Avolow
Well-Known Member
I have had them snap from trying to tighten them while they are over tightened. Luckily I had a replacement.
Avolow.
Star Wars ~ Luke's Saber
- Thread starter Organic Mechanic
- Start date
I have had them snap from trying to tighten them while they are over tightened. Luckily I had a replacement.
Avolow.
VFX Freak
Sr Member
Color me confused. After scouring all the threads I could find about building this thing, and studying the photos closely, I had determined that the bubble strip was supposed to be sanded thin enough to just fit under the lips of the clamp. Clutch and Gino have some good shots of their sabers that show the bubble strip installed this way.
And now this... I've just opened up my Exactra 20, but I'm not touching the bubble strip until I'm more certain about how it should be installed.
Organic Mechanic, you appear to have your head screwed on as straight as anyone building lightsaber replicas can, so what led you to determining this was the way to go?
I'm curious and trying to avoid making a potential error because I do NOT want to have to buy another Exactra! Thanks.
And now this... I've just opened up my Exactra 20, but I'm not touching the bubble strip until I'm more certain about how it should be installed.
Organic Mechanic, you appear to have your head screwed on as straight as anyone building lightsaber replicas can, so what led you to determining this was the way to go?
I'm curious and trying to avoid making a potential error because I do NOT want to have to buy another Exactra! Thanks.
Organic Mechanic
Sr Member
I recon there are two schools of thought on the process. Sand the back or sand the sides.
I used the K.I.S.S. method to determine how I would do it. The bubble strip isn't wide enough to completely fill the clamp if you sand the back, and sanding the sides is much less work. I really took less than 1/32" total off of the width. Also, sanding the back endangers the bubble clarity, as it would take quite a bit of work to bring it back to the original, water-clear finish.
I won't say that the others you've seen are "wrong", because I simply don't know. I will say that to my eyes, when compared to pics of the real saber, mine sure looks right.
Sym-Cha
Master Member
I know you've already installed your Excatra 20 bubble strip however perhaps a small tutorial with pictures and red arrows would enlighten us what you did and from which sides etcetera? Also you have an all rounds bubblestrip whereas most Exactra 19 and some 20 do not and there is a difference in the overall design between the two :
If I'm not mistaken your strip only needed to have sanded these parts flush for the rest of it to fit inbetween the clamp-lips, yes? Still you are speaking of sanding the sides ... which sides are you referring to?
-Chaim
P.S. I must confess all of my 7 Exactra's are still intact.
If I'm not mistaken your strip only needed to have sanded these parts flush for the rest of it to fit inbetween the clamp-lips, yes? Still you are speaking of sanding the sides ... which sides are you referring to?
-Chaim
P.S. I must confess all of my 7 Exactra's are still intact.
Organic Mechanic
Sr Member
You make an excellent point. Let me see if I can collect some pics of this particular strip and see if I can be a bit more informative.
As you are bit more gifted with the camera than I, Chaim, I hope you don't mind if I use some of the pics you've shared.
As you are bit more gifted with the camera than I, Chaim, I hope you don't mind if I use some of the pics you've shared.
Sym-Cha
Master Member
You may use any pictures you need to explain how you went about and there are more here :
http://www.therpf.com/f9/lightsaber-calculator-bubbles-new-discovery-73545/
-Chaim
http://www.therpf.com/f9/lightsaber-calculator-bubbles-new-discovery-73545/
-Chaim
drakerayne
New Member
Very nice build, this stuff can never get old! Great job
Organic Mechanic
Sr Member
Alright, by request I have prepared a short tutorial on my Calc Bubble prep.
First, to clarify. This tut is for a very specific set of calc bubbles. This is the bubble strip found within, to my knowledge, only select Exactra 20, and T-2000 calculators.
The Exactra 20 that contains this bubble strip is identified by it's dark grey view screen. Most Exactra 20s feature a red screen.
The calculator in question is pictured below on the left. The standard is on the right. Note the subtle difference in screen color.
See? Told you it was subtle.
If you have this calculator, upon opening it you will also note it's unique blue mounting board.
