Rey's Lightsaber From "The Rise of Skywalker" - 3D Printing and Design

This build is my first successful attempt at creating a replica of a film prop. This is a replica of the new, yellow-bladed light-saber seen at the very end of "Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker". It had very limited screen time so I did not have much reference material to work with and thus this inspired a design element that I have not used before: threads. Nearly every component of this build has threading so that everything can be assembled without glue and thus is much easier to make changes to if additional reference is released or I have the desire to modify anything.

I had the goal of completing this entire build for the 3d printing contest, however I ran into some time constraints that did not allow me to do so. This being said, I decided to make this instructable more along the lines of a design guide to show my processes of trial and error along with the things that I learned along the way. I still plan to complete the painting, weathering, and overall finalizing, however that will be released in a later instructable.

This design was made completely in Fusion 360, the gcode was sliced in Cura, and printed on a Monoprice 3d printer

These following steps will show how I designed this light-saber as well as the simple assembly for this build.

Step 1: Materials

• 3D Printer (or online 3D printing service)
• 1 spring - the size used can be found in pens (I got one from a Tul pen)
• 2 M2.5 machine screws
• A small screwdriver
• 3D printing post processing tools
  • Needle-nose pliers
  • Small file (ex. from a multi-tool)

Step 2: Design

These following few steps will show you both my thinking surrounding this project along with how I used Fusion 360 to design it.

Step 3: Hinges

When I first saw this light-saber in the movie, I found the coolest part to be the activation mechanism. When the dial is spun, flaps open up along the top of the saber right before the blade comes out. This is a component that I definitely wanted to include in my design.

These flaps on the top of the saber could be done in many ways, however I wanted to attempt to make this top piece printable all in one component rather than leaving it to assembly after the fact. For this to work I employed a method of a print-in-place design.

As seen in the pictures above, If there is enough room between the bar and moving object, the object will be able to move right after being printed.

Note: Make sure to print this part without supports as they would impede the movement of the flaps.

Step 4: Top Mechanism

To achieve a similar effect to the light-saber in the movie I needed to transform circular motion around the light-saber to perpendicular motion directed out through the top of it. This took a bit of brainstorming and trial and error, however I believe that it turned out pretty well in the end using a non-conventional mechanical design.

Design: To make this work I essentially used a wedge on the dial that pushed up on another part. This second part runs along a track that both directs it's motion in a straight line and keeps it from spinning. Another problem that comes with this is that if tipped upside down, the moving inner part will slide along without the user spinning the activation dial. To remedy this I used a small spring from a ballpoint pen and was able to keep the sliding part from moving.

It is then fairly simple, though a bit time consuming to attach wire to to both the sliding component and the top flaps. This will allow the flaps to open up when the sliding part moves up and vise versa when it retracts.

Note: Step 8 contains assembly details for this part

Step 5: Threads

Using threads for this build allowed for much more flexibility. For one, I was able to print smaller pieces without the fear of a difficult assembly process that could take much longer. This also let me print pieces faster so if there was a failure or if I needed to reprint a piece, it wasn't much of a hassle. Secondly, there wasn't much reference material to lean on for this project so some of it was up to creative interpretation and other reference that may or may not have actually been correct. Using threads rather than other assembly techniques will allow me to edit and change out components in the future if there is any need to do so.

Tip: This was the first time that I have been able to make threads work with my printer and there are a few things that I learned along the way.

1. Fusion 360 threads are not going to work by default with a standard FDM (filament) printer. They simply print out way to tight and can not be feasibly fit together. After a few tests and research on forums I found that there is a very easy solution to this however. There is a tool in Fusion 360 called "offset face" (solid -> modify -> offset face) which can allow you to easily make the threads thinner. After using this method the threads work very nicely and I most definitely recommend using them in other designs as well.
2. Do not over tighten pieces with threads. When assembling pieces, make sure to only tighten them until they are snug and not like you could do with metal components or they will break.

Step 6: Handle

Yes, it is curved. Yes, that is intentional. No, that is not how it looks in the movie. :)

As mentioned previously, I am still planning on adding much to this, however this instructable is primarily for showing my design process.

Design: The handle is curved in order to allow room for wrapping the handle with fabric as was done in the film. This curving was simply done using a fillet, however one could also use a chamfer to get a similar result.

I will include a file for both a smooth and rounded handle.

Step 7: 3D Printing

These are the 3d files for this project. Please consider these two things:

1. Make sure to scale the files down by 50% (I will fix this shortly)
2. Try to not use supports for the components with threads as these would make it much more difficult for post processing. If you do need to use supports I was able to set the "support overhang angle" (in Cura) to 80 degrees and it didn't print on the threads which worked nicely.

Note: The files are now labeled in reference to the picture below.

Step 8: Assembly

These next steps will outline the basic assembly of the light-saber.

Note: Use the numbers in the picture above to help with assembly.

Step 9: Top Mechanism Assembly

1. To start off, cut 8 ~3 in. lengths of wire and feed them through the 8 holes located on the top of the small, soon to be, sliding component (#4).
2. Thread the small spring holder (#2) into the large top piece (#3) and place the spring inside the inset part (#2).
3. Gently feed the sliding component (#4) into the large piece (#3) so that the spring goes into it's inset hole. Make sure that this piece can slide and spring nicely inside the large component.
4. Thread on the next piece (#5) and insert the dial (#6) into it.
5. Place the final top component (#7) on top and screw it in using the two machine screws.
6. Flip the mechanism around so that the top is facing up. Thread on the top component (#1) so that the wires are going through it. Feed each of the wires into their corresponding flaps (#1) and trim the ends if necessary. Note: make sure that the sliding component (#4) is in it's furthermost upright position before feeding the wires into the flaps. Turn the dial (#6) clockwise to ensure this.

