TOPIC: DIY in the UK

Whilst I've been waiting for my first SF Saber to arrive I've started to dabble with making my own. I'm really enjoying it so far and have been absolutely hammering my eBay account. I just wondered if any of my fellow UK residents have found any good suppliers of Saber bits and bobs as my main issue is not wanting to pay shipping from the US for a part that might only cost a few quid.
I just found the link nUcLeArEnVoY posted for electronics which is a good one.
For Tyeth/DIO/ galeforceeight/anyone else, any suggestions?

I wanted to post just to assure you: you're not being ignored.
I've been looking into fashioning my own hilt and, financially, it's not something I can do as a one-off.
One off parts = expensive
Cheap parts = expensive postage and import from the US.
You would literally have to start a new business to support the manufacture of sensibly priced saber parts and then you'd have to hope that customers would adopt your early prices and buy enough units to cover costs.

Electronics however (aside from the sound boards) should be obtainable from regular places. Without "promoting" a supplier, Rapid Electronics tends to be a good provider of components (LEDs, sensors etc). Of course you'd need to know what you wanted first and how they would go together.

Soundboards for sabers are specifically manufactured for the purpose (instead of being a generic PCB and components), so they had/ have a setup cost too if you want to develop your own.

The first hurdle to sabers, whether you make your own or buy them in, is always going to be setup cost. Even though "the Other Guys" make cheap sabers that are not as beautiful as Saberforge, the postage cost is still nearly the same as the saber itself. It's still cheaper than buying the parts and making it yourself.

Unless you own a CNC lathe, PCB etcher and the skills and experience needed, it's STILL cheaper to buy the parts and pay shipping, than to get them made here.

Perhaps the best option is to start a group who want a few parts and buy together to save shipping and duty costs.

Gaelis, thank you very much for your response. I have spent a LOT of time trawling the internet for hilt and electronics bits and have pretty much come to the same conclusion.
So far I've made a few Hilts out of single pieces of Aluminium tube and tap handles as pommels and have then used salt water etching to make them look more lightsaber like.



The blades have been spray painted UPVC trunking up to this point although I have just started playing about with a clear one lined with cellophane and using a small cree torch inside the hilt, no sound.





Looks like if I want to take this hobby any further I'll have to bite the bullet and do a reasonable sized order form the USA

If you email Tim from TCSS, he offers cheaper international shipping options for small parts - those options just don't show up on the site for some reason. JQ Sabers also has some sort of arrangement with TCSS to be a UK-supplier for MHS parts.

If you can afford the wait, Deal Extreme's a chinese wholesaler useful for random electronics like switches and JST connectors. Their LEDs aren't much to write home about - though the cheap RGBs can be color-mixed into a custom blade color about as bright as a Single-Cree - but you'll probably have trouble finding the LuxIII lens holders that sort of LED needs.

If you need a local source of blade stock, you're looking for 25mm OD pipe. 22mm ID is equivalent to thinwall, 19mm ID is equivalent to thickwall, and 22mm ID is LudoSport standard.

Thanks Kouri, that's really useful. I'll certainly get in touch with those guys. I managed to get the blade from eBay for a reasonable price but cant find a blade tip or something to use as a blade tip anywhere. I made one out of this clear resin type stuff but it's really brittle and not suitable.
Any ideas?

I've finished my first 'warrior tier' Saber completely from scratch. Thanks to Kouri and Gaelis I have plenty of ideas for the next one!

esxdave fine work. I like etching, is that Aurebesh font, and what does it mean? Well done Sir.

Mmmm nice. I've been itching to try acid etching.

It is Salt water etching and it's my Nephews name. I started making it and my wife convinced me it should be his birthday present. I've loved making it but giving it away will be tough. Guess I'll have to start the next one then eh

Hey esxdave,
That looks awesome and your nephew is going to love it!

Have you found a reasonable source of polycarbonate tubes and/or blade tips yet?

Any chance you could document your build into a full tutorial?

Cheers,
G

I used eBay for the blade stock but ended up having to stick with the homemade resin made one which is the only part of the build I'm not happy with. For the next one I will probably contact one of the U.K. based Saber makers to get blade tips, but for this one I wanted to build from parts that weren't 'Lightsaber parts'.
I started with some aluminium tube with an ID of 1" from eBay



I then had a massive stroke of luck in finding that the mother in law had a 'brother scan n cut' which allowed me make my design on the computer and then cut it onto an a4 sheet of vinyl sticker.
I then stuck this onto the aluminium and used the saltwater etching method described here
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Electro-Etch-a-Solid-Metal-Plaque/
I used a car battery charger for the power source and a metal scouring pad as the sacrificial metal (be careful as it was drawing over 10amps whilst etching). It took about 20 mins to etch, moving the Saber every 5 mins or so to get an even etch (don't forget to turn the power off!)

For the blade I used 1" acrylic tube from eBay(basically everything was eBay) and cellophane wrap with a custom made resin tip (again thanks to the mother in law) with a small metal disc as a reflector.
The light is a small Cree led torch Here that I ripped the button out of and wired to an external latching switch here. This was all mounted inside another 1" poly tube that I had from a previous Saber





I Then attached the electronics (glued into the poly tube) and the blade inside the tube using some bolts through holes that I drilled and tapped into the aluminium tube.

I think that pretty much covers it but if anyone would like more info then I'd be more than happy to post more.
I have really enjoyed discovering a new hobby and will be trying a more 'traditional' single Cree LED and cheapo Hasbro board build next!