use having just a big enough hole for the pipe to slide in easily. As for gluing, I would recommend using 3M Super 77 Adhesive Spray if working with PVC/noodle. Sprays on easily, you'll have to wipe it up with a paper towel off the noodle at the bottom of the pipe near the handle, but that noodle is not coming off. :D

[dawsonj]

lol. i made two from a mega noodle and a long piece of dowel. i have been using them for weeks and the only damage is where the cat used one as a scratching post.

[james927]

It's dark out so I haven't ran out to the pool yet to try this, but just one question, why don't you put the dowel all the way through it? The foam would pad it and it would be stronger... or is it not to flexible anyway? I saw nerf swords at walmart and they have a rod straight through them ($13). I'm used to fighting my brother and little kids with wooden swords and this seems like a great way to pad them so we'll stop hurting each others knuckles. I have a shield made out of half a pallet but when you add spikes to the end so you can punch with it... safety goes down fast. Also, fyi, "grade stakes" (gardening stakes) are what we use for swords and we sell them for $.50 each, so seems cheaper than a dowel. Farming stores probably sell them, just grind the point down and round the handle... Just my thoughts, sorry if it's long...

[johnpombrio]

Good question. There are two very reasons for not making the dowel any longer. One is that it is tough enough just to get the short dowel into the hole THAT far (especially with the epoxy starting to stick!). The other is that a lunge (or jab) in the face with a wood dowel close to the end would....err...HURT! The fat noodles with the short dowel do not sag, still lets you poke someone safely, and it is lighter while easy to make. Stick with the dowels to make these swords. The garden stakes may be cheap but they are no substitute. Safety first please! No one has been hurt yet by my swords.

[Jesus10555]

You should add a mastercard pun in that paragraph :)

[kaerius]

monster funnoodle: $7 dowel: $3.75 Loctite Quick set 5 minute epoxy with a dual delivery system: $3 hitting your brother with a foam lightsaber: priceless

[MegaMaker]

"hitting your brother with a foam lightsaber: priceless" Agreed. But, of course sometimes it also costs a grounding.

[Travelsonic]

:monster funnoodle: $7 Rip-off, IMO. Poolcenter.com has them for about $3 each.

[MegaMaker]

At Wal-Mart $4.

[johnpombrio]

There are foam noodles and there are foam noodles. I have seen at LEAST 4 different brands of noodles and the difference in the quality and wear factor is considerable. Some of the really cheap ones you can pluck the foam out with your fingers and they droop a foot just by holding them out. If you are going through the trouble of making one, buy the best quality you can find.

[MegaMaker]

The $4 ones were monster funnoodles.

[Travelsonic]

Which is why I recommend poolcenter. Consistent, good quality noodles.

[Oroka]

Awesome, now I don't have to worry about cutting myself with my real lightsaber.

[johnpombrio]

Well, it is official, I found that a company named Mashoonga has started selling foam swords.
http://revelking.com/
Good for them! Little pricy at $20 for 2 at SAMS club. It is made of a polycarbonate core that seems to run through the foam. The diameter is of the smaller noodle size instead of the giant noodles that I use. The foam is dense that I have only seen on a couple of brands of noodles. The length is exactly the same as mine, in both the handle and the length of the foam (they are probably cutting foam noodles in half!). They also put a nylon "sock" over the foam to prevent dings and tears (good idea). The handle is still hard but has a nice rubbery coating on it which will help mitigate head bashing with the handle. Not quite as little kid friendly as the core seems to go through the whole sword and the foam is denser and harder.

All and all an extremely good product and highly recommended.

[Brother_D]

Now, why would I buy that when I can make an extremely better one for like $6?

[Travelsonic]

This could be good, but it could be bad for those who go into boffer related business - especially if this company tries to patent them (which, despite there clearly being "prior art" isn't impossible given how broken our system is)

[snelpiller]

This is actully pretty good if u wanna do a lighsaber effect in vegas or aftereffects, makes rotorscoping easy

[highonlove]

im srry if someone has already said this but any way
why not put the dowel rod al the way through so its more s{{{

[johnpombrio]

Two good reasons not to put the dowel all the way through. First is that it would hurt.. A LOT! Right now all I get hit with is foam. A thrust bends slightly on the large foam so no one will get woofed by a thrust. Second, you have no idea how hard it is to get the dowel into the end as it is. That is what the hammer is for. No way to get it up all 2 feet or so.

[Travelsonic]

On top of that, if the foam for some reason or another tears off, which does happen, the core wont be fully exposed, more important with PVC IIRC, but still good to have.

[highonlove]

well i guess we dotn think the same cuz more it hurts the other person the more they want to defend themselves ya no' lol well pluz u could just us a smaller doweel rod if its so hard

[johnpombrio]

Err, there is no need for a dowel all the way through. The large noodles are stiff enough to retain their shape without it. The dowel would be IMPOSSIBLE to insert unless it was a smaller diameter (as you would know if you have tried to build one). Hard enough just getting 8-10 inches in. Finally, poking at someone with a dowel all the way through would be the same as poking them with the dowel with no foam on it at all. If you would like a more formnible weapon, how about creating your own instructable after you build a few your own unique way?

[magganrchy]

My brothers and i have been making these for a while, if you wrap duct tape around the outside, at least partly then it will stay together better, and you should use pvc pipes instead of dowel rods, because dowel rods break. (i think the size was 1/2, but it might be 5/8)

[WurdBendur]

I strongly recommend using a cloth cover. Duct tape will make it hit harder. Cloth will protect the foam in the same way and actually make it softer. For a quick and easy cover, I use tube socks. You can tape the bottom onto the handle or just let the elastic hold it in place. And I agree on the PVC. 1/2" is popular, but I prefer 3/4" pressure pipe (with a 1" outside diameter) because the size makes a better handle. If you do use wood for the core, you should tape it up first in case it breaks, to hold the pieces together and to contain splinters.

