STAR WARS CRAFT — DIY LIGHT SABER
Now the force can always be with you, too with this unique Star Wars
craft.
Materials:
- 10-inch (25-cm) piece of
- 1.25 inch (3-cm) PVC pipe
- Black spray paint
- Drill
- 4 feet (1.2 m) of
- Electrical wire
- Wire strippers
- 30 LEDs
- Pliers
- 2½-foot (75-cm) length of ¾-inch (2-cm) frosted polycarbonate tube
- Two AA batteries
- Soldering iron and solder
- On/off switch
- Duct tape
Step 1
Spray-paint the PVC pipe black—this is your handle—then drill a hole in it for the on/off switch.
Step 2
Cut two 2-foot (60-cm) lengths of electrical wire and strip both.
Step 3
Attach the positive leads of the LEDs down the first wire, evenly spacing them. Then attach the LEDs’ negative leads to the other stripped wire. Use pliers to crimp the LEDs’ legs, securing them to the wires.
Step 4
Drill a hole in the polycarbonate tube’s top. Pull the string of LEDs into the tube through the other end, thread its wire through the hole, and tie it off.
Step 5
Place the batteries next to each other with their polarities facing opposite directions. Attach a piece of wire across their ports with aluminum-foil duct tape.
Step 6
Solder two wires to the on/off switch and thread it through the hole for the switch in the handle, first bringing it up through the hole in the bottom.
Step 7
Insert the tube into the handle so that the wires from both the LED string and the switch dangle out of the handle’s end. Tape the handle and tube together.
Step 8
Solder the negative wires from the switch and LED string to the battery pack’s negative port, and the positive wires from both to the positive port.
Step 9
Duct-tape the handle’s bottom to hold the battery pack inside. Turn it on and go get a Sith.
Step 10
Adapted from The Big Book of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects
by Doug Cantor and published by Weldon Owen.
