Slashdot Mirror
How To Make Authentic Lightsabers
IQpierce writes "My good friend Bradley W. Lewis has set up a site for his hobby: building replica lightsabers at home. These aren't your average cheap pieces of plastic, in fact they're more authentic than the Master Replica sabers: Brad tracks down the pieces of equipment actually used to build the original props — or, when they're unavailable, very close replicas, that he further customizes with a metal lathe in his garage — and puts them together with loving attention. My favorite part is the embellishments he does add, on the inside of the saber — his replica of Luke's saber from ANH can be opened to see authentic-looking internals such as a glowing crystal (as well as another surprise — an autograph from Luke himself, Mark Hamill). Each project is documented step-by-step with hundreds of photos — whether you're a hobbyist, or just a big Star Wars geek like me, you'll find it interesting."
Truly, news for nerds.
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
If this "light saber" is incapable of amputating Jedis or other humanoids then it is just an expensive toy.
Why is this on slashdot? /. is serious business.
They're not authentic until I can cut my neighbor's car in half with it.
A sonic screwdriver, on the other hand, is pretty easy to make if you have access to a ceramic resonator and a quantum power source.
Cease and Desist in 3...2...1...
I know it's good to have a hobby. I guess I'm just more inclined to hobbies with real world applications like building cars or furniture.
Of course this is beyond cool!
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Whaddya mean, "prop"? Whaddya mean, "movie"?
Holy midi-chlorians, are you claiming they're just FICTION?
Next thing you know someone's gonna insist that the moon landings were filmed on a soundstage.
I, for one, find your lack of faith disturbing.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
I saw some of the original props at the Children's Muesum in Indianapolis several months ago, and close up, to be honest, they look like crap. You might not want to use the original movie props as your standard to aim for.
authentic - 2: not counterfeit or copied
Maybe I'm just splitting hairs, but unless Lucas has given some sort of formal approval, building your own lightsaber is the opposite of authentic.
If I build a Porsche 911 in my garage out of parts from other cars and parts I made myself, it wouldn't be considered an authentic Porsche. Even if I (miraculously) made it faster, lighter, or otherwise better than the real one.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
The price of Graflex synchronizers has gone through the roof because of Star Wars nerds who want their own authentic-looking light sabers. This is a real nightmare for those of us who love flash bulb photography, since new Graflexes aren't being made anymore (except replicas without the electronics, specifically for building light sabers). Please, if you want to make a light saber, buy a Graflex replica instead of an original. They're cheaper, in better condition, and don't deprive anyone of a now-rare useful tool.
Scratched Emulsion
to get hold of a Speed Graphic/MPP flashgun nowadays thanks to these damn buffoons who need an "authentic" lightsabre. They're almost as criminally culpable as hotrod builders who take increasingly rare classic vehicles and prostitute them into something only a deranged magpie would love.
Once the Chilean miners have been rescued, I would like to post lightsabre makers and their customers DOWN the rescue shaft.
Bah!
I do not think it means what you think it means.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
It's just a flesh wound!
A TRUE Jedi builds his own lightsaber.
I think the equipment list would put this safely outside the hobbyist category.
All the tools listed are multi-use and frankly not very impressive. Buying a two to three figure drill press hardly makes you a "professional". Even my metal lathe and associated gear is probably barely over three figures.
Also, the computer hobbyist industry is oriented around zero resale value and extremely fast obsolesce, whereas all the tools you listed are pretty much "buy once per lifetime" (assuming you don't buy chicom garbage). A 30 year old PC-XT clone motherboard is probably not as cutting edge and useful as my fathers 30 year old dremel tool... My decade old metal cutting bandsaw is much less obsolete than a decade old graphics card.
My computer hobby mostly results in full landfills, whereas a hobby like metalworking is a bit more like a real capital investment.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Big deal. Until someone makes one that actually has a useful blade, it's just a handle.
Those lightsaber guys never fought very well. See Hit Girl's first fight, in "Kick-Ass" for someone who can handle a double-ended weapon. Chloe Grace-Moretz spent a few months at the Toronto Circus School, plus martial arts training, to prepare for that fight, and it shows.
If he did, I'd find him and beat him for ruining something that is one of the best examples of early semi-automatic handguns. http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg90-e.htm
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Also, the computer hobbyist industry is oriented around zero resale value and extremely fast obsolesce, whereas all the tools you listed are pretty much "buy once per lifetime"
Or in some cases buy once per several lifetimes. I fully expect to inherit several of my father's tools, just as he still uses some of his father's tools. Granted they do wear down, but a lot of these items can even be rebuilt/repaired as a hobby in itself. In a pinch, I can still call him up and have him work with me on some of the items where I require a tool he has in his workshop.
And somewhere in the background, Harry Chapin plays on the radio.
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
It's just a flesh wound!
Already cauterized.