Ronpur
New Member
Hello to all! This is the first time I have posted a prop in the forum, so I figured it should be the first prop I ever built.
Way back in the early days of the internet, 1996, I researched the ANH Luke Lightsaber on some websites, most of which don't exist anymore. Obviously, I needed a Graflex, and searched for quite some time to find one. Ebay was too costly for my budget back then. But one Saturday morning, I received a phone call from a friend saying he thinks he found one at a flea market 20 miles away. I jumped into my car and drove to meet him (almost crashing on the way). And sitting in this guys booth, was a complete Graflex 3-cell flash....for $20. So I bought it. My friend said he could not stop laughing at the look on my face as I held it. Sort of like King Author finding the Grail.
The flash was not in the best shape. The previous owner had left batteries in too long, and they had corroded. I sanded that down and tried to polish it. I got it smooth, but the blackening would not go away. Some of the metal around the screw holes on the clamp had actually been eaten away. I used metalic plumbers tape to try to hide some of the blackening on the clamp.
I ordered rubber grips from someone online. Wrote a check and mailed it to him in those pre-paypal days. In those days, Luke's lightsaber was thought to have 6 grips, so that is what I put on it. The switch bubbles came from an actual Texas Instruments calculator found at another flea market. The D-ring was one I found at Home Depot. Neither are totally accurate, but I wanted to use found parts and in those primitive days, I didn't know any better.
I have always debated about replacing the clamp with a new one, but it would be a replica. I really want to keep it all Graflex. I usually explain that it is battle damage. I mean, it was dropped next to lava. The grips and d-ring, I may replace with more accurate pieces. The bubbles will stay, even though they aren't the right number, I found them, too.
Any thoughts on the clamp? Would you all replace it or keep it as is?
Way back in the early days of the internet, 1996, I researched the ANH Luke Lightsaber on some websites, most of which don't exist anymore. Obviously, I needed a Graflex, and searched for quite some time to find one. Ebay was too costly for my budget back then. But one Saturday morning, I received a phone call from a friend saying he thinks he found one at a flea market 20 miles away. I jumped into my car and drove to meet him (almost crashing on the way). And sitting in this guys booth, was a complete Graflex 3-cell flash....for $20. So I bought it. My friend said he could not stop laughing at the look on my face as I held it. Sort of like King Author finding the Grail.
The flash was not in the best shape. The previous owner had left batteries in too long, and they had corroded. I sanded that down and tried to polish it. I got it smooth, but the blackening would not go away. Some of the metal around the screw holes on the clamp had actually been eaten away. I used metalic plumbers tape to try to hide some of the blackening on the clamp.
I ordered rubber grips from someone online. Wrote a check and mailed it to him in those pre-paypal days. In those days, Luke's lightsaber was thought to have 6 grips, so that is what I put on it. The switch bubbles came from an actual Texas Instruments calculator found at another flea market. The D-ring was one I found at Home Depot. Neither are totally accurate, but I wanted to use found parts and in those primitive days, I didn't know any better.
I have always debated about replacing the clamp with a new one, but it would be a replica. I really want to keep it all Graflex. I usually explain that it is battle damage. I mean, it was dropped next to lava. The grips and d-ring, I may replace with more accurate pieces. The bubbles will stay, even though they aren't the right number, I found them, too.
Any thoughts on the clamp? Would you all replace it or keep it as is?