You'll also notice that the bubbles are completely rounded along the edges where they don't touch one another. This is unique to this strip. Most have a slightly flattened edge there.
In addition, the surface surrounding the bubbles on this strip has been frosted, and the recess on the back side is smaller than most. Most strips, if frosted at all, are frosted on the bottom around the recess.
In the pic you can see the plastic posts that are used to mount the strip to the board. These are passed through holes in the board, and melted to fix the strip in place.
To free the strip, you'll need to stick a needle file between the display board (blue) and the main board to file the melted area away. It will then pull right off. Or, if you don't care about the calculator, you can just put your thumb under the unattached edge and lift. This will break the blue board free, enabling you to work freely. I know because I did it by accident. lol
====================================
I have no actual photos of the work to follow. So I made a 3D model. :cool
====================================
Once you get the strip free, you will have a piece that looks like this:
Those posts need to be removed before work begins. They will prevent any precision in the next step. Just sand them down. Feel free to go below the surface with them, it will help, just don't touch the corners of the "legs" as you'll want to start with them all exactly as they are.
For the next step, you're going to start with this:
Minus the posts, of course...I forgot to remove them from the model here. :facepalm
Take some blue painters tape and completely cover the area between the uprights. Be neat about it, we want complete coverage with a single layer.
Start with a coarse grit sand paper. I used 80g. Fix it to a truly flat surface, and carefully slide the bubble strip across it until the legs are nearly gone. Switch to a finer grade, 120g is good here, and continue until you start to sand the blue tape. STOP NOW!!!
Now we remove the tape, and switch to a fine grade. I started with a 240g wet dry here. Wet sand your way until it's just about flat. Then I switched to 400g wet sanding, and continued until flat.
Stopping there, you'll find yourself with something like this:
This is the point where I started trying to fit it into my Graflex clamp. At .520", it just didn't fit with the clamp tight enough to hold the flash itself. Nor was it wide enough to fill the recesses of the clamp if I had continued to sand the back until it fit. So, I trimmed the sides, a little at a time, until I reached a solid, and proper looking fit.
After carefully sanding the sides, a little at a time, and test fitting it until it was just too tight, I switched back to my wet sanding, bringing it carefully to a perfect fit. The end result was about .020" off of each side.
Voila!
From here I just clamped it (centered) into the Graflex clamp which I had taped off on the ends. Then I took a file, and trimmed the edges, stopping just as I began to mark the tape.
Then I removed the bubble strip and tape from the clamp, and cleaned it up.
I returned to my wet sanding to do the final trimming of the ends.
Once happy with that, I was left with this:
Then I took some #00000 steel wool, and went back over all of the sanded areas (Wet). Then I friction polished them. Friction polish = Rubbed on my jeans until hot.
===================================
Typing this took longer, and sounds more complicated than the project itself. I literally spent maybe 20 minutes shaping this bubble strip.
I'll be sure to a "Production" assembly to mimic the toe pic so that judgement may be passed on my bubbles.
Happy building all!thumbsup
First, to clarify. This tut is for a very specific set of calc bubbles. This is the bubble strip found within, to my knowledge, only select Exactra 20, and T-2000 calculators.
The Exactra 20 that contains this bubble strip is identified by it's dark grey view screen. Most Exactra 20s feature a red screen.
The calculator in question is pictured below on the left. The standard is on the right. Note the subtle difference in screen color.
See? Told you it was subtle.
If you have this calculator, upon opening it you will also note it's unique blue mounting board.
You'll also notice that the bubbles are completely rounded along the edges where they don't touch one another. This is unique to this strip. Most have a slightly flattened edge there.
In addition, the surface surrounding the bubbles on this strip has been frosted, and the recess on the back side is smaller than most. Most strips, if frosted at all, are frosted on the bottom around the recess.
In the pic you can see the plastic posts that are used to mount the strip to the board. These are passed through holes in the board, and melted to fix the strip in place.
