How to assemble a blade builder lightsaber?

Muhammad Huzaifa
4 min readSep 14, 2021

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Luke Skywalker used a lightsaber. Kylo Ren uses a lightsaber too. Even Darth Maul had a lightsaber, and you can have one just like theirs.

Your weapon of choice when it comes to armour is probably your helmet or chest plate, but when it comes to vital parts, there’s nothing more important than your saber. It has been described as an elegant weapon, for a more civilized age. It is not just a hilt with a blade coming out of it — it’s your partner in battle.

A lightsaber is the iconic weapon of science fiction, used by warriors throughout the galaxy to defeat their foes. Jedi and Sith alike have wielded these blades for centuries, duelling across half a galaxy. Although the technology to create a lightsaber has been lost throughout time, there are those who still strive to craft this ancient weapon.

In my case, they’re enthusiasts from the original trilogy era, that want to bring back these elegant energy swords into an age where blaster rifles and power swords rule the battlefields.

The idea is simple enough. Take high quality parts, combine them into an aesthetically pleasing whole and you have a replica of the weapon carried by heroes throughout the galaxy.

The lightsaber is probably one of the most challenging props to assemble due to its intricate shape and multiple parts that all need attention to detail and will be visible right on your costume. It’s not difficult, but it is time consuming. That said, assembling your own ziasabers can be one of the most rewarding activities you’ll ever do — there’s nothing quite like knowing that you made your very own weapon. A product started by kids with their imagination decades ago is now a reality for us adults to create our own fantasies.

The guide I will provide will be a step-by-step guide on how I built my lightsaber, taking into account things like budget and time available. My goal was to make the most screen accurate replica of a lightsaber that has ever been done before. That means it will look just like Luke’s or Kylo’s from any angle possible. In this article you’ll find some suggestions for how to make your lightsaber even better than mine, but if you find my article helpful, don’t hesitate to thank me by sharing this article on social media.

Now let’s start with the most important part of any weapon — the hilt.

#1. Hilt

The hilt is the most important part of your lightsaber, and its design determines how it will look when completed. You wouldn’t build a Lamborghini in Minecraft, so don’t try making a screen-accurate replica in MS Paint . There are multiple templates available online that you can use to create your own 3D model. There’s a fairly extensive guide on lightsaber construction here, but I’d suggest you follow this tutorial from NBTHK . NBTHK offers an incredibly accurate design, and their templates are available in multiple file formats to suit your needs. For my replica, I used SketchUp because it’s free and easy to use. Even if you’re not familiar with SketchUp, it’s fairly intuitive and you can find tons of tutorials online.

I’m not going to describe how to install the template or use any 3D software because there are already many guides on how to do that available, like this one .

Templates come in two main styles — thin hilts (like the ones used in the original trilogy) or thick hilts (like ones from the prequel and sequel trilogies). You can use them both, but if you go for a thin-style template like NBTHK’s, make sure you glue it to some kind of material — I used 0.5mm clear plastic sheet.

NBTHK also offers a set of templates with multiple thicknesses, so if you want your lightsaber to be in between thin and thick, choose the mid-range option.

If you opt for a thicker template like the one shown here , you can either glue it on some kind of sheet or cut it out directly from a wooden board — it’s up to you.

#2. Lightsaber blade

Once you’ve done with the hilt, it’s time to make a blade. There are currently two ways of doing this — either build a core and attach fiberglass rods around them, or insert an LED into an acrylic tube. Both work well, so it comes down to personal preference.

With my first replica I opted for a blade made of fiberglass rods, and here’s how I did it:

If you’re going to make a full-length blade like mine (24"), you’ll need 12' of 1/2" and 10' of 5/8" (or something similar) dowel rods. Cut them to a length of 12' and drill a 5/8" hole into each one . Then take some sandpaper and smooth out the holes as much as you can. You could even use epoxy putty or bondo to fill in the holes, but if you do — make sure it’s completely dry before proceeding.

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Muhammad Huzaifa
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