Obi Wan ANH Lightsaber Build - AFBB

Well after a little more experimenting with the Aluminum Black, I just wasn't getting the even coverage like I was hoping for. So I broke out the Rustoleum, and laid down a few coats of gloss black.



Now all I need to do is polish up my clamp and emitter, and wait for my pommel to arrive!

This is a really nice build you have.

Oddly enough, it's appropriate to me right now, as I'm working on an ANH Obi-Wan costume for my 65 year old father.

Thanks!

Look forward to seeing the costume

that aluma-black stuff makes your aluminum pieces smell like a burnt turd in my opinion. looks like charcoal too.

Quick update, here is where I stand:



I took a cue from James Kenobi 1138 and polished up the inner portion of the emitter as well as the clamp:





I did this by attaching a polishing pad to my drill press, and applied high gloss metal polishing compound. Worked each piece around until I got a nice, mirror finish

So I finally received my russrep pommel the other day! A little disappointed in the chrome finish, as it seems a few from his last batch weren't the best. I'll try to get some closer-up pictures to show the pitting, but I don't think it's worth me sending back and waiting another month or two to get a replacement.

Anyways, here is the finished assembly!



I need to repolish the clamp a bit, as there is some slight discoloration on it. I'm also going to get a more accurate bubble strip. The only major thing I need to do is fabricate the base for the stand, and order a plaque!

Looking great, I love Obi-Wan's ANH Lightsaber.

Just a quick question, do you plan on getting a bubble card from Blast-Tech, or are you going to get an actual Exactra calculator?

LOVE IT! Building mine atm, but I'm going for the weathered version. Looking forward to get my Pommel from Russ, should be here within the next week then my saber will be completed. I hope the chroming of mine is not in that bad quality…

Cheers

Shade88 said:

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Looking great, I love Obi-Wan's ANH Lightsaber.

Just a quick question, do you plan on getting a bubble card from Blast-Tech, or are you going to get an actual Exactra calculator?

I'll actually get one from Rebelscum. He's local, and I've had a good experience with Philip before (not to mention the North TX prop party is at his shop in a few weeks!)

Kevin Gossett said:

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I'll actually get one from Rebelscum. He's local, and I've had a good experience with Philip before (not to mention the North TX prop party is at his shop in a few weeks!)

Lucky!!!

Cut down the block to give it a nice bevel, then used my hand plane to soften and round the edge a bit. Then used my router to notch out slots for the acrylic stand pieces:

Front view


Profiel view


Now I just need to build my "lip" for the plaque, then sand it all smooth, and paint.

...and the stand is finished! Sanded, painted, acrylic stands installed. I'm calling this one done... for now

Very nice! One of my favourite sabers.

To shiny for my taste, but awsome work - same for the stand, it´s really good looking.

Jerome said:

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Very nice! One of my favourite sabers.

Thank you!

Lichtbringer said:

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To shiny for my taste, but awsome work - same for the stand, it´s really good looking.

My thought process was "it's probably easier to go back later and add weathering then it would be to make everything pristine again"!

I actually referenced your build quite a bit, Michael. Awesome job

That looks really fantastic. Great job.

Nicely done, mate! I was curious, what made you decide to put the transistors on top of the washers, instead of through them? Based on the reference I've seen, it seemed like they go through them, but I've seen a few builds that have them sitting on top instead...

Serenity said:

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Nicely done, mate! I was curious, what made you decide to put the transistors on top of the washers, instead of through them? Based on the reference I've seen, it seemed like they go through them, but I've seen a few builds that have them sitting on top instead...

As far as i remember there are 2 version of transistor, that might be the original one - one shorter and one longer version.

That might look as if some were put through and others on the washers - depending on the decision for which look you strive..

Kevin Gossett said:

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My thought process was "it's probably easier to go back later and add weathering then it would be to make everything pristine again"!

As mentioned i´m not the shiny/afbb guy, but this looks so nice you should keep it that way. If you want a worn one, build a second.

Kevin Gossett said:

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I actually referenced your build quite a bit, Michael. Awesome job

Thanks, that´s very kind of you.

The way these transistors were made, the top has to sit on top of the washer. Otherwise the washer would slip right off

I know I said "this one is done"... but that doesn't mean anything, right?

I made a couple of "improvements" today, as well as began down a path I hope I can accomplish. Two words: crystal chamber

For the improvements:

- Got some chrome tape for my clamp. I reached out to a local shop for a quote to have the clamp and transistors chromed, but haven't heard back from them... This will hold me over until I can get that done.

The first attempt with the tape didn't go over as well as I had hoped. The tape went on just fine, and it had a very nice look to it, but instead of trimming off the excess, I wrapped it around into the inside. This prevented the tape from laying as flat as it could have. Also, I didn't get the stamped lettering/lines coming through like I wanted. The second try went much better:



I trimmed the tape to the proper size first, then applied it to the clamp slowly, making sure all air bubbles were out. Then I used my fingernail to rub in the stamped "GRAFLEX" and lines. This worked much better

- Next I took some advice (partially) from James Kenobi 1138 from the North Texas prop party last weekend. He mentioned that my pommel didn't have the proper space between it and the booster. He gave a simple solution of wrapping a particular gauge of wire around the booster section (that inserts into the pommel) twice and then pushing the pommel on. Rather than doing that, I wanted to put a new toy to use I had bought a tap and die set recently, so I decided to drill and tap a hole through the interior of the pommel and the booster, and connect the two using a set screw



Now I have the proper spacing! There is a little wiggle to it, so I will add a second screw 90 degrees from the first, eliminating the wiggle

- The last improvement I made concerned the emitter. It is an older machined version (Roman's/Gavidoc I believe) and I decided to customize it a bit. I took one of my countersink bits and my drill press, and drill out a cone into the center. The ring with holes will get painted black as well. (tried taking a picture of this, but the camera wouldn't focus correctly )

Finally this brings me to my grand idea... I met Brad (slothfurnace) at the prop party as well, and if you haven't seen his work... You owe it to yourself to see it! (www.slothfurnace.com) He brought with him some of his sabers, including his current project: the Obi Wan reveal. Seeing this in person inspired me!

I don't have all the nifty toys he has (mill, lathe) but I think I can adapt some of the ideas to more basic methods. I started drawing out my ideas first, then put some into action. I won't even attempt a spring-loaded reveal (yet ), but rather a static display that I can switch in and out of my current saber, so I will have both

So far, I drilled and tapped the bottom of the grenade for 8-32 rod, and got some hollow brass rod that slips over the threaded rod to give it a more finished look.





I also needed to figure out a way to join the upper assembly together, since the entire saber is bolted together on a single threaded rod. So I got a shorter threaded rod I still need to countersink the bolt head into the bottom of the grenade to make it flush.



As you can see in the picture above, I also have a crystal



It is an aqua aura quartz, slightly larger than a quarter inch in diameter, and about an inch and a quarter long. I still need to figure out how I'm going to work out the actual crystal chamber... I would like to get some 1" brass stock and see if I can machine it down a bit to my liking (similar to how Brad did his ) I will also machine some "radiator fins" to finish out the look.

This is going to take some time... if I can even accomplish it with the few tools I have

Framing awesome. Great work.

Nice work, man--that saber has been on my list for several years.

Hi there,

That's a mighty fine lightsaber you've got there

-Chaim