Best products from r/lightsabers

I just bought a [similar one] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GPYK976?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share) on Amazon and came on here to look for further advice.

They're not terrible, or if they are I can't tell from my experience with the official Star Wars Sabre lines (I'm sure someone else on here can explain issues in greater detail). The color was decent, and the basic sound was nice, but some of the sounds were just odd (tapping the switch makes a deflection noise, but also a laser firing noise, so it just feels weird) and Flash on clash felt so odd I'm certain it's done in a way that doesn't properly emulate more expensive Sabres (I'd much prefer it off). Really, this and the one I bought before are nice for playing with my kids but I'd not call them showy or anything. When the next step up was $200, though, I took the dive.

The only other one I've [bought] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BCXXHYT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_mIZyCb0FW3GTE) didn't have rgb but felt a lot better overall. Sounds were great, but not as loud as the expensive ones, but they all sounded right.

One thing I'd definitely say I didn't expect was both of them (and I'd assume most cheaper ones) have a light in the hilt for the entire Sabre rather than an LED strip. It let's you change out blades if they get beat up, but it doesn't look nearly as cool when they turn on as the slow build up of the LED strips. It is a small gripe, probably, but for me it's much cooler to see the light move up the blade than it just be instantly entirely on.

I think either would be fine for someone who isn't looking at it from a hobbyist view though, like I'm just getting them for fun and dueling so they're a decent fit (outside of what I mentioned, which led me to browse here). Seems like anything better costs quite a bit more.

I believe that uses the same internal components as the $180 one he sells. (Link at bottom). I have the $180 version one (that I bought for $87, now priced @$96, link at bottom).

The one I bought uses a 1" blade rather than a 7/8". I prefer 1" since it's the standard for almost all sabers except a few Parks/Korbanth canon replicas and I already have a bunch of 1". There are several different sabers that all seem to use the same internals, but vary the hilt design. The price also varies by seller.

Here's my initial review and not much has changed since then. We've bashed sabers on probably a half dozen occasions since then and it's still holding up so far.

> Early thoughts on Chinese $87 (shipped) Saber - 11 color RGB with sound

>Features: Switch between 11 colors on-the-fly

>3 sound fonts (two sound really similar to me so far)

>Flash on Clash effect

>Blaster deflect sound

>Lock-up effect

>Shimmer settings (fast pulse, no pulse, heartbeat (slow from 0 to 100), flicker on/off)

>Mute Option

>Volume adjustment

>2.1mm recharge port (charged via included USB to 2.1mm cable)

>Includes a 31" diffusion-film lined blade

>My early thoughts: Initially, I'm impressed. I was looking for a very cheap saber to give to my young nephew and this so far looks like a winner. It is about 80% as loud as my Saberforge hilt installed with a 28mm premium bass from TCSS. I can't tell exactly which speaker they used, but it's somewhere between 24mm-28mm size and 8ohm 2 watts.

>Everything is controlled via the Main button. This takes getting used to. To change anything, you press and hold; it vibrates every second. Hold for three vibrations to switch colors on the fly. Hold for 2 vibrations to enter "Lock-up mode". I can't figure out how to do Deflect effect (1 vibration) and NOT do Shimmer effect (also seems to be 1 vibration). The rest works pretty well. Turning off is unfortunately 4 or 5 vibrations.

>The soundboard has about a 1/4 second delay between a sound effect playing and resuming the idle hum. Not the end of the world for my nephew, but obviously not ideal.

>The pommel seems a slightly different black; like matte black vs gloss black. It's not noticeable until you have light shining on it. I also plan to cover the hand grip area with a defcon leather wrap.

>Internals: The pommel unthreads and reveals a kill-switch and speaker. The hilt also unthreads above the button and below the LED. Everything looks locked down with generous amounts of hot glue. LED has a retention screw and the blade has four retention screws.

>Shipping: I ordered the 24th of May and received it a few hours ago. Total time from click to door was 11 days.

