kysaberstore
New Member
Hey gang!
Long time lurker first time poster, here with a constructible lightsaber hilt design I'm working on. I'm a UK based sabersmith, been tinkering with various lightsaber related things for the past 3 years or so now. This will probably eventually become a run, but it's a ways off for now so figured I'd show the current plans and progress, and get some feedback.
The first in, hopefully a series, of hilts designed for FX installability and to be produced from premium materials. I have a fairly significant collection of hilts now and I like to think I've gotten the feel for a good hilt versus a bad hilt at least. Wanted to push my design skills and go down a manufacturing route, and it was about time I had a fully constructed hilt of my own design in my collection I think.
Would love to hear your thoughts. Will be posting things here as they progress and update if it ever becomes a run.
May the force be with you all!
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Original model as seen in the game:
Super basic and typically incredibly low poly, as was the way at the time of course. I picked this design because it has a real nice sleek vibe to it, loved the kind of colouring on that grip that implied itself to be some sort of darkened obsidian colour which I like. That coppery top accent piece would also work well as steel and lend itself to heat treatment for sure.
Worked hard to try and update the design for a modern hilt and add details where none existed before, without going too overboard of course. There's a lot of features in sabers I've seen over the years that I've really loved, lots of nice little design tricks too that I've tried to incorporate where possible. This thing should be solid, and a breeze to install.
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CAD model as it currently stands:
I'm more artist than engineer, but it's getting there!
Basic construction from aluminium. Some accents in stainless steel, brass, delrin (perhaps? felt more premium than acrylic in my experience) for the accent greeblies, some transparent resin for the LED spots and a nice blade plug. Brass dual button plungers, as is standard in most sabers these days. Huge resonance chamber for a 31mm speaker - which was a tight fit given the weird dimensions of the pommel. Will take a 1" neopixel stick when all is said and done. Plenty of room on the interior for a nicely designed and printed chassis which I also plan to do.
Emitter top ring and that accent ring above the switch plate are both stainless steel. The rest of the construction is anodized aluminium mostly, probably satin bead blasted for a nice finish I reckon.
The internal construction I'm really proud of, everything either threads together or is held with hidden retentions, so it should be nice and solid and look "in universe" as it were, no random screws or visible retentions on the outside - which I typically hate on hilts! No big ugly 12mm buttons either, nice slim brass tactiles.
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In talks with a factory now about production costs. This guy is constructed of quite a few parts so I'm hoping it won't come in too pricey, but hey for my first hilt designed from the ground up rather than existing components smashed together, I'm really quite proud of the outcome. Gotta work out my tolerances and make sure the hardware for all the fasteners and hidden retention screws are up to spec, and then I think I'm ready to put this one into production and get a sample.
Super excited to see how this one turns out, and given my first 3D print mockups it feels hefty and swings like a beast, loving it so far.
Thanks all!
Long time lurker first time poster, here with a constructible lightsaber hilt design I'm working on. I'm a UK based sabersmith, been tinkering with various lightsaber related things for the past 3 years or so now. This will probably eventually become a run, but it's a ways off for now so figured I'd show the current plans and progress, and get some feedback.
The first in, hopefully a series, of hilts designed for FX installability and to be produced from premium materials. I have a fairly significant collection of hilts now and I like to think I've gotten the feel for a good hilt versus a bad hilt at least. Wanted to push my design skills and go down a manufacturing route, and it was about time I had a fully constructed hilt of my own design in my collection I think.
Would love to hear your thoughts. Will be posting things here as they progress and update if it ever becomes a run.
May the force be with you all!
-------------------------------------------
Original model as seen in the game:
Super basic and typically incredibly low poly, as was the way at the time of course. I picked this design because it has a real nice sleek vibe to it, loved the kind of colouring on that grip that implied itself to be some sort of darkened obsidian colour which I like. That coppery top accent piece would also work well as steel and lend itself to heat treatment for sure.
Worked hard to try and update the design for a modern hilt and add details where none existed before, without going too overboard of course. There's a lot of features in sabers I've seen over the years that I've really loved, lots of nice little design tricks too that I've tried to incorporate where possible. This thing should be solid, and a breeze to install.
-------------------------------------------
CAD model as it currently stands:
I'm more artist than engineer, but it's getting there!
Basic construction from aluminium. Some accents in stainless steel, brass, delrin (perhaps? felt more premium than acrylic in my experience) for the accent greeblies, some transparent resin for the LED spots and a nice blade plug. Brass dual button plungers, as is standard in most sabers these days. Huge resonance chamber for a 31mm speaker - which was a tight fit given the weird dimensions of the pommel. Will take a 1" neopixel stick when all is said and done. Plenty of room on the interior for a nicely designed and printed chassis which I also plan to do.
Emitter top ring and that accent ring above the switch plate are both stainless steel. The rest of the construction is anodized aluminium mostly, probably satin bead blasted for a nice finish I reckon.
The internal construction I'm really proud of, everything either threads together or is held with hidden retentions, so it should be nice and solid and look "in universe" as it were, no random screws or visible retentions on the outside - which I typically hate on hilts! No big ugly 12mm buttons either, nice slim brass tactiles.
-------------------------------------------
In talks with a factory now about production costs. This guy is constructed of quite a few parts so I'm hoping it won't come in too pricey, but hey for my first hilt designed from the ground up rather than existing components smashed together, I'm really quite proud of the outcome. Gotta work out my tolerances and make sure the hardware for all the fasteners and hidden retention screws are up to spec, and then I think I'm ready to put this one into production and get a sample.
Super excited to see how this one turns out, and given my first 3D print mockups it feels hefty and swings like a beast, loving it so far.
Thanks all!
