Bladebuilders Lightsaber Connector

Exigence

Were you a kid in the beginning of the 21st century? If you were, you probably had (or at least knew about) those telescoping plastic lightsaber toys. However, what you may not have known was that they were the most successful part of a lesser-renowned toy series called Star Wars Bladebuilders. Created by Nerf (yes, the CEOs of child injury!) as an extension of their idea for customisable Nerf blaster accessories, Bladebuilders was a product line designed to coat the idea of toy lightsabers in highly interchangeable tacti-cool.

The coolest thing to ever grace this earth.

If you had a Saruman mind of gears and wheels like me, (and if you’re on printables you probably did,) you likely realized that big socket on the bottom of the lightsabers; a socket something could attach to. From there, the most imaginative would immediately think of a double-ended connector, to connect to blades butt-to-butt. You could make a sick Darth Maul double-bladed lightsaber out of any 2 sabers you wanted! Of course, this did exist. A whole bunch of kits came with a part that let you snap lightsabers together Maul-style.

This bastard, currently fetching 8-16 bones on eBay.

Tragically though, many never got that part, and now we’re all too old to spend 10 bones to get one second-hand. That’s why I MADE IT MYSELF.

Happy holidays :3

Summary

The part is designed to click into the socket in the base of any Nerf Bladebuilders™ lightsaber toy. It measures 98 mm in length, 30 mm in width, and 34 mm across the pegs. The pegs and fins on the sides and ends lock into the slits and holes in each saber’s socket, and the pegs will lock so securely that the lightsabers won’t come apart. That is of course, unless you deliberately separate them. A strong, flexible filament is recommended because of the part’s integral compliant springs. In fact, it was designed to print as a single part ready to use.

Assembly

You will need:

• The printed connector
• 2 (two) compatible Bladebuilders™ lightsabers
• A file or sandpaper
• A High-Tech Insulated Poking Implement (pen, screwdriver, pliers et cetera) for disassembly

First, the fins need to be lightly filed in order to fit their slots. The chamfers take most of the work away, but you’ll still need to file the long edges of the fins down so that they’re tapered in on every side.

Then, click the 3 parts together! With a little squeeze, the pegs should snap into the holes, locking it in place.
 

Now if you want to take them apart, simply poke in the pegs with your HTIPI, then pull apart!

Process

It started with measuring the internal dimensions of that socket the sabers have. The geometry made this… difficult, but I did my best with calipers and rulers.

No doodle, absolutely tragic

The socket has 3 main features:

• Holes for spring-loaded plugs on the sides of the connector, to ensure the sabers don’t come loose while allowing you to easily separate them when you want to.
• A screw in the base of the socket, to provide the majority of the load-bearing lock force.
• 2 little slits in the back of the socket, which serve an unknown purpose in the original design.

On the real saber connector, you can see how these parts are used.

Oh god, this guy again.

This gives some obvious ideas, but this isn’t really something that I could recreate with the information or equipment I have. Instead, I tried a different arrangement.

Instead of a separate spring component, the component uses the flexibility of the plastic to make 4 “sturdy” leaf springs that hold the pegs. These stiff pegs, along with the snug fit of the part against the walls, should provide most of the grip and the stability. However, there are 2 fins on the base to fit into those mystery slots, for even more added stability. I seriously have no idea what those slots are for.
 

Version 1.0 bug Report

• #1 The distance between the pegs and the end of the part was just a little bit too long, preventing proper seating of both pegs
• #2 Due to have to one of the pegs not being able to seat on either side, those springs were always under stress, causing deformation
• #3 The springs generally didn’t take stress well, leading to them snapping
• #4 The fins don’t fit in the slits
• #5 The tips of the pegs got caught on the internal rim of the socket, and made it difficult to remove the part again

Version 1.0 Hotfixes

• Filed down the fins to fit the slots
• Filed down the tips of the pegs for better interfacing

Total Issues: #1, #2, #3, #4 (fixed), #5 (fixed)

Version 1.1 Patch Notes

• Moved the pegs toward the center to resolve issues #1 and #2
• Added fillets for stress reduction to resolve issue #3 and reduce issue #2

Version 1.1 Bug Report

• Patch insufficient, issues #1 and #2 persist
• Issues #4 and #5 persist
• #6 - connector wobbles due to undertolerance with the internal diameter of the socket

Version 1.1 Hotfixes

• Repeated 1.0 hotfixes
• Attempted to remove one peg on either side to resolve issue #2; this backfired, intensifying issue #6

Resolved Issues: #3

Total Issues: #1, #2 (fixed), #4 (fixed), #5 (fixed), #6

Version 1.2 Patch Notes

• Repeated 1.1 patch, resolving issues #1 and #2
• Chamfered the tips of the fins, not resolving but reducing issue #4
• Reduced height of pegs, resolving issue #5
• Expanded outer diameter for more snug fit, resolving issue #6

Version 1.2 Bug Report

• Issue #4 is reduced, but persists

Version 1.2 Hotfixes

• Minor filing on the fins, as is the custom

Resolved Issues: #1, #2, #5, #6

Total Issues: #4 (fixed)