>Quick video highlighting some features: https://youtu.be/LjDwf6_K0SY

For the price, it's great value as long as it keeps working. The ability to switch colors is a godsend since my own saber does it, and therefore my nephew wants to change his color every couple minutes. The soundboard isn't great (that delay I mention), but hey, you're getting an RGB saber plus sound for under $100.

$180 - https://www.amazon.com/Kybers-Lightsaber-Rechargeable-Character-Soresu-RGB/dp/B07H1K99S1/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=Kybers&qid=1549997936&s=gateway&sr=8-6

$96 - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/11-Colors-Lightsaber-Boy-Gril-Toy-Flashing-Sword-RGB-Sword-Cosplay-Interesting-Star-Laser-Emitting-Outdoor/32867950833.html

Hey, thanks! Sorry for the late reply, didn't expect this post to get much attention. Lol.

Here are the steps I took (in order):

• Sketch your build or design. Get a general idea of how you want the sides, front, back, and endcap to look. And where you want the electronics to go. That includes the button, battery, and LED placement.
  
  
• Make sure that the parts you order FIT inside your main body PVC. The Custom Saber Shop has this for the LED that will fit nicely inside my main body. I'll post my entire order from TCSS below this comment as a reply. And decide how you want to power your build (AA, AAA, or a Li-Ion battery). For ease, put the batteries at the end cap.
  
  
• Decide how big you want the body and the shroud (outer PVC) to be. I used 1'' PVC as the body and 1-1/4'' PVC for the shroud. Both are the white SCH-40 PVC. You can include other materials for your build if you choose to do so. I didn't include anything else but PVC for my hilt.
  
  
• Go to your local ACE or Home Depot to select PVC's that will most resemble or help craft your hilt. Pick whatever screws you want for the attaching of the shroud to the body just as long as the length of the screws are within boundaries of the smallest PVC diameter. But get a screw with a big enough diameter to press your lightsaber blade firmly against the hilt. Get a screw or two that will press the LED module to stay in place. I winded up going to ACE for screws and HD for the PVC. And you might as well pick out the spray paint if you choose.
  
  
• Get some craft paper (any really as long it doesn't have holes in them) and wrap one around the larger PVC and make sure to tape it. Now that you have that cylinder paper, press it smoothly to make it flat. Copy your design on just one half of the paper and cut with scissors. Include the placement for the screws, I forgot to do so in my build. Do so and you will get results like this.
  
  
• Over the actual PVC in which you'll be making the design, trace your craft paper on it with a sharpie. Make sure your craft paper fits nicely with the diameter of PVC for ease of tracing.
  
  
• Once you have all traces laid out then you can begin cutting the PVC with a Dremel / rotary tool (they're the same thing). For some cuts, it might be easier to use a hacksaw. Pre-drill holes for the screws. Make sure your drill bit is exactly the same diameter as the screw. The same thing goes for the button(s). If the button still doesn't fit sand it a bit with the Dremel.
  
  NOTE: If your battery pack does not fit inside your PVC main body sand around the PVC from the inside in a circular motion (move upward if you have to) until the battery pack fits. I used three AAA for mine. I bought this battery pack from Amazon. They fit nicely after some sanding in my PVC. Make sure there is still some friction so the battery packs don't go swinging up and down.
  
  
• After cleaning the dust off, you may apply the spray paint to each piece. Use some filler primer spray paint to hide any cuts or imperfections on your PVC designs before applying the main colors. Let it dry completely. Once it's dry completely you can add some weathering.
  
  
• For installing the electronics see this video. If you want a switch that lights up, see this video and/or this video. Rob is really great at explaining the steps for beginners. Since I already have experience with electronics I could skip these steps for this project. I will note that you could use an Arduino Nano to program the AV momentary switch and the LED if you have one around but does require some programming skills (the coding isn't long). If you still want to use the M-to-L converter, use my sketch to help you out. Edit: #7 & #8 are just the for the remaining wires on the button. It doesn't matter where either wire goes here. They are just for the buttons inputs.
  
  NOTE: Keep a track of wire management. Too much wire can cause electronics to push against one another too much. I fell into this problem. 24 AWG to 22 AWG will do fine. And USE heat shrink as Rob advises, it will make a difference as time goes on.
  
