This Instructable shall teach you how to create a prop Lightsaber. This prop shall glow and look quite nice.

You shall use 3D modeling and printing, as well as simple electronics and Arduino work.

Materials Required:

- 1 LED

- 18 1 inch Wires

- 3D Printer

- 3D Modeling or Design Software

- 1" Diameter PVC Pipe

- 9 Volt Battery

Step 1: Model Your Hilt

The Hilt of your Lightsaber shall be 3D Printed. Our preferred software is Inventor, but any 3D design or modeling software ought to work. Be creative with your design, but keep in mind that it is meant to fit around a piece of 1 inch PVC. This means that the interior diameter of the shell must be slightly larger than 1 inch, to account for a certain degree of expansion that happens when 3D-Printing. The severity of expansion varies from printer to printer, but we find that accounting for an expansion of .03 inches is often enough.

We like to model a foot long saber and an inch long pommel. It gives plenty of room to grip the hilt in whatever way you wish.

The pommel should be made separately, and should be around 1 inch. We suggest that you build a small hole in the bottom of the pommel to fit either a micro USB port if you plan on adding Arduino, or room for the wiring.

We also like to put vents in the top of our saber, our emitter. It allows for light to shine through, and looks quite nice.

Step 2: Prepare Your PVC

Once you have your PVC, you need to start marking it. First make sure that the pipe is 13 inches long. Make whatever cuts you need to make it 13 inches long. You must have a section cut out that is the length and width of your desired battery box. We wanted a battery box with dimensions of 1"x3"x1", but this can be customized based on your needs. The window should be cut about 3 inches from the top of the pipe.

Now that you have your window, you are finished with preparing the PVC. This window will allow for wiring up the lights, and keeping it in a nice, compact box.

Step 3: Design Your Battery Box

Next, design your battery box. This shall be a small box that fits the dimensions of your window. It should have two open sides and a lid.

Step 4: Segment Your Lightsaber

Next you'll want to split up the saber and pommel into 6 different pieces. The hilt should be in 4 sections, and the pommel into 2. This will allow for you to assemble it around the PVC, and shall also allow it to fit in smaller 3D printers.

Step 5: Print Your Shell

Prepare all of your pieces in a 3D Printer and get them printing. Print them curved side up if you want a cleaner finish on the outside, or curved side down if you want less supports. If you are printing them curved side up you should change the settings so that the supports are weaker. It will make them easier to remove later. While these are printing, you can start putting together the wiring.

Step 6: Wire Up Your Lights

While the shell is printing, you can start wiring up your circuit. The circuit is very simple. Wire a wire from the positive output of the battery to the positive end of the LED. You then link a wire from the negative section of the LED to the negative section of the battery. You should then package the wiring inside of the PVC. You should make the wire as long as you need to wrap around to the bottom of the lightsaber. At the bottom of the saber, you should expose one connection. Connecting or disconnecting this wire shall control the power.

Step 7: Paint Your Shell

Paint the shell of your saber whatever color you want, we recommend metallic colors.

Step 8: Assemble Your Lightsaber

Now it's time to wire the saber. Make sure that all of the wiring fits inside the PVC, and use the bonding agent of your choice to seal the cracks. Make sure that the exposed wires stick out of the bottom of the saber, so that you can control the power.