Introduction: Simple Lightsaber

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My five year old wanted to be Darth Vader for Halloween and we came up with this simple lightsaber design that was easy enough for him to assemble with only limited help from his dad. Here's a three minute video explaining the build.

Step 1: Materials

  1. a rigid PVC or polycarbonate tube with a one inch diameter. Translucent tubes scatter light better than clear tubes, but the main thing you need is a one inch diameter tube. Here's one source for the tube.
  2. a mini flashlight with a one inch diameter. Get a Mini Cree LED Flashlight. There are five reasons these specific flashlights are great for this project.
    1. they are 1 inch in diameter, so they match the diameter of the tube
    2. they have a switch on the back which means you can wrap the light in a holder and still turn it off and on
    3. they don’t cost very much. You can buy them for a few dollars on Amazon.
    4. they have an adjustable focus, which makes it easier to light the whole length of the tube
    5. they are super bright, which makes for a bright lightsaber
  3. tiddlywinks for the saber color. 3/4 inch tiddlywinks fit perfectly in the flashlight. You can get enough for 250 sabers here.
  4. a motorcycle grip. Many motorcycle grips are shiny and cool looking and make good lightsaber handles. Get motorcycle grips for 1 inch motorcycle handle bars, like a Harley. We found some reasonably priced ones on Ebay.

Other supplies you will need are: wide tape (we used 2 inch wide masking tape), scissors, liquid soap, and water. That's it!

Step 2: Color Your Saber With a Tiddlywink

If you want colored light you can unscrew the top of the flashlight and put a colored disk in. Tiddlywinks fit perfectly-- red for Darth Vader, green for Yoda, etc.

Step 3: Tape the Flashlight to the Tube

Next, take some thick tape and wrap it around the flashlight and the tube to connect them together. Wrap them tightly!

Step 4: Remove the End-cap Off Your Motorcycle Grip

Motorcycle grips are shiny and cool looking and make good lightsaber handles. Get motorcycle grips for 1 inch motorcycle handle bars, like a Harley. If you’re not a grown-up, you’ll need help removing the grip end cap. We cut our grip with scissors.

Step 5: Slide the Motorcycle Grip Over the Light and Tube

Put some water and liquid dish soap inside the grip and rub it around. This makes it easy to slide on over the flashlight and tube.

Step 6: Your Lightsaber Is Finished

That’s it! With a tube, a flashlight, tiddlywinks, and a motorcycle grip you can make your own lightsaber!

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