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Limited Run Luke V2 liightsaber (Second Run) Sign up thread
- Thread starter Anakin Starkiller
- Start date
russellsch
Master Member
My bearing is a snug fit on the rod. Might put the rod in the freezer for a few hours. The set screws for the emitter & pommel should be in the plastic wrap with d-ring. I put mine in a small ziplock bag I put my watch links in. That way they're safe till I need them.
Pixelpiper
Well-Known Member
That's why people have been installing a shaft collar onto the very end of the rod - it keeps the rod from sliding out through the bearing.
Just need to make sure the inside diameter of the collar fits around the shaft and the outside is smaller than the inside bore of the hilt (so as to allow all spinning to occur via the bearing.
Barnstormer
Well-Known Member
Now that the weekend is here and I can work on this saber... having lots of trouble getting the bearing into the saber body. By the time the bearing is all the way inside the body, the rod is crooked enough that it rubs against the inside of the neck and no longer spins freely. I don't think I've gotten it seated all the way in the body yet... and on the last attempt, the bearing is lodged in there well enough that when I try to get it back out, the rod is moving and the bearing is staying stuck. Not sure right now how I'm going to get the bearing back out...
DrMcoy
Sr Member
unless I figure out a way to sand the sides off the bearing disc, which is problematic as it obviously spins, i'm wondering if simply using a 5/16th drill bit shaft collar is good enough. It seems to keep rod in place when I screwed everything together -- the rod rattles a little inside, but I don't anticipate waving the prop around much as it will pretty much just be a display piece. But I am curious -- why have the emitter spin to begin with? Are people doing this to stay true to the actual prop? I'm guessing the real prop had a spinning emitter originally so the blade rod coated with scotchlite material could spin to make glowing blade look like it was vibrating?? Is there some other reason to have emitter spin? Or is it simply a matter of having the replica be as authentic to the screen-used prop as possible?
I'm going to guess that the real prop had a motor inside that spun the rod -- so if you were wanting to make it 100% accurate, seems like you would want the insides spot on as well, no?
me? i'm happy to just have it look good on the outside...and I was tempted to simply JB Weld the emitter onto the rod and secure emitter to saber body that way.
I'm going to guess that the real prop had a motor inside that spun the rod -- so if you were wanting to make it 100% accurate, seems like you would want the insides spot on as well, no?
me? i'm happy to just have it look good on the outside...and I was tempted to simply JB Weld the emitter onto the rod and secure emitter to saber body that way.
i ended up buying a shaft collar like shown above. but before i bought it, i tried this
i went to lowes the other day for parts for work and checked out a few things, though i like the snap ring idea i came up with a more simpler solution that only requires a power drill. so heres alittle tutorial on what i did ( i figured i posted in this thread to help others, if i am going about this the wrong way i am sorry and will repost it where ever necessary thank you)
Ok so first i ran to lowes and picked this up
i brought the rod with me to make sure the hole in the nylon spacer was smaller. here is the bag with part number i used.
I than mic'd the rod and recorded the number
i then bored out the nylon spacer with a drill bit .055 smaller then the rod
once bored out i tried pressing it on by hand and it was a no go ( which is a good thing, i wanted the hole small, so it was a very tight fit) i then took a file and filed only one edge. so no one side of the spacer is bigger then the other, i placed the bigger side on the end of the rod, and tapped it on with a hammer. CAUTION when tapping this on with a hammer use eye protection, though im not hitting it hard enough you dont want to hit hardened steel with a hammer, which i believe this rod is.
you can slightly see the mark i made a 3.442 (that mark later doesnt work for me)
now the spacer will only go down until its flush with the rod, so i used a 9mm deep socket to push the nylon spacer further down to the 3.442 mark
which will end up looking like this
this is so tight, i pulled and pulled and it wouldnt budge, so i was happy with it, threw the bearing on to test fit
when using the 3.442 mark, my tip was alittle long so i pushed the nylon spacer back until i was happy with this tip. dont know if it needs more or less
i used this measurement to achieve the above picture
measurement = 3.592
heres alittle video i made of it spinning, i love it!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8DXxs19mAs
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Yes, it's to have a static prop made in the same way as the original. No, you wouldn't also need to have a motor inside for complete accuracy, as the motor that was in the original prop while it was used as OB1's stunt saber in ANH had been removed by the time this saber was pressed into service as Luke's primary ROTJ saber.
And halliwax, awesome tutorial!
