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stock. But I couldn't find 1/2" width. So used 1/4" wide and glued them edge to edge, to get 1/2". 
Cut the 1/4" wide stock into 5-3/4" lengths. You'll need 16 of these pieces. 
Glue them in pairs so you end up with eight 1/2" wide pieces that are 5-3/4" long. 
Then cut the 3/16" stock into eight 5-3/4" pieces, and glue them upright onto the 1/2" wide pieces to form the "T" shape. 
The Plastic Weld glue is great stuff. It actually melts the pieces together and will not come apart. You only have to brush the glue onto the joint and it will seep in and bond the two pieces nicely. 
This is what you should end up with: 
Then you have to put a radius on the bottom of each grip. This can be a little tedious. I used the drum sander tip on my Dremel to rough out the shape. 
Then wrap sandpaper around a piece of the 1-1/2" tube, and get the final shape by sanding by hand. 
Then just round off the ends slightly for each grip and you're done. 
The grips were a lot of work. You might as well spend $20.00 and get four feet of grip material from Yodashouse. I think the rubber grips would look better anyway. ___________________________________________________ Now, for the painting. I used Duplicolor automotive spray paint. Use whatever shade of silver you like. I used a GM silver that looked pretty close to satin aluminum. Use a coat hanger inserted into the end of the tube to hold it while painting. 
First prime everything. Then you'll be able to see any scratches or imperfections that you can fill with modeling putty before the final paint. 
Spray the main body, the "cone" piece for the emitter, and the end cap silver. 
And paint the grips and LED bar flat black. 
Once these are dry, you can do the final assembly. I used epoxy to attach the LED bar, the emitter piece, and the end cap; and double sided tape for the grips. Leave 1/8" gap between the end cap and the main body of the saber. 
When you attach the grips, start the first one exactly in line with the LED bar. 
Then continue with the rest, spacing them evenly, there's about 1/8" between grips. 
You'll need a knurled red button. I had an extra red button from a Larbel saber. 
When you're all done, you should end up with something like this: 
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