To free the strip, you'll need to stick a needle file between the display board (blue) and the main board to file the melted area away. It will then pull right off. Or, if you don't care about the calculator, you can just put your thumb under the unattached edge and lift. This will break the blue board free, enabling you to work freely. I know because I did it by accident. lol
====================================
I have no actual photos of the work to follow. So I made a 3D model. :cool
====================================
Once you get the strip free, you will have a piece that looks like this:
Those posts need to be removed before work begins. They will prevent any precision in the next step. Just sand them down. Feel free to go below the surface with them, it will help, just don't touch the corners of the "legs" as you'll want to start with them all exactly as they are.
For the next step, you're going to start with this:
Minus the posts, of course...I forgot to remove them from the model here. :facepalm
Take some blue painters tape and completely cover the area between the uprights. Be neat about it, we want complete coverage with a single layer.
Start with a coarse grit sand paper. I used 80g. Fix it to a truly flat surface, and carefully slide the bubble strip across it until the legs are nearly gone. Switch to a finer grade, 120g is good here, and continue until you start to sand the blue tape. STOP NOW!!!
Now we remove the tape, and switch to a fine grade. I started with a 240g wet dry here. Wet sand your way until it's just about flat. Then I switched to 400g wet sanding, and continued until flat.
Stopping there, you'll find yourself with something like this:
This is the point where I started trying to fit it into my Graflex clamp. At .520", it just didn't fit with the clamp tight enough to hold the flash itself. Nor was it wide enough to fill the recesses of the clamp if I had continued to sand the back until it fit. So, I trimmed the sides, a little at a time, until I reached a solid, and proper looking fit.
After carefully sanding the sides, a little at a time, and test fitting it until it was just too tight, I switched back to my wet sanding, bringing it carefully to a perfect fit. The end result was about .020" off of each side.
Voila!
From here I just clamped it (centered) into the Graflex clamp which I had taped off on the ends. Then I took a file, and trimmed the edges, stopping just as I began to mark the tape.
Then I removed the bubble strip and tape from the clamp, and cleaned it up.
I returned to my wet sanding to do the final trimming of the ends.
Once happy with that, I was left with this:
Then I took some #00000 steel wool, and went back over all of the sanded areas (Wet). Then I friction polished them. Friction polish = Rubbed on my jeans until hot.
===================================
Typing this took longer, and sounds more complicated than the project itself. I literally spent maybe 20 minutes shaping this bubble strip.
I'll be sure to a "Production" assembly to mimic the toe pic so that judgement may be passed on my bubbles.
Happy building all!
thumbsupAttachments
Sym-Cha
Master Member
Excellent tutorial Organic Mechanic !!! Those 3D bubbles are exquisite
For all other types of Exactra 19 or 20 or indeed TI-2000 bubble strips
I refer to the tutorial made by Clutch a long, long time ago in a . . . . .
oh heck here it is :
http://www.therpf.com/f9/lightsaber-calc-bubbles-62238/
-Chaim
For all other types of Exactra 19 or 20 or indeed TI-2000 bubble strips
I refer to the tutorial made by Clutch a long, long time ago in a . . . . .
oh heck here it is :
http://www.therpf.com/f9/lightsaber-calc-bubbles-62238/
-Chaim
Organic Mechanic
Sr Member
Thanks Chaim. I too like how the 3D bubbles turned out...damn shame printing them would do us no good. :/
Organic Mechanic
Sr Member
My pleasure!
Also, a teaser update:
With the exception of a few niggling little things that no other human, even you guys, would ever notice...My Lightsaber is COMPLETE!!!
Photographs upon the 'morrow. :cool
Also, a teaser update:
With the exception of a few niggling little things that no other human, even you guys, would ever notice...My Lightsaber is COMPLETE!!!
Photographs upon the 'morrow. :cool
Looking forward to seeing the finished product!
Organic Mechanic
Sr Member
Star Wars ~ Luke's Saber ***FINISHED***
Here we go folks. The end of my journey has arrived.
These are the only *good* pics I managed so far. Brushed chrome is hard to shoot! Well...ANYTHING is hard to shoot if you're me, but these were particularly taxing.
First up is a shot of the "Beauty" side.
Then we've got one head on to the emitter.
Then, I must include the obligatory "Toe Pic"...
...and a comparison composite.
Looking at the composite, I've got to say that I am now completely convinced I got the right bubble strip for this saber...and everything else too!
