Ok, so you want to build a lightsaber. Here is how I built mine, and some ideas for people who have less experience in a wood working shop. Just to let you know, I'm 16 and not THE most experienced craftsman out there. Have fun.

Here are the parts that will be referred to:

Activation Lever (AL) Emitter Head (EH) Handle Recharge Port (RP)
  1. Ok, now we are ready to begin. First of all, most of the parts are made from wood. This lightsaber is meant for display only, if you wish something to play around with, I suggest oak instead of pine.
  2. To start, I obtained a 13" long piece of pine closet rod (1.25" diameter). This was used as the shaft (forgive the wording, that's all I could think of). To create the AL, EH, Handle, and RP, I used a piece of 2x4 pine.
  3. Taking the 2x4, I drilled Seven 1.25" holes in it, leaving about 1" between each hole.
  4. Using a band saw, I cut around these holes leaving about 1/4" of wood to make a ring. 
  5. Taking 2 of these rings, I stacked them on top of each other and glued them together to make an even longer ring. I carved a pattern (whatever your fancy is) into the ring with a dremel hand tool, and this made the EH.
  6. I took one ring and pasted (carpenters glue) a 1/4" tall, 2" long (the length of the ring), 1/2" wide piece of wood onto it to make the activation lever. To make the activation strip on top (of the squarish piece) of the activation lever, I pasted a piece of rubber that had a diagonal check pattern (or crisscross pattern, whatever you like) to it and painted it blue (later)
  7. To make the handle, i stacked and glued 3 rings giving me a length of approximately 6". I found some floor mat material at a local hardware store (Lowe's) that I was perfect for the job. It had ridges that ran the length of it. I cut a piece that would wrap around this handle (with the ridges running vertically) and glued it in place (it take a long time, it has a tendency to not stick, you might try super glue).
  8. For the recharge port (in my opinion, the easiest piece), I use a 1/4 of one of the rings. I took a dowel and cut a 1/4" tall piece of it, drilled a small hole through the middle, and glued it on.
  9. To make the shaft have a metallic look, I used a roll of aluminum foil tape (a.k.a. Air Duct tape).
  10. I sanded all of the pieces and painted them (whatever color you like, i used blue and black).
  11. I assembled all the pieces by sliding them onto the shaft and gluing them in place.

That might sound difficult, but it really isn't. If you have really bad mechanical skills, i suggest you use this method:

  1. Substitute a 13", 1.25" diameter piece of pvc pipe for the shaft.
  2. Substitute a piece of pvc slightly larger than the shaft (so the pieces can slide on) for the AL, EH, RP, and Handle.

There you are. Have fun, and May the Force Be With You.