Custom Standard Issue Battle Saber

[darth_sen]

This is a re-post from the old UltraSabers forum:

This saber is extremely light, even with mods and the blade.  This is the first ever saber from Ultrasabers I have ever made and I surprised myself with how well it turned out.


The thick black attachments are actually the insides of 1.5" plumbing compression unions from Home Depot.  They are rubber and slide on with no problems.  They pop right out of the union when you unscrew the outer ends.  They are surrounded by #17 O-Rings that also fit into the pre-machined grooves and hold them tight without any glue.  They give nice comfortable grip and contrast well with the silver and white.  The bottom piece is held on by the O-Ring's tension and doesn't interfere when screwed off to access the battery compartment inside the hilt.


The thinner white attachments near the base are actually 1.25" poly washers from Ace Hardware.  I initially had a problem with these because they are an EXACT fit and I had to shoe-horn them on.  Unfortunately after the first attempt they began to split overnight.  After talking to people at my local hobby shop they suggested FREEZING the aluminum to condense the metal at the atomic level, and then BAKING the poly washers at about 250 degrees for about 10 minutes to make the plastic more plyable.  I did that and they slid on without any issues or shoe-horning.  If I did have any problems moving them once on I just reheated for a few seconds with a hair dryer and they became plyable again.  Once all the materials returned to room temperature they fit snugly and haven't split since.  I used #18 O-Rings inbetween the ridges to hide the slight transparency in the thinner portions of the poly washers.  I felt that since the #18s are thinner than the #17s, they wouldn't be as obvious to the touch when wielding it.  I think the white plastic looks like ivory and with the red blade really gives the feeling of this being a Sith Lord's saber.


The Covertec belt clip is from The Custom Saber Shop.  Even though it is machined for their larger outside diameter hilts, the gap is virtually unnoticeable.  So that it doesn't fall off when removing the mounting screw for the blade, I used Gorilla glue to secure it.


Special thanks goes out to all the guys at Al's Hobby Shop in Elmhurst, Illinois for their help and suggestions.

[Gulcasa]

what shall I say? :O
nicely done, I actually like the Standart Issue Battle Saber alot, since the top of the hilt makes the blade look very sharp.
This is an unique and very awesome customization
I have to find such an hobby shop as well

[Darth Dau Kho]

Looks sweet I love the si mainly because there is so much you can do to it.

[navajas]

This looks great.

I was wondering if you could take a few close ups of the larger black strips and how they are attached. I'm afraid I'm not understanding your process and bigger pics of the elements might help. I really like the Standard hilt a lot, and what I was envisioning doing to it was much like but with a leather wrap about where you've got your washers.

Fantastic saber.

[Darth Dau Kho]

This looks great.

I was wondering if you could take a few close ups of the larger black strips and how they are attached. I'm afraid I'm not understanding your process and bigger pics of the elements might help. I really like the Standard hilt a lot, and what I was envisioning doing to it was much like but with a leather wrap about where you've got your washers.

Fantastic saber.

I wrapped my si hilt with leather strips then went over it with leather cord. I was really pleased with how it turned out.

[darth_sen]

Navajas:

See the first paragraph for how the 1.5" rubber-plumbing-compression-union-innards are attached.  The inner diameter of those and the outer diameter of the saber are a perfect match - they slipped right on.  There is no adhesion necessary because the #17 O-Rings, which are in the grooves on both sides of the unions, are holding them securely in place.  I can post pics later if you still need them.

[Warlock Umbra]

Looks sweet I love the si mainly because there is so much you can do to it.

Yes, this is why I'm planning a SI for my DIY project!!