the crabSABER

The main feature of this lightsaber is the collapsable blade that can light up with the addition of a small flashlight. The emitter end also has an IRIS mechanism that can keep the blade from extending unintentionally. 

Rather than an exact replica of one of the actual Star Wars lightsabers, I used elements of many to create this model. The model has several parts that can be printed with a single extruder. No AMS/MMU is required. The brown and grey color changes are done by layer height.

The hilt is printed in PLA and can house a small TRUSTFIRE Mini2S flashlight in its cap. This USB rechargeable flashlight can be obtained from AliExpress for about $20 cdn or $15 US. (cheaper if you buy 3).  A plain cap is provided if you do not wish to use a light.

Updates:

Aug17-2025: updated a thread error in the 3 “hiltCaps” see v2 in files.

Printing the Blades

The blade should be printed with PETG for strength and flexibility. I only print these types of blades using VASE MODE and so have provided the 5 individual blades in one STL. Just print one at a time. 

The instructions here are for regular (not High-Speed) PETG. Print no faster than: Perimeters/Small Perimeters/External perimeters at 50/30/35 mm/s. Use a BRIM! and set the blade parts to print in VASE MODE at 0.3mm layer height. You should find the brim somewhat hard to remove and will have to cut it and use a deburring tool to clean edges. If you find that layers “unwind” when you remove the blade from the build plate, you likely need to set your nozzle temp higher so the layers bond better. I use 240 for these blade parts with most PETG, but all printers are slightly different.

Rather than fiddle with extrusion and layer settings, I have found the following procedure to be the most reliable. Set the default extrusion width to 0.85mm. You will find that the sections will still slide out from each other and so you must add at least one layer of clear (3m scotch type) tape to the wide end of each blade (The video below will show that process). If they still slide out, add a second layer. This is the best way to “tune” each segment to hold tight. You want about 50mm of overlap from one blade section to the other.

If you are practicing your spins with this saber, keep an eye on the amount of overlap on blades. They will wear and eventually the ones closest to the hilt will pull loose and so you’ll need to add another narrow layer of tape.

Printing the Hilt

I print the Hilt in PLA with 0.2 mm layer height. Any form of PLA will do. You can change colours by layer height as I did to get the silver/light brown/dark brown in my model. All the blue ornaments are printed separately. For the lower 12 pieces, I used a trigger-bar clamp to help glue the pieces 2 at a time. Just a bit of pressure is helpful. I used generic CA or Krazy glue.

I used a brim for the hilt to stabilize it during printing. A PLA brim is relatively easy to remove with a deburring tool. The hiltCapB that holds the flashlight does not need a brim, but I did use one for the larger hiltCapA part. You can also change color by layer height for multicolour options.

Printing the IRIS

I printed the IRIS cover in PETG. The 3 iris leaves can be either PLA or PETG. The cover flexes and likely it will last longer if PETG is used. Assembling the cover onto the hilt is a bit tricky. I found the following method works for me. Put the cover on a table and attach the 3 leaves to the cover so their pins are up.  They should be slightly inward and all in the same direction. Take the hilt and put it down and into the cover. The hilt is in the air upside down and snapping into the cover on the table. The idea is to get the pins of the leaves into the grooves at the end of the hilt. As the cover snaps over the end of the hilt, you'll need to take a small screwdriver and move any leaves inward so their pins go into the hilt grooves. If assembled correctly, the cover will turn and snap into two positions as it opens and closes. You might destroy a cover learning how to assemble. The video below shows how I attach the iris cover

More Information

See the attached video for building instructions and operation of this model.

Going Further

I plan to make a cap for the TANK007 E16 rechargeable flashlight. I could not find an easy way to turn the flashlights on/off while in the Saber.

I may add a belt clip to the Cap of the hilt. This will be a small cylinder that will latch into a special clip on a belt. Likely I'll use a screw to secure it to the hilt.