  
• And once it's all said and done, enjoy!
  
  WARNING: Wear a breathing mask to avoid PVC dust in your lungs and wear goggles! And make sure to not breathe in any fumes from the PVC because the Dremel will heat it up you do not let the PVC cooldown in between cuts or if you sand for too long. For the best protection do this outside if you can and shower afterward.

OK, here is the short and dirty version. If you need more info, I can give it to you. I'll assume you know the bare essentials of coding, and soldering. This subreddit seems like they don't mind a bit of DIY and learning. There are 2 versions. One has a color changing blade, the other doesn't. The only downside to this DIY is that the LED in the blade could be brighter. I am currently experimenting with different lighting types to see what's best.

For a saber with color-changing ability, buy this wishlist:

https://www.adafruit.com/wishlists/491218

and also this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ONOI9K2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For a saber with no color changing ability, buy this wishlist:

https://www.adafruit.com/wishlists/492907

and also this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ONOI9K2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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You will also need a soldering iron, some wires to put stuff together, and if you're fancy, some heat-shrink tubes. You'll also need a computer with internet access and a USB-microUSB cable that has data-transmission capabilities. Any moderately expensive USB cable usually has data functionality as well. Here is a list of stuff that would get you on your way:

Guide on how to get your microcontrollers up and running:

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-feather-m0-express-designed-for-circuit-python-circuitpython/kattni-circuitpython

Easy-detach wires

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075K4HLTQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Heat-shrink

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072PCQ2LW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now follow this guide to put it together:

https://learn.adafruit.com/lightsaber-featherwing/circuit-diagram

We're not using a neopixel, so don't worry about that part. Just stick with the LED wiring. This part will take experimentation, so take your time and test-test-test. This guide will help with additional wiring and coding questions:

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-prop-maker-featherwing

Now use this code if you're doing a color changing blade. If you're not, you can keep the code as is, and just manually set the saber color you desire:

https://github.com/robert1233/lightsaber/blob/master/code.py

And you should be good to go! I'm still working on perfecting the code. I'm still learning as well, but this works. The guide I based this off is:

https://learn.adafruit.com/lightsaber-featherwing/software

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Features: micro-USB charging, color changing blade, sound and motion sensor for: startup, shut down, idle, swing, clash. Light up power button.

Cons: This has only been tested with a full-size ultrasabers blade. The LED could be brighter. I'm still working on that.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tips:

Sound files that I used can be found here. Use at your own discretion:

https://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=41379.0

The hardest part of this build is the soldering. If you are comfortable with that and you are willing to do some reading, this is very easy to do. I had pretty much no electronic background and was able to figure all this out in about a month.

Make sure you use the short headers for soldering the feather and wing together! This is very important or the microcontroller may not fit into your hilt! Test twice, solder once.

Don't veer off the wishlist. Everything I picked is low profile and allows for maximum space and flexibility. I went with as much plug and play as I could. The battery, speaker, and charger are all plug-ins. The LED, power button, and color-changing potentiometer require soldering.

If you are going the color changing route, you may have to drill a hole wherever you want the color-changer to be.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'll upload photo's whenever I can. Like I said, I'm working on finding a better lighting source, so right now everything is taken apart.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I take no responsibility if you shock, burn, or stab yourself; or ruin your lightsaber or any electronic components. This is a guide on how I made the inside of my lightsaber and no more.

The Chassis: Most of the handle is MHS v2 (where the leather wrap is), and then both ends adapt up to MHS v1. Because of this I ended up going with Goth 3D chassis parts that are 0.99 OD. But they are modular pieces, so you pick and choose which ones you want. I needed to use spacers between some of the parts so that I could route the cables through, so I put spacers between all of them to look cohesive. Other than the Goth 3D parts, there are a few Skywampa, TCSS, and other various hardware bits. Everything is linked below.

