[Sir David]

Hello Everyone
This is my first post and I hope I am putting it in the right place.
I am working on a 1/6 custom Sith apprentice figure and I am almost finished except I have no lightsaber. I have looked on Ebay, my main go-to for 1/6 things, but have not found any lightsaber yet. Not that there are none on Ebay but rather they are too expensive and not a lot of variety to choose from. Counting shipping they are around $30. I could bite the bullet and buy one but I would rather not. And there isn't many to choose from. So I got thinking that perhaps I could make one that would do the job all the same. I have looked around to find out how to make one but have not found much. I did find something about making ones that light up but that seems a bit complicated for me. I do not need it to glow, a pre-set color would do the job fine.
What should I use to make the hilt and saber blade out of? I have no idea where to begin with making a 1/6 custom lightsaber. Any advice that anyone wants to give would be greatly appreciated.

 

[saberswift]

I used to use Lego parts and acrylic rods.

 

[Raiden]

The acrylic rods can be obtained online, or in some hobby stores. I believe there was "Plastruct", one company I've bought the rods from years ago. Places like Hobbytown USA had them.

When I was making custom Jedi, I just used whatever parts I could find. GIJoe missles, random parts around the house, anything that looked like it would look like a decent saber hilt. Even if you have to put some things together. Just keep in mind you'd have to drill the tip of the saber for the insertion of the acrylic blade.

If you go metal, you could try looking around the house for old radio and television antennas. Those could be useful.......or take a trip to the local Home Depot or Lowes or any similar store and get some metal tubing.

And last but not least......find someone with a lathe who can make one for you. I picked up a few years ago from a member on another message board who was selling some he made with a lathe. They were AWESOME. Looked better than anything Hasbro, Sideshow or HT makes.

 

[Sir David]

saberswift
Sorry for taking so long to reply. This was the first time I posted anything and when I didn't see it soon after posting the question I thought it wasn't going to work.

Wow! That is a nice Jedi you made. Thank you for your advice and the pictures you included. I recognize a few of the pieces as being Legos. But I am not familiar with acrylic rods, are they what you used for the lightsaber blade?
I thought I was almost finished but the top tunic I got for the figure doesn't fit. So I guess I am going to try making something myself.

 

[Sir David]

Raiden
Thank you for your advice.
I looked on Hobbytown USA and only found some clear ones. I also looked on Ebay and found some in different colors. If you can't find the colors you want how do you go about coloring them? Also what size do you think would work?
I was in Walmart about a week ago and saw some 12 inch bamboo sticks that looked like they might be an appropriate width for a 1/6 saber, maybe. Of course they would have to be painted.
I ordered a hilt from Ebay that might be made like what you was talking about. It looks like it is made with metal and it definitely isn't made by any company. Or at least not that I am aware of. I will try to upload a picture of it once I figure out how.