Pics with the display stand are coming. Probably later in the week.
Comments, criticisms, and questions not only welcomed, but hoped for.
======================
Now, this project meant a great deal to me, and I could not have done it alone. I have to extend my thanks to all of you who spent countless hours researching this lightsaber over the years. I also want to thank those who I did business with gathering the parts. Not all of them are members here, but thanks none the less. To those sellers who went out of their way to make sure they got me exactly the parts I needed (they know who they are), man, you guys are champs. Also, the Mrs. for being so gorram tolerant of this whole thing. XD
My biggest "Thank You" though, has got to go to Sym-Cha. Chaim has been like my own personal blue force ghost guiding me, talking me out of shortcuts, and keeping me going throughout the process. Thanks bro, I mean it.thumbsup
Here we go folks. The end of my journey has arrived.
These are the only *good* pics I managed so far. Brushed chrome is hard to shoot! Well...ANYTHING is hard to shoot if you're me, but these were particularly taxing.
First up is a shot of the "Beauty" side.
Then we've got one head on to the emitter.
Then, I must include the obligatory "Toe Pic"...
...and a comparison composite.
Looking at the composite, I've got to say that I am now completely convinced I got the right bubble strip for this saber...and everything else too!
Pics with the display stand are coming. Probably later in the week.
Comments, criticisms, and questions not only welcomed, but hoped for.
======================
Now, this project meant a great deal to me, and I could not have done it alone. I have to extend my thanks to all of you who spent countless hours researching this lightsaber over the years. I also want to thank those who I did business with gathering the parts. Not all of them are members here, but thanks none the less. To those sellers who went out of their way to make sure they got me exactly the parts I needed (they know who they are), man, you guys are champs. Also, the Mrs. for being so gorram tolerant of this whole thing. XD
My biggest "Thank You" though, has got to go to Sym-Cha. Chaim has been like my own personal blue force ghost guiding me, talking me out of shortcuts, and keeping me going throughout the process. Thanks bro, I mean it.
thumbsup
Sym-Cha
Master Member
Re: Star Wars ~ Luke's Saber ***FINISHED***
Excellent ... a job well done
Could you provide a picture of the bottom to see Kurtyboy's T-track grips?
-Chaim
...and a comparison composite.
Excellent ... a job well done
Could you provide a picture of the bottom to see Kurtyboy's T-track grips?
-Chaim
Organic Mechanic
Sr Member
Re: Star Wars ~ Luke's Saber ***FINISHED***
Thanks man. Means a lot coming from you. :cool
Why you pain in my...
How's this? :lol
That, by the way, is the d-ring from my Graflex case, and yes, that's it's original split rivet holding it on.
Excellent ... a job well done
Thanks man. Means a lot coming from you. :cool
Why you pain in my...
How's this? :lol
That, by the way, is the d-ring from my Graflex case, and yes, that's it's original split rivet holding it on.
Outstanding job. Really a great build. My first saber was also a Luke ANH saber (build thread here on RPF). It now sits in a display case in my sons dorm at college, where it gets many comments. Apparently, EVERYONE in college knows what a light saber is
Again, nice job.
Again, nice job.
VFX Freak
Sr Member
Looks fantastic! I love that your D-Ring is from the Graflex case. Nice and unique. I'm inspired to assemble mine now, but I have to wait a couple of weeks for the time. I did get my grips today from Gino and they look great. I'm thinking of making mine look pretty heavily used, with battered grips to go with my scratched up Graflex. It won't be pretty, but neither is Starting Wars.--Edit-- I meant Star Wars, of course. (Sometimes I hate spell check.)
Congratulations on completing yours and thanks for the thorough documentation.
Congratulations on completing yours and thanks for the thorough documentation.
Last edited:
Sym-Cha
Master Member
Love the D-ring too, hmm perhaps I should get an additional 3 Cell bottom to add my vintage D-ring with the vintage metal T-track ... choices, choises so many choises so little time
@VFX Freak ... just hang it on your belt whilest handling that steadicam and it will have that used-future look in no time :lol
-Chaim
Similar threads
