Lightsaber Hilt
A seven-piece hilt machined from brass and steel — fifty hours, two scrapped builds.
Summary
A passion project turned machining masterclass. I designed and machined a seven-piece lightsaber hilt from brass, stainless steel (SS316), and mild steel to sharpen my CNC lathe and mill skills. The project pushed me into welding, heat treating, and material upgrades — and after fifty hours of design, planning, and machining, it now sits as my living room's centerpiece.
The Build
I modeled the hilt in Fusion 360 and generated toolpaths for the CNC lathe and mill, then cut and shaped each of the seven components. The first attempts taught the hard lessons: dissimilar-metal contact caused galvanic corrosion on the mild-steel parts, so I upgraded everything to SS316 to kill it.
Along the way I heat-treated parts in my garage for durability and, when a tap snapped inside a part, welded in a threaded rod to recover it. Two failed hilts went in the scrap bin before the third came out right.
Results
- Functional and durable — corrosion eliminated with full SS316 construction.
- Hands-on gains in machining, heat treating, and welding.
- A handcrafted centerpiece that lives in my home.
Specifications
Gallery
