My Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode I Lightsaber Replica

If you find the correct brass knob, you'll find that there's a noticeably unfitting hole at the center for a nice purple stem-cap to fit into. :)

It's an extraordinary thought that the Obi TPM still has yet to be nailed after 8 years. I think the person who finally nails it should be praised along the same line as the ones who discovered the found items for the Obi ANH.
 
Got the bezels last week and got 10 LEDS this morning. Will be doing something during this weekend. Keep you posted guys. And remember, If you find better ones please let me know.
 
Finally I sanded the LEDs and assembled the bezel. Wan not that easy to sand the LEDs and keep them flat. Screwed up some of them
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, but bought enough so did not care.

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And as I was afraid, I will have to make a new hole to put them. Check the actual size:

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Playing to see how it will look with the new bezel and LED.
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More high resolution photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/the.reb...WarsEpisodeIThePhantomMenaceLightsaberReplica

What do you think guys?
 
Very nice Diego! I'd love to have one of these hilts, but with my budget I'd have to settle for a resin replica.
 
I finally did it. I installed the chromed bezels into my hilt. Wanted to replace those screws badly, really
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So I drilled a new hole:
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And created the screw with the proper male for the bezels.:
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And this is the result: Better than the screws right?
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High resolution photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/the.reb...WarsEpisodeIThePhantomMenaceLightsaberReplica

Glad I did just in time for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars avant premiere that will be tomorrow in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Very nice indeed. Those look a hundred percent better than the Allen screws. I may do this on my Obi TPM as well.
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The step may not be 100% screen accurate, but those new bezels look SO much better than what was in there before. Great work!
 
I searched a few hundred supply stores when I was doing the Z-saber Obi TPM. To my knowledge, no one has found the correct bezel yet. They may very well be obsolete stock of an older type or bezel or something completely different - who knows. On the Z-saber I made the bezels from scratch to have a sharp edge on them.
 
I had a bunch of the correct bezels years ago. They were a common part, but are no longer available. You still had to modify them though. As can be seen in the pics of the original saber, the top of the bezel is ground down slightly on the prop. There was also still a small step at the bottom of the bezel, although nothing that couldn't be removed with very little work.

I don't know when they stopped doing them, but I had no problem finding them up till around 2002.
 
Thanks guys, I am really happy about this modification. As a matter of fact, LFL had the same problem back in 2001 or 2002 doing that weird new hero hilt for AOTC (never used in that film BTW). They used the same kind of bezels I did, take a look:

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The step on those ones is a little smaller than it is on the ones available now, but they definitely don't show any of the marks that the original E1 prop did on the top or bottom. Obviously they couldn't be bothered second time round!
 
I have that same saber, it's my costume one.

I removed the allen head screws and found some with a smaller head in the same length and thread.

Then I cut some LED bezels, JB Welded them to the top of the allen head screws, and used a wrench down the LED hole to tighten them up on the saber.

Last, I used hot glue down the LED hole. let it dry, and cut the top smooth to simulate the LED.

It's the saber in back:
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Nice job with the Obi... Did it come with the light up blade, or did you convert it. Reason I ask is I have this one as well and was looking at converting mine for EL or Luxeon...

-Adam
 
I don't think so. They were identified so long ago as LED bezels.

Kyle,

I'm sure you (and plenty of other folks) know this stuff better than me. I'm not the type who wants to do the research. All I do is copy the smart guys whose tutorials make it all look easy.

Still I wanna press this just to be a jerk. Forgive me.

So, these 3 pics are of the screen used Obi-saber.
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In that middle view the bezel appears to have no step as you said in your 1st post. In the left and right images there appears to be a bit of glue residue above and below the bezel. Also, in the left most image I see what looks like a phillips-head screw through the 'lens'.

And this is your stuff.
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Sweet, clean, idealized. Your bezel floats a bit rather than conforming to the shape of the tube, as does the original, but the step is thick compared with the screen shots above. Also you are concerned that it is too close to the etched line.

Conforming the bezel of the LED holder would be a task requiring a high level of precision with a set of needle files, and more patience than I can imagine.
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With these cone washers, and I'll admit I don't know if they are even the right size, the step is smaller to start with plus it could even be sanded off completely reducing the diameter if indeed it were too large.

We used to have a saying where I worked: "You have to be smarter than the tool you are operating", and sandpaper is about as complex a tool as I can manage most days.

The same efforts could easily reshape the underside making it conform to the curve of the tube. The rest is corrected by drilling out the inner ring. (maybe even do that part first)

Last to attach it you fill the thing with clear RTV, clamp it in place over a screw then when it's dry clean it up by shaving off the excess residue with a razor. The RTV also allows the cone to be adjusted a bit to get it further away from the etched line if need be.

If it turns out that the LED actually lights up in the movies, it's not like it'd be impossible to mount an LED under the cone washer either.

I'm not looking to argue whether it's an already known fact that LFL used LED holders. If it is, then it is. I'm just describing a way I might try to replicate what I see in those screen used pix, were I ever so motivated.
 
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