Converting an OT Stunt Lightsaber blade

[thd9791]

So, as with most found parts I wanted to show gutting and concerting another prop part. I know, I mostly use hand tools and a variety of small power tools so we’ll see how this goes.

this is not the original found part, it’s a newly made and close part, those of you on the OT Lightsaber Blade thread know the story

anyway, it came. Here is the first look.

18 mm at the base and 12.3 mm at the tip

It is stiff and mildly flexible. Seems to rattle inside, it doesn’t have the black material inside mostly just the white body and whatever I find when I cut this open. and the tip is hollow, which I’ve seen on some OT blades. The core antenna doesn’t reach all the way to the tip. I want to see if I can disassemble the socket first, before just chopping it.

It seems to be about 4 Graflexes long..
49 1/2” with the socket...
45 3/4 for the exposed fiberglass

 

[PrinceZip]

That's weird; it's not supposed to be hollow.
Maybe modern versions are like that.

The vintage antenna Tom and I looked was filled inside,
And the real ILM blades are also not hollow.

I can't say what the inside materials are on the real stunt blades,
But they are definitely filled in with stuff.

 

[Halliwax]

How stiff is it tom, can you get it to flex if you put it up against the doorway and push on it?

 

[thd9791]

Doing exactly this I can get it to flex, a little bit. maybe an inch and it pushes back. PVC does this too though right? and that definitely wobbled when struck in my videos. It's a little stiffer than my PVC tubes

 

[Halliwax]

Doing exactly this I can get it to flex, a little bit. maybe an inch and it pushes back. PVC does this too though right? and that definitely wobbled when struck in my videos. It's a little stiffer than my PVC tubes

Eerrr... I wish I saved that picture mouse posted with the Kenobi blade bending while striking up against vaders..

Sucker bends good...

And when like strikes the railing on RoTJ, that bends probably 25-30 degrees and snaps right back to its normal form..

 

[Halliwax]

Maybe it’s not bending as much as i remembered

 

[thd9791]

I can't seem to unscrew anything on this antenna socket. It seems it's all slid in from the top but the antenna is stuck in there good

 

[thd9791]

Could not help myself. It became clear that it's one of those press fit/industrial glued things they never would have spent hours on. A hobby razor saw that I use for T Track was very useful. What I found....

It is not built like the originals. It's just the fiberglass and a complicated and minimalist setup, meant to reduce interference I think. When I cut it open I saw the fiberglass tube and a plastic sleeve in the center, with coiled wire around it, just like a Target symbol.

So, modern version, for display, A+ (wish it were cheaper, if it's the same shape and material I'd prefer a cheaper one) and it's lightweight like carbon fiber golf clubs. The element slid right out, held in place by foam strip.

This version also seems to be a little less length tapered than the old one Vadermania found. I want one of those originals so bad now.

See what you will, compared to my Ski Pole blade I made

 

[NathanM]

I knew the end result of this would be the desirability of the vintage skyrocketing, lol. Quick, someone in Europe visit all of the derelict shipping yards and parts depots...

 

[thd9791]

Desirability, maybe, as long as we don't try to profit off it lol

 

[Propdude113]

Could not help myself. It became clear that it's one of those press fit/industrial glued things they never would have spent hours on. A hobby razor saw that I use for T Track was very useful. What I found....

It is not built like the originals. It's just the fiberglass and a complicated and minimalist setup, meant to reduce interference I think. When I cut it open I saw the fiberglass tube and a plastic sleeve in the center, with coiled wire around it, just like a Target symbol.
View attachment 1319317
View attachment 1319316
View attachment 1319318 View attachment 1319319 View attachment 1319320
So, modern version, for display, A+ (wish it were cheaper, if it's the same shape and material I'd prefer a cheaper one) and it's lightweight like carbon fiber golf clubs. The element slid right out, held in place by foam strip.

This version also seems to be a little less length tapered than the old one Vadermania found. I want one of those originals so bad now.

See what you will, compared to my Ski Pole blade I made
View attachment 1319321 View attachment 1319322

How durable do you think it would be with sparing?

 

[Halliwax]

...I’ll message you in the morning Tom

 

[vadermania]

Here‘s how my CELWAVE CX-4 looks inside after cutting off the antenna base. Unfortunately, the previous owner did cut off a piece of the tip in order to keep the shipping costs low...

 

[vadermania]

And Tom, you are right about the taper, it seems like younger antenna models are a little less length tapered compared to the original HMP antenna.

Spent some time yesterday and went to a few nearby marinas asking for old UKW/VHF antennas for a special „boat restoration project“. No luck at all.

 

[vadermania]

Speaking about flexiness, my old HMP antenna is flexier compared to my CELWAVE antenna.

 

[vadermania]

I knew the end result of this would be the desirability of the vintage skyrocketing, lol. Quick, someone in Europe visit all of the derelict shipping yards and parts depots...

You instantly recognize the correct HMP antenna once you see it, because of it‘s length and taper. It also does not have a separate black tip made of a different material. In the past days, I‘ve seen two HMP’s on older boats, which fit in the timeframe of ESB/ROTJ. Perhaps we should buy a batch of brand new CX-4 and offer the boat owners a free replacement of their old CX-4?

 

[Mouse Vader]

Eerrr... I wish I saved that picture mouse posted with the Kenobi blade bending while striking up against vaders..

Sucker bends good...

That was from ANH & this blade is for ESB. Or have I got that wrong? When I can I'll be having another look at the long Vader blade pics from ANH though.

 

[Halliwax]

That was from ANH & this blade is for ESB. Or have I got that wrong? When I can I'll be having another look at the long Vader blade pics from ANH though.

I’m pretty sure by the time of the ANH duel, the blades are the same as ESB/RoTJ

 

[thd9791]

Here‘s how my CELWAVE CX-4 looks inside after cutting off the antenna base. Unfortunately, the previous owner did cut off a piece of the tip in order to keep the shipping costs low...

View attachment 1319384

Very cool, it looks like that center bit can come out, but the black stuff stays in. Does the black stuff go all the way to the tip? (I'm sorry they beheaded your antenna )

I will do my best now to hunt vintage ones, now, just in general, but if there is a group by I'm in

 

[vadermania]

Very cool, it looks like that center bit can come out, but the black stuff stays in. Does the black stuff go all the way to the tip? (I'm sorry they beheaded your antenna )

I will do my best now to hunt vintage ones, now, just in general, but if there is a group by I'm in

The black stuff doesn't go all the way to the tip.