[johnpombrio]

cloth covers would be great but a tube sock or socks would be impracticable. These suckers are 30 inches long! Perhaps panty hose? There is NO WAY to make a one inch dowel 2 foot long break. I used them on my kids playground equipment and as long as they do not rot due to weather, they last forever with the full weight of kids climbing up and down them. Gotta trust me, no way. Dozens of noodlesmade and used, all 1 inch dowels never a splinter. Getting pvc pipe into the noodle is such a nightmare. It rips the foam so easily, even if I bevel the front edge. Even epoxy does not hold it in place. Try building one as I suggest, it works great!

[WurdBendur]

My two swords are 24" and 25" long, which is notably longer than usual, and each is covered by a single tube sock. And these weren't even the largest size I could find. I just got them because they were black and I thought white socks would look silly. You can also stretch them out before you put them on. But if socks really won't work, you can just sew a rectangle of cloth into a cylinder and close the end. You could use panty hose, but I'm not sure they'll do much good because they're so thin. By the way, 30" is probably too long for the people using them, especially if they're children. I think the longest boffer blade I've ever seen is my brother's at about 38", and that thing is a monster. As a rough guideline, your blade should only reach from the ground to your fingers when your hand is hanging at your side, at least for beginners. Much longer than that and it starts to become unwieldy. And you're right that a 2-foot-long 1" dowel will probably never break. They're just usually longer than that, extending most of the way up the blade. It keeps the blade straight and prevents people whipping it around shields or other swords. Any dowel that long will eventually break, which is why it's best to use a flexible core such as PVC or fiberglass if it's going to be that long.

[Travelsonic]

"By the way, 30" is probably too long for the people using them, especially if they're children. I think the longest boffer blade I've ever seen is my brother's at about 38", and that thing is a monster" My hand-and-a-half sword is about 42 inches. Boffers can be quite large, and that is without touching two-handed weapons.

[WurdBendur]

But how much of that is blade? That's the length that matters. I've seen tremendous weapons, but almost always with relatively short blades. The measurements I gave are just the blade.

[Travelsonic]

My newest hand-and-a-half/broadsword has blade of only 32, shorter than my old hand-and-a-half but not by that much really though the length in my last post I gave was for overall weapon meaning that if I wanted I could make a small pommel, decent hilt, and have a blade that exceeds this while still fitting in the broadsword/hand-and-a-haf lengths limits of the college larp I am involved with.. The claymore I made has a blade of about 40 inches in length. Overall length is about 63 inches.

[johnpombrio]

I guess it comes down to weight. It is surprising how light my foam swords are, mostly bubbles I guess! That an only a two foot piece of 1" dowel. Easy to hold one handed and my wrist does not hurt to swing it or when someone hits my sword. As my wrists bother me (I'm OLD), that is saying a lot. That is why I can recommend my swords to any age. The youngest to swing and hit me had diapers on and was holding onto Mom's skirt to balance. That is how light my swords are even at over 35" long overall. This length have anything to do with a real sword? errr, no. BTW, I have finally held onto a REAL sword the other day, not just a rapier that I used for fencing in college. IT WAS HEAVY AS HELL-O! I would die very quickly if I really had to defend myself with it.

[WurdBendur]

It it was more than a pound and a half or so, it was probably not accurate.

[Travelsonic]

"hat is why I can recommend my swords to any age. The youngest to swing and hit me had diapers on and was holding onto Mom's skirt to balance. That is how light my swords are even at over 35" long overall." Depends on what you use. A 38 inch boffer made with pvc will be heavier than one made with graphite core for example.

[johnpombrio]

Yep. 28-30 inches is a monster. These are also the BIG noodles. Reason? The big size prevents really hard hits due to just trying to swing something that large. The thick foam cushions the blow. But it makes a mighty WHACK sound when it hits. The longer length prevents more "body contact". The new retail Mashoonga swords are same length blade (28" with 7" handle). They use the smaller noodle with a very good dense foam AND a cotton sleeve. The handle is a polycarbonate (lexan) hollow tube that runs the length of the sword (with a smaller sized noodle, a full length core is a must). Funny thing is that my larger diameter sword is LIGHTER. The M's are excellent swords and highly recommended if you see them in Toys 'R Us or BJs. I still do not like a full length core but M seems to have some way to prevent the end from sticking out of the foam.

[WurdBendur]

Most people who use pool noodles let it extend about 3-4 inches past the end of the core, so it shouldn't come through. You can also cut off a small piece and stuff it in the hole to make it safer.

[Travelsonic]

Not just pool noodle, IIRC NERO does require 2 inches off the pipe for the pipe foam boffers.

[Travelsonic]

It may be for little children, the intent of the stuff used here, but outside of that - say college LARPS or event-run LARPS, 28-30 is nothing. Longer length, if you use it correctly, can give you a good advantage with regards to range, so long as you aren't up against a dual-wielding maniac of an opponent.

[WurdBendur]

I wouldn't say it's nothing. It's larger than average for blades, after you throw out the giant fantasy swords that few can wield effectively. Those would be better as shields anyway. I've learned to use long weapons fairly well, but at some length they become impractical. I also found that I became much better at using my shorter swords once I had got used to my brother's monster great sword.