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glad i could help! like i said i ended up ditching the nylon spacer and going with a collar. ONLY BECAUSE the collar is made out of metal lol idk i just liked the idea of the metal collar vs the nylon. there is nothing wrong with going the nylon route :thumbsup
DrMcoy
Sr Member
thanks for the info.
my issue is i can't get the bearing far enough into the channel inside the saber (diameter of hole inside not large enough to allow bearing to slide in) -- I imagine I could try putting it into place and then using a metal or wooden rod stuck into the saber and then hammer away forcing the bearing inside to desired position, but it seems like the only reason to use the bearing is to have a smoother spinning action on the emitter. I've found, as others have, that using the drill shaft collar alone, there is enough play that you can still turn the emitter -- it's not a smooth spinning action, but it can rotate.
but at the end of the day, i'm not sure what advantage there is to having emitter spin...other than the original prop had an emitter that could spin.
I'll give this some further thought as I can't finish my saber until I get Roman's clamp, which looks like it might be another 4-8 weeks away. But as I only intend to display the prop, I believe I will be content to build it without the bearing/smoother spinning emitter, as this doesn't make an aesthetic difference.
my issue is i can't get the bearing far enough into the channel inside the saber (diameter of hole inside not large enough to allow bearing to slide in) -- I imagine I could try putting it into place and then using a metal or wooden rod stuck into the saber and then hammer away forcing the bearing inside to desired position, but it seems like the only reason to use the bearing is to have a smoother spinning action on the emitter. I've found, as others have, that using the drill shaft collar alone, there is enough play that you can still turn the emitter -- it's not a smooth spinning action, but it can rotate.
but at the end of the day, i'm not sure what advantage there is to having emitter spin...other than the original prop had an emitter that could spin.
I'll give this some further thought as I can't finish my saber until I get Roman's clamp, which looks like it might be another 4-8 weeks away. But as I only intend to display the prop, I believe I will be content to build it without the bearing/smoother spinning emitter, as this doesn't make an aesthetic difference.
DrMcoy
Sr Member
Okay, turns out you CAN easily sand down the circumference of the bearing -- I simply put it on the rod (very snug fit) and then powered up the dremel with sanding drum tip -- the drum would spin the bearing, which was okay, as it still sanded it down evenly....simple physics, but I was too dumb to think that part through. Sparks did fly, so if you do this, wear eye protection. Now the bearing fits -- positioned it on rod to proper area (allowing enough rod to stick through into emitter) -- it works, although it is off enough that the rod does not freely spin. I can try to tinker with it, but not sure that bothers me. It is on very securely, so once emitter is attached with set screws, it feels pretty solid (no rattling when i wave the saber around, which is did do a bit with the drill bit collar.
I could likely bang rod and bearing back out and keep trying to see if I can clear the rod of the upper hole so it doesn't rub against side so it would spin freely, but I'm not sure it is worth the effort.
Now to apply the stencils, paint, and wait for Roman's clamp. If anybody has a spare replica clamp they're looking to get rid of, I'll take it
I could likely bang rod and bearing back out and keep trying to see if I can clear the rod of the upper hole so it doesn't rub against side so it would spin freely, but I'm not sure it is worth the effort.
Now to apply the stencils, paint, and wait for Roman's clamp. If anybody has a spare replica clamp they're looking to get rid of, I'll take it
Do you mean are slots still available to buy this? No, but there may be some listed in the next couple weeks in the Junkyard.
Pixelpiper
Well-Known Member
In the heat of battle the glue will fail and the emitter will end up in the Sarlacc or worse.
DrMcoy
Sr Member
The issue was not keeping the rod on bearing, but rather getting the bearing disc up into the inside channel of the saber far enough to allow the rod to stick out far enough so it went to the tip of the emitter. The issue I was having was that the circular bearing disc was a smudge large in diameter than the channel it needed to fit up into, which I remedied by sanding down the bearing edges a bit with a dremel.
but maybe you were simply suggesting the super glue to keep rod adhered to bearing without having to use a shaft collar or other apparatus to keep bearing in place...and I agree with Pixelpiper, that superglue could not hold given the extreme force applied to the rod and bearing when getting it into position.
raif79
Well-Known Member
So I finally got around to painting this bad boy and put it together today. I had a nightmare with the stencils. I followed the PDF/videos but I guess I'm too clumsy. I had to improvise.
Anakin Starkiller's on the bottom, as if you didn't know (I did not do the paint job on the top one)
Without the stencils I tried to do the best I could. Pardon the rug. It really ties the room together.
Now it's home with the rest of my Star Wars goodies.
Anakin Starkiller's on the bottom, as if you didn't know (I did not do the paint job on the top one)
Without the stencils I tried to do the best I could. Pardon the rug. It really ties the room together.
Now it's home with the rest of my Star Wars goodies.
Scott D
Sr Member
My replacement emitter arrived today and this one looks great. :thumbsup
Thanks, Dan! I'm looking forward to getting in on the Luke TFA saber project, too.
pnag
Sr Member
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