Goth 3D

• Crystal Chamber part 1 in polished nickel steel
  
• Crystal Chamber part 2 in polished gold steel There is 1 LED in the bottom of this piece
  
• Chassis part 1 in plastic white - Soundboard Was perfectly sized for the Warsabers board
  
• Chassis part 2 in plastic white - Battery
  
• Chassis part 3 in plastic white - Speaker Had to mod the speaker so this would fit inside the handle
  
• Chassis part 4 in plastic white - Recharge port
  
• Chassis part 5 in plastic white - Spacer disc
  
  
  Excluding the crystal chamber parts, the Goth 3D chassis parts were all white, which was a mistake. Should've done black. So I painted all of them in a few steps. 1st was paint them flat black. 2nd was paint them graphite. 3rd was a layer of silver leaf Rub'n Buff thinned with enamel thinner and applied to just the outside to help it look more like metal.
  
  Here are the other pieces of the chassis with explanations:
  
  
• Skywampa 1" chamber part These are used as spacers between the crystal chamber and the chassis. Also helped with providing a channel for the wires.
  
• Skywampa 35mm Graflex to MHS connector disc. This is the disc between the blade holder and the MHS Chassis disc below. You need it to connect the two pieces together. It's not on their Etsy page right now so I can't link to it.
  
• TCSS Chassis Disc Style 4 This is the part that threads into the handle and holds a 2nd LED for the crystal chamber.
  
  The Skywampa and TCSS discs are treated with a combination of Aluminum Black and Ebony Rub'n Buff to give them that "weathered" look.
  
  Here are the various hardware bits to connect all of it:
  
  
• Crystal for the crystal chamber Picked one that looked right but was a little big, then reshaped it some to fit properly
  
• Brass rods that run the length of the chassis These were treated with Aluminum Black to look old. I also tried carbon fiber and steel rids but like the brass ones the best
  
• Steel spacers These are between the the fins, crystal chamber, TCSS disc, Skywampa disc, & blade holder
  
• Screws to connect the TCSS disc, Skywampa disc, & blade holder
  
• Crimp Beads These are the spacers between the battery, soundboard, recharge port, & speaker chassis components.
  
• Brass tubes between the crystal chamber and the TCSS disc. Don't remember the size though. These provide a little extra stability for the brass rods because they flexed a little too much for my liking.
  
• 5mm LED bezel Two of these, one on each side of the crystal chamber.

Depends on what you're looking for!

​

Best of the Best? Korbanth is neat, and they have pretty short lead times. Really nice sabers, but pricy. They have two versions of his saber:

One without Weathering

One with Weathering

I'm still waiting on my graflex from them, but I've been speaking back and forth with Randy and he's always been polite and friendly, and quick to reply! I really appreciate that.

​

If you don't want to spend that much, and don't mind getting exactly what you pay for, there's always the Hasbro sabers.

​

And if you don't want something fully canon, but high quality, you could look at the Aeryn from Sabertrio. They have lots of customizations, and can do their sabers ranging from Stunt Sabers (Without sound) and Deluxe Sabers (High quality blades, sound, the whole shebang)

I'm glad!

Yeah the speaker holder works very well.
The Custom Saber Shop has a video series on YouTube that makes a saber with sound. That is what I based a lot of my internals on, the only thing I used different was the Prizm.

This is the connection I used for the blade.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016FCZ5SS?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd

I used this to mount the aviation connector to the inside of my blade.

http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Machined-button-for-Covertec-clip-P161.aspx

The covertect fits perfectly inside a 1" thick wall blade. I milled out the center of the clip to fit my connector, and glued it into place. Now I have a detachable blade!

My local group orders the grab bag often enough I get to mess with (swing around) a variety of them. After testing a lot of the basic Ultrasabers hilts I found that the Sentinel v4 was the best balanced, more so with the battery puck (slightly lighter hilt). But I found that the front choke point just didn't allow for a good grip and handling as other models like the Initiate V3. After some thought I ended up figuring a fill would at least make the handle evened out instead of cutting into the hand.

I was able to get strands of gray leather lacing. After some repeated test wraps, trimming/thinning of the ends to keep it from sticking out the leather was staying, some sanding of the metal with 100 grit sandpaper, application of a little E6000 glue and some careful wrapping, and 24 hours of letting the glue to set and it was done. Actually a fairly simple mod that most anyone could do for less than $20.

