My Luke ESB Graflex Lightsaber

Wonderful looking saber! Roy's track looks great, I'm patiently awaiting his Kobold design as well.

There is a thread about luke esb screws in which someone who's been here for awhile, james kenobi or someone, posted blu-ray screencaps from bespin zoomed in. There is no doubt they are phillips heads, a dark cross can be seen. Let me tryn' find that.

Also, VHS TAPES?! I thought it was "players" I have TONS of tapes!

Edit: It's from @Zombiekiller I think the pics are taken down, post #124 in this thread http://www.therpf.com/f79/lightsaber-screws-119376/index5.html

Which, I think is a blown up section of Chaim's pic http://s833.photobucket.com/user/Sym-Cha/media/swempire_4816_zps9855b163.jpg.html
 
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Well if you just remove or replace the center screw from 6 VHS tapes ... you won't ruin your tapes and can get working on your Luke ESB T-tracks :)

Chaim
 
Sym-Cha said:
Also ... 'vintage' tiny black screws from a VHS cassette will do nicely, before you all start purchasing 3 Exactras for screws only :wacko . . . you only need 2 VHS tapes :)
Click to expand...
Or ... if you live in the civilization, you could get some ordinary M3 bolts from your local hardware store. I've got a bunch of M3 bolts that have the exact same sized heads as the Exactra's screws ... and M3 is a somewhat fine thread, so you could attach those bolts into properly tapped holes.
 
So there you have it ... 3 options for screwing around with Luke's ESB ... and indeed Darth Lars, I should come out more from my secluded sanctuary ... got any pictures for comparison between M3 bolts and Exactra screws?

:)

Chaim
 
Well some may do ... but it's a gamble ... the TI 1200 with 9 bubbles does not ... I've noticed that's for sure :) So you need to gather information online before purchasing any other Texas Instruments calculator, especially a picture of the back ;)

Chaim
 
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Her are vhs screws from around 1989. Too small?
 

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Looks very acceptable to me ... and at least they are 'vintage' being from 1989 ;) ... what say you? And should they not sit securely ... a drop of superglue or a piece of wood from the inside could be helpful, yes?

Chaim
 
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The wood in the bottom is a great idea! It may be why they only put screws in the bottom of the flash unit at first...

I like these, they just seem so tiny! I'm used to seeing the big rivets that are much wider than the middle ridge
 
I like it a lot! Nice pic in the ice! What type of hex bolts are those? M3? I'm still checking pop rivets with a flattened 8mm head. And how did you manage to get the brass clip metal coloured?

Roy

www.wannawanga.com
 
roygilsing said:
I like it a lot! Nice pic in the ice! What type of hex bolts are those? M3? I'm still checking pop rivets with a flattened 8mm head. And how did you manage to get the brass clip metal coloured?

Roy

www.wannawanga.com
Click to expand...


Thanks Roy. M4 hex bolts with the heads filed down. Correct looking rivets would be the way to go but this works too. It's hard to find anything that small with a flattened head. I painted the brass Kobold with chrome spray paint. Nothing fancy there.
 
I will say, it looks like the grip screws are a bit larger than these VHS screws. The original heads seems to take up 2/3 of the cut-out space on the grips. Mine are about half or less, even though they also are small enough to not extend beyond the fin.
 
I discussed those screws with Roy and it seems he found some of the correct size due to reverse engineering. Perhaps best if he reveals himself what he found?

Chaim
 
The screws from the ESB saber in the archive are probably Cross Recessed Pan Head Tapping Screws (type H cross recess). These are sheet metal screws. The diameter of the head is 5.6mm based on the archive pictures. This is equivalent to a standardized 2.9mm screw from standard DIN 7981 (international ISO 7049). These are available in various lengths, but I guess 10 or 13mm length will do, since they only have to pass through the T-track base and Graflex metal.
They are also available in galvanized metal or black and in stainless steel A2.
In my ESB kit, which will be available soon, I will include these screws both in black and metal colored.

screw-size.jpg

IMG_5545.JPG

IMG_5543.JPG

Roy
 
Roy I just got your track in the mail and I love it. :thumbsup I'm going to attack it in the next couple days and accurize my ANH graflex. Thank you!
 
Here's a (probably silly) question for all of you who have built a Luke ESB before...

Did you glue the t-tracks into place and *then* drill the holes into both the t-tracks and the Graflex base... or

Did you drill the t-tracks and the Graflex base separately and then line up the holes for the screws/rivets and glue on the t-tracks afterwards?

As a complete noob at this sort of thing, both methods would seem to have a few challenges to overcome; i.e. how to hold the Graflex bottom in place while drilling with the t-tracks glued on...

Which way is best?
 
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