![Four lightsabers based on wands from the harry potter series of movies](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/sabers-square-e1560530459719-767x405.jpg)
I am not the first to recognize that Jedi are basically space wizards. I am not even the first to mash together Harry Potter and Star wars. I am, to my knowledge, the first obsessively produce scaled up versions of the prop wands from the Harry Potter movies in aluminum as hilts for lightsabers.
Here’s the whole process in excruciating detail:
The base of the wands all start from the same aluminum tube: 1″ inner diameter, 1.5″ outer diameter. I turned that down on a lathe to get a gentle taper from the full 1.5″ OD to 1.2″ over the length of the tube (8-9″).
![tapered aluminum tube](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/bare-wand-e1560533059390.jpg)
The first wandsaber to complete was base off of Hermione Granger’s wand. Her wand from the films has lovely vines and leaves winding their way up the hilt. I used coiled wire, off-the-shelf necklace charm leaves, and E6000 glue to apply the vines.
![Hermione Grangers wand](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/hermione-wand-e1560533314470.jpg)
![Hermione granger wandsaber hilt, aluminum base with wire wrapped vines and leaves](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/hermione-wandsaber-e1560533389512.jpg)
Next up was one based on News Scamander’s wand from the Fantastic Beasts series of movies. It was the easiest to make. Again I started with a tapered aluminum base, and just wrapped two different kinds of wood veneer around it.
![Newt Scamanders wand](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/newt-wand-e1560533681205.jpg)
![wood wrapped aluminum hilt for a lightsaber](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/newt-wandsaber-e1560533727676.jpg)
Sirius Black’s wand presented a new challenge: it’s not round. Sirius’s wand has a square base with runes etched into it. I still started with the same aluminum tube, but I machined 3/16″ off four sides before putting it in the lathe to taper the end.
![Sirius Blacks wand from the Harry Potter Store](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/sirius-wand-e1560533971526.jpg)
![aluminum wand hilt, with sides machined flat](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/sirius-wandsaber-1-e1560538869829.jpg)
I etched in the runes by masking the aluminum with sticky-backed vinyl and using ferric chloride as an etchant. As a note: ferric chloride, commonly used to etch circuit boards, is toxic and far too aggressive for aluminum. I would recommend finding something else.
![aluminum lightsaber hilt with runes etched in.](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/sirius-wandsaber-2-e1560539039558.jpg)
The final wandsaber was for my fellow cosplay obsessee and MAL Writer, Emily (@Seelix pretty much everywhere that matters). She wasn’t satisfied with some mundane wandsaber like the rest of us muggles. She wanted Lucius Malfoy’s walking stick wand.
![Lucius malfoys walking stick wand, black with a metal snake head](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/lucius.jpg)
So the grip was pretty easy. Tapered aluminum base, painted with a tough spray enamel paint.
![black lighsaber hilt](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/snake-hilt-e1560539788304.jpg)
But that snake head… that took some doing. I decided to cast it in pewter because it would look the best, and I make poor life choices. I started by machining the base of the neck out of aluminum, and then sculpting the head in Monster Clay.
![Aluminum cylinder with a studded aluminum cuff around it](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/snake-collar-225x300.jpg)
![rougly sculpted snake head](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/snake-1-225x300.jpg)
![Snake head partly finished sculpture](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/snake-2-225x300.jpg)
I used Dragon Skin 30 to make the mold into which I would pout the pewter. I was worried about bubbles because of the undercuts and small details in the sculpt, but I was lucky enough to have someone willing to loan me a vacuum chamber to degas the mold while it cured.
The mold was all I could hope for: clean, bubble-free, and it held its shape well. I made a single piece mold, which is usually a bad idea, but I knew that I could slice open the back and pull the snake head out that way, thus having fewer parting lines.
![snake head sculpture encased in silicone rubber](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/snake-mold-768x1024.jpg)
I poured a the pewter and it was beautiful… it was also around five pounds and $70 worth of pewter… New plan
![pewter cast of snake head](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/snake-metal-cast-1024x768.jpg)
I picked up some Smooth-Cast 325 and aluminum powder. Not cheap either, but much less per pound than pewter, and certainly less dense.
![cold cast aluminum supplies: aluminum powder and smooth cast two part resin](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/cold-cast-supplies.jpg)
The raw case came out pretty well: Much lighter, not too many bubbles, and quite solid.
![resin cast of a snake head sculpture](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/snake-head-cast-raw.jpg)
The final version, buffed and painted, with cut glass eyes and plastic fangs makes me very happy. Totally worth the irresponsible amount of time I spent on it.
![image of a lucius malfoy lighsaber hilt](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/snake-head-cast-final.jpg)
I only made the hilts. Once they were done, I shipped them off to Topher, one of the old writers from our sister site, Grounded Parents. He did all the blades and electronics and has been kind enough to write a post for us about that process.
Here’s a bit of a spoiler:
![four lightsabers with hilts modeled on wands from the harry potter movies](https://madartlab.com/files/2019/06/sabers-on.jpg)