Spinning Inquisitor Lightsaber

Construction Instructions:

First print the following:

2 x blades 1-7

2 x lightsaber 2 blade holder v7

2 x lightsaber 2 middle outer clamp v6.5

2 x lightsaber 2 middle adapter v7.5

1 x lightsaber 2 ring v7

1 x lightsaber 2 middle 1 v5

Then get 2 screws. They should be 32x1 1.4in screws

1.First assemble the blades by putting the pieces together in numerical order. 

2. Next slide the blade holders on the two spots on the ring so the holes line up

3. Screw the screws in as far as possible

4. Find the long end of the middle adapter and slide it into one side of the middle. Do that for both sides

5. Put the middle clamps on the rings so they are approximately on opposite sides.

6. Put the shorter side of one of the middle adapters into the hole on one of the middle clamps

7. Bend the middle so you can fit the other middle adapter into the right spot on the opposite middle clamp

8. Put the blades in the blade holders. If the blades are too lose then you can wrap a little bit of clear tape on the middle of the largest blade segment to make it thicker.

9. Spin the lightsaber. For the best spin follow through with your hand for around 100 degrees in order to help it keep its stability.

Design Changes:

THE LIGHTSABER

This model went through several different versions to try and get it to spin fluidly. Here is a comparison of the different versions:

Version 1:

This version was very simple. It had two parts. A middle part and an outer part. 

Middle part:

Outer Part:

The middle part had a slot that would go around the middle of the outer part. This should          result in it spinning, however there was too much friction

Version 2:

Version two had the same outer ring, but it had a very different inner bar. The ring and middle part had the same slot connection, but the dimensions were changed to make it wider. Additionally, the middle part was remade. It now was 3 parts: a base and two ‘vents’:

Version 3:

Version 2 changed the middle but left the ring alone, while version 3 was the opposite: The outer ring was changed while the middle stayed the same. Previously the part that held the blades was attached to the ring and they were a part of the same file, however that meant that whenever I printed out another copy more filament was used for the supports than on the model itself. I removed the blade holders and had them printed by themselves and attached with screws.

Ring:

Blade Holder:

Version 4:

With version 3, it did spin, but it still had a lot of friction. I couldn't think of any other way to decrease friction with just 3d printer filament, so I had the idea to use metal ball bearings. The first idea was to put the ball bearings around the inside of the ring into a slot. The middle part would mainly contact the ball bearings which could spin freely decreasing friction.

The new (test) ring:

Version 5:

Version 4 had several problems. The ball bearings were not the only place the middle had contact with the ring, and it used a lot of ball bearings. In version 5 the ball bearings were moved to the outside and a special track was used to keep them in place. This meant that the only points of contact was the ball bearings themselves which in theory should decrease friction by a lot. Additionally the middle was split into 7 parts. The two vents, the very middle part with the ridges printed in flexable filament, two middle ‘clamps’ that connect to the ring, and two pins that connect the very middle part and the two clamps.
The new ring:

The new middle connector:

The new middle bar:

Version 6:

At this point, there was so much friction I had no idea what to do, so I tried it without the ball bearings and it actually worked great. It spun with very little friction. However, it was very unstable. I decided that the best way to increase stability without increasing friction was to have a third contact point on the ring, so I redesigned the middle to have three points of contact:

In order to fit the whole thing together we had to split it into many different parts. The very center would be one part:

Next, the inner ring would be another part. This part would be printed in flexible filament so the parts could fit together:

Finally, the outer bars that connect to the outer ring would be three separate parts. This would be the part printed in flexible filament in order to let the pieces come together:

The bars would connect in a similar way that the old middle connected to the outer ring, but with a much tighter fit so they would be stuck in place and not move. The goal was to have all three of those parts fully connected and they would connect to the outer ring. The user would  hold on to the middle and the outer ring would spin fluidly around it

This version was much more stable and spun very nicely.

Version 7

But I really did not like how it looked with the three bars in the middle, so I tried it again with the full model and it kind of worked. I had an idea to have another ring in the middle connected to the bars to stop them from being able to move back and forth. I shrunk the middle connected to not hit the blade holders when the lightsaber gets spun: 

I also changed the middle adapter to be a circle so it could reduce the wiggling that was causing a lot of problems:

Now all the main issues had been solved. The model was completed.

THE BLADE

The blade also took a lot of work and testing. I already had a 3d model for a blade, but it was too long and I did not have the original solidworks file to edit it. The first time I made one, it worked perfectly, however it was way too short. :

Then I tried various attempts at getting a good fit with newer dimensions to maximize the length of the blade. In total, there were 9 different attempts at making the blade.

Eventually I found an angle and length that worked:

^That is the first 4 blades of 7