Polishing a Graflex Flash for Lightsaber conversion? **NEW PICS ADDED**

Well you can remove dirt and grime. But if you buff the graflex too much you'll go through the plating to the brass and steel underneath. The plating is quite thin.

That is what I feared. Thank you Anakin.

Anakin is correct.....i speak from bitter experience.......the second you see the bright shiny brass colour emerging, it's essentially game over. I took the plunge and had my Graflex top re-chromed and made it into a Vader ROTJ....

And for aluminium...?
Did you guys have some tips to polish it ?
I am converting a Parksaber ROTJ into a more accurate hero one and I have tried several methods, but it does not works...



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Thanks !!

If it's solid ally, you can use a fine grit wet and dry paper to get rid of the flaws, (make sure to rub it in various directions, then finish by rubbing it in the direction of the grain/machine marks, if any!) then polish it with a decent compound like autosol....it'll be a time consuming process, but worth it if done right.

Rich

Thank you dear neighbor !
I will try that !

I will pM you the final result !

Awesome! Good luck with the repairs, and remember, don't worry, it'll all work out ok!

Rich

Hey Cameron,

Any pictures so we can see the used-future look of your graflex

-Chaim

For scratch removal on my aluminum sabers, I use a buffing wheel mounted on a bench grinder and buffing compound. However that is not recommended for a Graflex due to problems that may occur that have already been mentioned.

For polishing, I use Mother's Aluminum Polish found in the automotive section (the liquid, not the paste) and a microfiber cloth. Works great but will not remove scratching. Mother's has a chrome polish as well.

i used a bit of fine steel wool on my graflex to give it a bit of an extra shine and it worked out fine. if you take that route, be sure to go with the grain of the metal.

Agreed. Mother's is really great stuff

Would that make us all "Mother-Buffers"?

Thanks for the tips !!!
It has works nicely !!!!!
So, i have done it for all my lightsabers, even the graflex !
I have removed the previous graflex clamp that parks uses for is ROTJ version in order to instal my own activation box !
I tried the sanding on this Graflex clamp, before doing it on the Graflex hilt.... And I did not revealed the brass... I have used car polish with a dry 240 sanding paper !



Thanks !!!!

Good stuff! Happy for you that it worked ok!

Rich

I wouldn't play around with scratches, but for light rust:

And please correct me if this is horrible, but I used a light amount of acetone nail polish remover and a cotton ball. To my suprise, all the rust I noticed came off. I know this won't work if the rust has already began to chew away parts of the plating.

For those of you who already glued your grips on, acetone WILL melt the glue and remove the shine of the plastic. You HAVE to use care.

I used Turtle Wax chrome polish and rust remover for light rust.

Hey Chaim,
At your request here is where I am with the screen accurate belt and its associated props. Thanks to Gino and Rebelscum the ANH Saber is done. The Droid Caller needs a top and I need to tweak a few small things on the belt.

I am still searching for the correct Triangle and long pouch but I just may make those.

I am one part away from final assembly on the macros!!!

Great pieces you have there! This is one of my prop dreams I'm going to nail down one day...having an accurate belt with all real parts props

I've got a couple pieces for my macros and a real exactra bubblestrip to start...

I like seeing yours...makes me want to start it up again

Thanks Chaim!! So close, I just need some time to fab the lens plate.