The leather ended up a bit darker than I wanted. But I will see about either getting it treated lighter or just end up figuring out how to weather the hilt to match the more gritty look. As far as use goes, it ended up far far better than I expected. The leather adds an amazing increase of grip against hand or glove. This makes the stress of gripping the hilt even less than the Initiate V3's choke. Even when doing more dexterous motions with only two fingers it grips super well. I couldn't recommend this simple mod if anyone has the Sentinel v4

Sometimes the lenses will just press fit snugly into the holes in the star, but you definitely don't want normal super glue that close to the LEDs, even with the wiring tidied up the star can get pretty hot with a small heatsink like that one.
I know you can get thermal glue designed for CPU heatsinks, and there are probably other glues designed for high temperatures that would work.

If you're going to go full Cool Uncle on this, I recommend presenting the saber in a wooden box, something like this.

This can be either natural, or fancied up with wood stain outside and foam with fabric over it on the inside. This can make a fun project, for pretty cheap.

The blade would be separate, true - but a maximum level Cool Uncle will have the blade and an Allen wrench handy, maybe in a shinai bag with a couple of spare blades.

As crazy as it sounds, IM using those broom holders that 3M makes. They seem silly but I like how I dont have to butcher the wall and they hold great so far.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G1Y42H0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For anybody who searches and finds this thread later, I bought the ones I linked from Amazon and will cut to size. There's 10 in a pack so I can mess one or two up. ;)

These: https://www.amazon.com/Prime-Line-Products-8510-Thumbscrews-Aluminum/dp/B00E8NARBC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1519919549&sr=8-7&keywords=%238-32+thumb+screw

If anybody ever needs an update on how it turned out just reply to one of my posts in here in the future and I'll reply when I see it. If it turns out super great I'll probably make new post to show pics.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B017KIQOSQ/ref=psdcmw_166038011_t1_B0071NORX0

They are meant to mainly be shown off, but have much better lighting then duelling ones and can withstand some lighthearted dueling

You know what, I had it wrong - the Amazon brand that I've purchased before is Kybers (not Kyberlight). Costs more, but it is pretty nice, all things considered: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FTDH81M/

There's an inexpensive blade up for sale on Amazon, as well. I can't personally speak to the quality, but it has some positive reviews.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07FTDH81M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_B3DCDbQG0Y2ZW

Keep in mind that a youngling is a 7/8" blade and will likely get wrecked dueling even moderately with a 1" blade.

The Pach Store just released a quality dueling saber for under a $100 with sound, but if you want to go super cheap, a YDD will do.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BCXXT14/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_adK2BbWFTMJHR

YYST Clear Light Saber Wall Mount Wall Rack Wall Holder - Hardware Included.[Amazon Clear Lightsaber Mount ]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F58LXFP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_PzgsDb55Y9FFN

The mount pictured.

I don't know anything about LED strips; but for LED-in-hilt blades you can make them yourself for cheap (well, cheap in bulk, for a one-off it'd probably be more expensive):

- Blade tips like this: https://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Shouldered-1-thick-walled-blade-tip-with-reflective-disc--P139.aspx

- Polycarbonate tubing: https://usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=35302&clickid=search

- Diffuser: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0170H8TL2/

>BTF Lighting

Are these the ones you use? Are they brighter than Alitove? What's the difference?

​

https://www.amazon.com/BTF-LIGHTING-WS2812B-Individual-Addressable-Non-waterproof/dp/B01CDTEJR0

Like this one?
UPSTONE Kybers RGB 11 Colors Changeable Lightsaber Metal Hilt Light Saber with 3 Mode Sound Force FX Dueling Lightsaber https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FTDH81M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_SvHsDbVPC156Y

[Better bang for your buck but still relatively cheap](UPSTONE Kybers RGB 11 Colors... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FTDH81M?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share)

Nope this one is the upstone kybers basic saber. I wanted something RGB and sound. And for the price you can't beat this.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FTDH81M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WWQxDbQX6G1J4