Tan Djarka
Sr Member
If you're anything like me and want to make a metal saber, particularly a Graflex style design, you're probably going to foul up the chrome surface everywhere trying to create all those cuts and holes. It seems to me the simple solution would be to fabricate the main tube out of plastic and apply some sort of chrome finish.
For the average hardware saber, having it professionally chromed is probably prohibitively expensive.While some have created near flawless metal finishes with paint and/or Rub-N-Buff products, it seems like they wouldn't fare well with continuous handling.
In the past I've used sheets of 6x24" mylar film intended for the RC car and plane market, with mixed results. While it's perfect for the chrome tape on a Graflex clamp, applied to the main tube it's less than ideal. First, it's only wide enough to wrap around a tube 1.25" in diameter. Additionally, it's thickness makes seams and overlaps fairly obvious.
Well, recently I found a perfect solution! Underlayment tape used to seal the vapor barrier under laminate flooring (available at Lowe's, item #673026). It's not a perfect metallic finish, but it does render a chrome appearance similar to the Anakin rubber stunt from the ROTS behind the scenes video. While it's no wider than duct or packaging tape (about 2"), it's so thin that, once applied, the seams are virtually invisible. While it clearly won't be useful for complex surfaces like a pommel, it's perfect for flat smooth surfaces like the main tube of most sabers. And at $6.58 for 50 meters, it's good for many sabers.
So what are you waiting for? Go get some chrome, baby!
For the average hardware saber, having it professionally chromed is probably prohibitively expensive.While some have created near flawless metal finishes with paint and/or Rub-N-Buff products, it seems like they wouldn't fare well with continuous handling.
In the past I've used sheets of 6x24" mylar film intended for the RC car and plane market, with mixed results. While it's perfect for the chrome tape on a Graflex clamp, applied to the main tube it's less than ideal. First, it's only wide enough to wrap around a tube 1.25" in diameter. Additionally, it's thickness makes seams and overlaps fairly obvious.
Well, recently I found a perfect solution! Underlayment tape used to seal the vapor barrier under laminate flooring (available at Lowe's, item #673026). It's not a perfect metallic finish, but it does render a chrome appearance similar to the Anakin rubber stunt from the ROTS behind the scenes video. While it's no wider than duct or packaging tape (about 2"), it's so thin that, once applied, the seams are virtually invisible. While it clearly won't be useful for complex surfaces like a pommel, it's perfect for flat smooth surfaces like the main tube of most sabers. And at $6.58 for 50 meters, it's good for many sabers.
So what are you waiting for? Go get some chrome, baby!
