Jediseth
Sr Member
Barbican
The Barbican lightsaber gets its name from the the Star Wars exhibition March - September 2000 at the Barbican Centre in London.
Started out as the both Darth Vaders dueling saber in ANH with a square shroud and again Luke’s dueling saber without the shroud this saber has been used as inspiration through the Star Wars saga. Including the cast made for Darth Vaders severed hand lightsabers.
This lightsaber has become a pinnacle of dueling sabers in the original trilogy.
Machined and built myself.
Specs:
Vintage MPP clamp
Vintage circuit card
Vintage electrical plate
Vintage d-ring
Gino T-track grips
Plastruct parts.
Though I made it myself I couldn’t have done it without the help of Matthieu Deltour who through his trial and error gave me measurements to cross reference. I’d also like to thank Chris Trevas and David Yee.
I started with a 2.75" round stock of aluminum for the shroud. I figured round would be easier to start with and it fits in my lathe without any issues. This sucker is the biggest I have ever machined and probably half of it get's machined off.
After realizing that 1.5 inches for the body was too small by seeing my vintage MPP clamp was way too loose I purchased the next size up in material. My body ended up coming out at just under 39 mm. It's not too much bigger that 1.5, but when your building an accurate prop half a millimeter is a big deal.
The pommel wasn't too bad until you have to make the smooth curve inner shape inside it. I ended up grinding a tool as advised by Mattieu Deltour. I did ended up making two and this was my first attempt though not as accurate as I needed it to be. I was much happier with my second.
Half way through my machining I was able to get my hands on a vintage MPP clamp thanks to David Yee. Usually you have to buy a MPP to get a clamp and those are not cheap so I was extremley grateful when David was willing to sell me his spare. Side note MPP clamps have strange clue cemented inside where the sleave held in place. No need for a sleave on an Barbican.
I then went on a search busting apart every older or vintage electrical plug, socket and outlet I could find to get a close enough looking electrical plate to use on the Barbican's switch box,
I give praises to Mattieu for making a run of these because making the emmiter is a pain in the A. This is no easy build and I've been doing this stuff for a while.
After realizing 8-32 screws were too large I ened up using 6-32 screws on the d ring mount and they look perfect.
I taped a few holes to hold the body to the shroud in the correct spots with set socket screws as well as test fitted the brass I machined to fit down the emitter. I also added a third hole under the d- ring mount as shown on the original reference material. I ended up drilling a hole the exact samer diameter as the hole in the DV6 where the rod comes out of.
It actally feels really good once you get the shroud made correctly. My first attempt was with 2.5 inch aluminum bar which is still large material, it was too small to square off all the ends correctly. So 2.75" round material is the perfect size to start with for a shroud
I then decided to go all out and get the best most accurate T track grips currently available, Gino Tracks.
Also through trial and error I settled on the perfect looking slotted screw for the t-tracks.
I ended up buying on of Roy's DV6 control boxes and cutting it up to use. I ended up using both sections after milling down the larger half almost down to nothing.
making sure the first block under the control box hand the correct square notch in the correct spot.
My vintage card came from a Heald vintage circuit board which took me forever to find one close enough I was happy with.
Finished build.
The Barbican lightsaber gets its name from the the Star Wars exhibition March - September 2000 at the Barbican Centre in London.
Started out as the both Darth Vaders dueling saber in ANH with a square shroud and again Luke’s dueling saber without the shroud this saber has been used as inspiration through the Star Wars saga. Including the cast made for Darth Vaders severed hand lightsabers.
This lightsaber has become a pinnacle of dueling sabers in the original trilogy.
Machined and built myself.
Specs:
Vintage MPP clamp
Vintage circuit card
Vintage electrical plate
Vintage d-ring
Gino T-track grips
Plastruct parts.
Though I made it myself I couldn’t have done it without the help of Matthieu Deltour who through his trial and error gave me measurements to cross reference. I’d also like to thank Chris Trevas and David Yee.
I started with a 2.75" round stock of aluminum for the shroud. I figured round would be easier to start with and it fits in my lathe without any issues. This sucker is the biggest I have ever machined and probably half of it get's machined off.
After realizing that 1.5 inches for the body was too small by seeing my vintage MPP clamp was way too loose I purchased the next size up in material. My body ended up coming out at just under 39 mm. It's not too much bigger that 1.5, but when your building an accurate prop half a millimeter is a big deal.
The pommel wasn't too bad until you have to make the smooth curve inner shape inside it. I ended up grinding a tool as advised by Mattieu Deltour. I did ended up making two and this was my first attempt though not as accurate as I needed it to be. I was much happier with my second.
Half way through my machining I was able to get my hands on a vintage MPP clamp thanks to David Yee. Usually you have to buy a MPP to get a clamp and those are not cheap so I was extremley grateful when David was willing to sell me his spare. Side note MPP clamps have strange clue cemented inside where the sleave held in place. No need for a sleave on an Barbican.
I then went on a search busting apart every older or vintage electrical plug, socket and outlet I could find to get a close enough looking electrical plate to use on the Barbican's switch box,
I give praises to Mattieu for making a run of these because making the emmiter is a pain in the A. This is no easy build and I've been doing this stuff for a while.
After realizing 8-32 screws were too large I ened up using 6-32 screws on the d ring mount and they look perfect.
I taped a few holes to hold the body to the shroud in the correct spots with set socket screws as well as test fitted the brass I machined to fit down the emitter. I also added a third hole under the d- ring mount as shown on the original reference material. I ended up drilling a hole the exact samer diameter as the hole in the DV6 where the rod comes out of.
It actally feels really good once you get the shroud made correctly. My first attempt was with 2.5 inch aluminum bar which is still large material, it was too small to square off all the ends correctly. So 2.75" round material is the perfect size to start with for a shroud
I then decided to go all out and get the best most accurate T track grips currently available, Gino Tracks.
Also through trial and error I settled on the perfect looking slotted screw for the t-tracks.
I ended up buying on of Roy's DV6 control boxes and cutting it up to use. I ended up using both sections after milling down the larger half almost down to nothing.
making sure the first block under the control box hand the correct square notch in the correct spot.
My vintage card came from a Heald vintage circuit board which took me forever to find one close enough I was happy with.
Finished build.
