Assistance Needed for Part ID - OT Vader MoM Lightsaber Switch

[coolhanluked]

Over the years I've looked at hundreds of contact blocks, fuse
blocks, terminal blocks, contact fuse blocks, contact terminal blocks etc. There is a difference. Theres thousands of configurations. Also recently have been looking at blocks on circuit boards. And a few other things. This part has been a thorn in my side for 20 years! I have a fairly correct casting of one that i got like 15 years ago. I have no idea where i got it. But its proportionally correct and not that big. Compared to most that i have held in hand. Which has lead me to believe that its for a smaller application like a circuit board or part of a larger assembly that we wouldn't notice right off the bat. If that is tape we are seeing than it would be found inside a larger assembly which makes things very difficult. Plus its age makes it impossible. You dont find very many vintage blocks on the market. They are throw away items. Ive found a few that come close but never put me on a new trail. I can say that all industrys have not been explored. I have looked into aeronautics and model trains! It is possible this is a terminal block inside a model train activation box.

I'm excited to see this get attention again. It needs to be found.

 

[coolhanluked]

 

[coolhanluked]

Also i have found other possibilities for d rings. these are pull out fuse blocks!

 

[thd9791]

Just recently it hit me that the corners of the upper part of this part are not right angles. they are squashed

This pic from Poikilotherm shows it pretty well

especially the top one, look at the sides, it forms a V more than an L

 

[dr_slurpee]

That’s just the wear on the black plastic that is more matte inside the corner which is creating the optical illusion, if you look at the other photos you can see it’s a square corner.

 

[thd9791]

Are ya sure?

Dunno, might be an optical illusion, I'm seeing it in a few shots now. it's slight though

 

[Sym-Cha]

In the meantime let's ask VegasSkywalker to recreate this particular part in 3D and have it printed, since he's doing a great job on the Barbican variant. Roy already gave us most of the measurements ... just mind that there's a small ridge as seen in my schematic :

And ObiKenny1's metal replica :

And the real prop :

Chaïm

 

[Halliwax]

I live for this…

 

[BrandtFX]

Hey everyone!
Heres my digital model on the Barbican model.


Heres how the part came out!




Ill try and get a model going of the ROTJ piece this evening if I get some free time.

Take care!

 

[thd9791]

welcome michael! great work on that

Can confirm, the Barbican piece was molded for the energizer bunny saber. it has the same holes from those brass screws and the main holes are oval

 

[thd9791]

My latest search (thanks to a reddit post) has been through the rear casings of toggle and microswitches. I believe the faint circles at the ends of the piece to be the backside of an attachment, like on this microswitch


Still, no cigar. Pretend the bolts aren't there. Technically, we have no idea what the top looked like before they ran bolts through to the saber, all we know is the rectangular hole is there.

 

[roygilsing]

My latest search (thanks to a reddit post) has been through the rear casings of toggle and microswitches. I believe the faint circles at the ends of the piece to be the backside of an attachment, like on this microswitch
View attachment 1506585

Still, no cigar. Pretend the bolts aren't there. Technically, we have no idea what the top looked like before they ran bolts through to the saber, all we know is the rectangular hole is there.

Funny, just today, before I saw your post, I was looking as well and found some vintage toggle switches that are close. What's interesting, like your image, is that the face plate is what we consider is the bottom. I think we're getting warm!

 

[eethan]

YES! getting close indeed
there are some much closer ones too, Those I find for now have 6 lugs, I think we are looking for a smaller one with just 3 legs

 

[eethan]

By the way, 3 lugs is SPDT in switch language

 

[eethan]

Actually could be 2 types, not just SPDT, SPST could be better as it's assymetrical. In any case, this is a bit reductive for the search, and sadly, searching for wider terms is more likely to find the actual item. But I think this is close!!

 

[thd9791]

Many toggle switches I've found from that era are too wide. That, to me, is the trick, finding one that is purely rectangular and not fat

The cool thing is the length of that older era is consistently close to Graflex clamp height

 

[thd9791]

Okay, I have some updates, but not much.
There are definitely round recesses in this switch, much like a terminal block.

And I found a ceramic fuse with similar manufacturing shapes... HOWEVER

I don't think this is it. The gap is for wires, and on the original part, wires would come in through the gaps in the center and traverse to one end of the component

so honestly...... I think this is a wire trap or terminal block instead of a fuse holder.

 

[eethan]

nice, that ceramic part with the round wall ends! cool find!

 

[thd9791]

That nice cozy looking thing in the middle? Asbestos.

 

[eethan]

yeah for sure. I was also thinking today as I was working on my own DV6, the black inards of vintage graflexes are made of bakelite if I'm not mistaken, which can also be partly made of asbestos and sanding it or drilling it could cause cancer, so let's all be carefull when drilling into those inards to assemble our kits!