Step 10: Handle

1. Fit the two parts of the handle together.
2. Thread one side of the handle to the top mechanism. Note: It doesn't matter which side of the handle goes into either side of the saber as they have the same thread size.

Step 11: Bottom Half

The remainder of the light-saber is fairly self explanatory. Simply fit each component together in the correct order as seen in the reference above using the numbers in the picture on step 8.

Comments

[12oreo12]

What size wire do you use

[12oreo12]

What size wire do you use

[Sweet Potato]

Hello there :)
I'm sooo going to build this design !
I'm gonna print it in PLA, may I ask you if you have any tips about the resolution and the infill ?
Thank you for sharing this instructable with us !

10/06/2020 update:
I finally made it ! Assembling all the parts was really funny, and soooo satisfying ! No rafts needed, I printed it in 1.6mm after few tests. The threads work really smooothly, I only needed to sand the parts where the supports touched.
Howover I had an issue with the part 5, when it's fully threaded, it wasn't aligned with part 4, and the dial (part 6) couldn't do it's job, being blocked by part 5. I needed to print a little extra ring, 2mm thick (the blue part on the pictures) to get the right alignment, and now the mecanism is working like a charm !
Not a big deal really, but I thought it would be worth mentionning it, in case someone has the same issue later in the future :)

It was a great project and I had a lot of fun building it ! Next step is painting it !
Thnak you again for this design my friend :)

[CJM3]

I used 10% infill with .2mm layer height. If the part doesn't have any over hangs I used 5% infill. I would recommend a raft of at least 1 layer as well. A few of the parts popped off my bed because of the limited contact, but a raft fixed that. I tried a few custom supports making sure to NO allow supports on threads and wouldn't probably do that again next time. I think rpreston01 is right "Support Overhang" is probably a better idea. Most of my parts took around 2 hours with only the 2 castle nut looking things taking 4 hours.

[Sweet Potato]

Hey, thank you for your answer !
I think I'll test different infill and see what works the best... Maybe I would have underestimated rafts without your comments.... I've started to make customs support as well in Cura, with some "no support zones" around the threads, but maybe the "Support Overhang" would be a better solution haha.

Whoa you printed theses rather fast ! What printer did you use ?

[CJM3]

Prusa MK3S. Latest version of firmware. PrusaSlicer. I couldn't get the handles to print without a raft. For some reason they wouldn't stick to the plate. I need to find a better way to support the middle sections without putting supports on the threads. Clearing the supports from the middle sectons on Parts 2 and 5 was tough.

[Sweet Potato]

Oh okay !
I didn't use any raft eventually, didn't need to tbh. rpreston's supports settings worked just fine. Also I had a hard time cleaning the middle section on Part 3 and 10, the others went out rather easily.

[rpreston01]

Hello! That's great to hear!

I used 20% grid infill with 0.2mm layer height. However, for a final product I may re-print with 0.1mm layers for easier sanding later on.

Make sure that you don't have any supports on parts of each component with threads. Using Cura I set the "Support Overhang Angle" to 80 degrees. This makes the supports form under completely horizontal parts but not inside the threading.

Additionally, I used a raft for each piece, however whether you need this or not probably depends on your printer.

Also, remember to scale each component down by 50% in your slicing program. This was my mistake, I will try to fix it soon. :)

[Sweet Potato]

Hello !
Okay, I'm taking notes, thanks a lot c:
I'll try the Support Overhang, using Cura as well.

Yes, I saw that when the pieces appeared HUGE on my slicer haha
It's a good way to see all the details before scaling down by 50% tho.

Thank you again for all theses informations and for your quick reply ! :)

[CJM3]

Question - says you'll include a smooth and curved handle? should there be 2 sets of handles?

update - Pretty sure it was me... started another part and the raft crashed. Increased airflow seems to have resolved it.

Update - yeah those threads are rough for filament.

Update before I go to bed. This is awesome. The way you designed it means I can print multiple parts in different colors. I can paint them and if I mess one part up I can print just the one part again. Really really great job. I don't know if I can pull of the mechanism but I'll try, and if I remember to come back and comment or post pictures I will.... I usually forget though so just for the record this is awesome.

Figured out most of my problems (it was all me) my y axis was too tight. Also quick tip I recommend a raft for the handle1 and handle2.

Small request or maybe it's a suggestion. If you number the files names the same as your pictures it might be a little easier to navigate all the parts the first time your printing it. I'm getting a little confused between the stl files and the gcode files as I'm printing.

Update - tried custom supports on parts 5 and 2. While I was successful at keeping off the threads I didn't get enough for the gaps and its really rough, but as you can see from the picture, it turned out good.

[rpreston01]

Hello!

The non-curved handle variations have now been added. My apologies for the delay. The files have also now been re-labeled to match the picture. Thank you very much for the suggestion!

[rpreston01]

Woah! That was quick! It looks great!

[rpreston01]

Hello! Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear that you're making it. I will definitely look into those suggestions. I will add the second type of handle soon, sorry about that. :)

For the threads: If there are any print defects that are hindering these sanding/filing them a bit will probably help. Also, make sure that you don't have supports between threads as mentioned in that step above. It makes everything a ton easier.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

[SimonP47]

Nice job, any planes to put a sabre blade on it?

[rpreston01]

Thank you very much! I have thought a bit about that, yes. However I would need to change the design a bit which I would need to tinker around with a bit. :) Also, I would like to keep the functioning mechanism on the top which would add even more complexity.

I will keep it in mind though!

[SimonP47]

Thanks I think it would be a great addition.

[Penolopy Bulnick]

That is some really impressive designing :)

[rpreston01]

Thank you!