Have you ever wished you could have a lightsaber and be a Jedi or Sith? Many people have, and have wanted their own lightsaber. I mean, who wouldn’t want one? This will show you how to make a totally customizable lightsaber hilt that would reflect your Jedi Master’s personality.

Supplies

Cardboard Tubes

Scrap Cardboard

Paper

Pencil

Scissors/Exact-o Knife

Acrylic Paints

Popsicle Sticks (optional)

Painters Tape (optional)

Pliers (optional)

Step 1: Making the Plans

The first step is to come up with your own design. This is what is so fun about making your own lightsaber. It is totally custom and made especially for you. Start by simply drawing up a plan. I always have drawn mine life scale and marked the lengths and colors of the different parts. The average lightsaber hilt is around 11-12 inches long, so that’s around how long I make mine. This one is the length of a piece of paper, so 11 inches. But of course this is all personalized to you so make it however you want.

Step 2: Making the Basic Structure

Start with a cardboard tube. It is often best to just use a paper towel roll. It is often best to make it longer than it’s going to be in case you mess up a bit. Cut the tube straight down the middle. Now take a look at your drawings and find the thinnest spot on your lightsaber, and roll the tube into that width. Now cover the whole thing in tape to hide any seams. Now you have your basic structure, and should be able to build out from there.

Now before we go on to the next steps, I would like to say that it always works best to build your hilt from bottom to top or top to bottom. Don’t go jumping around doing different parts.

Step 3: Rounded Parts

This is a totally optional step, just like the next step. Not all light sabers have a rounded part on them. But for this Instructables sake, I’m making one that does so you can see how it is made. For any rounded part you are basically going to make a bunch of cardboard circles, or whatever rounded shape it is, and glue them together forming a structure for the rounded shape like shown in the pictures above. Make sure there is a cut out place for it to glue onto the tube though.

To connect the pieces of cardboard and make it actually look around, just put a bunch of tape around it to kind of cover up the gaps and make everything smoother.

Step 4: Angled Parts

Now this is also an extra/optional step like the previous one. If your lightsaber has any angled parts, then this is the best way to do it. Cut out some pieces of cardboard for the thickest part of the angle, and also some for the thinnest, and we will connect the two. For mine, the thinnest part is just the tube. Cut out some rectangles, rhombuses, and/or triangles from thin cardboard. Use something like a cereal box. Start gluing them on spanning them from the thinnest to the thickest part. You will have to do some trimming to the pieces to get them to fit together. It’s ok if the are too long, it’s better than them being too short. Once the whole area if filled in, you can trim off the extra with scissors.

Then I would suggest covering it all in a smooth layer of hot glue to make it look better. Scrape a small piece of scrap cardboard along the hot glue while it’s still hot to get it looking smooth.

Step 5: Building Out

This technique will be useful for all sorts of different kinds of parts on your lightsaber. To start, get some cardboard. You will want to make cuts through the cardboard for it to be able to bend. You can then trim that and glue it on your lightsaber. Put as many layers on top of that until you get the width your looking for. Then to make it look smooth, cut a cardboard tube and glue it around it.

You can also use this technique to make much thinner looking rings that go around your hilt for a cool designs. And I’m sure with some creativity you could come up with tons of other uses

Step 6: Adding an On/Off Switch

Every lightsaber needs a way for its user to turn it on and off. This part I always have made from the fat width popsicle sticks. Cut one the size of the top and four for the sizes of the sides. You may need to do some slight trimming once you put it together. To put it together I just use hot glue and glue the edges together like shown in the pictures above.

Many lightsabers have some sort of clip looking thing so the Jedi can attach it to their belt. To make something that looks like that, bend a paper clip into the shape you want. It’s best to use pliers to do this job. Then cover that in painters tape and trim it to the size you want. You can then glue that anywhere you want on to your lightsaber or the button on it. You can then of course glue this on the lightsaber.

Step 7: Painting

Start by covering the whole thing in a layer of just white acrylic paint to act as a primer. Then you can of course paint the different parts the colors you want. I would suggest doing at least two layers in every part. I would also suggest using painters tape because the little things like crisp lines is what it makes it looks so much better.

Step 8: Done

There you go, it’s done. You have your very own custom, personalized light saber hilt that is made just to your needs.

I know that so many people out there are creative in their own ways, and would be able to come up with all sorts of different ideas. I would love to see your ideas in the comments below, or of corse you could post a make.