The OT stunt lightsaber blades research thread

Here are some results.


These ski poles are so taught that they basically just snap or bounce off each other. No wobble like the PVC. They do clack the same as everything but the aluminum. (sorry about the bad angle)

They broke, or I should say it exploded like a cat tail reed and you can see it still snaps back into place.

We basically broke one, before we could do slo-mo properly so we brought a wood pole in to take it's place.

I don't know how I feel about these. The PVC was more accurate in flex.
We haven't seen carbon fiber damage, nor have we seen flaps of fabric hanging off the blades. These blades exploded outward slowly, looking like a knot on a tree.
 
this is how they break, and they hold together pretty well. Weird stuff.

Knowing that they had a tang, and inner collars, Im guessing the blades were hollow.
IMG_3541.jpg
 
Tom it may be worth grabbing some cheap safety glasses. Don’t want any debris getting in your eyes
 
Thank you! I forgot for this one, focused too much on our hands!

Something tells me this isn't the right product or material.
 
I really love those videos. Thanks a lot for doing them!!! And yes, please protect your eyes, too.

Some years ago I was lucky to acquire an original ROTS lightsaber blade, which is basically a carbon fibre rod painted signal red and covered in a shrink wrap tube. They feel extremely solid, they are pretty "heavy", and can definitely take a heavy beating.

How do you think ESB production solved the scotchlite "glowing" effect on the stunt blades? Were those blades covered in 3M self adhesive scotchlite tape? This kind of tape is actually pretty "strong" and could probably keep a fiberglass pole from "splintering" or breaking. Would love to see a test beating with such a fibreglass pole covered in scotchlite self adhesive tape.

I'm still thinking about a composite material such as a metal "inner" rod and a fibreglass "outer" shell/rod (such as a "tank antenna"). Has anyone here ever had the chance to further inspect the Sansweet Vader stunt blade?
 
Fiberglass whip antennas could definitely be a possibility. They have flex no matter the diameter agreed what we need is a further inspection of the sansweet saber prop or a antenna test in general
 
Great stuff! - are we thinking tape that comes in a roll? (tends to peel off over time, but there are many products and I may have the wrong kind of 3M.....). OR Adhesive Vinyl? I was thinking paint originally
 
Great stuff! - are we thinking tape that comes in a roll? (tends to peel off over time, but there are many products and I may have the wrong kind of 3M.....). OR Adhesive Vinyl? I was thinking paint originally
The 3M material I used came on a roll, about two inches wide, thick quality, self-adhesive tape. It still sticks like hell on my aluminum ski pole.

I‘m quite confident the Obi ANH stunt blades were painted black and partially covered with 3M scotchlite self-adhesive tape.
 
How do you think ESB production solved the scotchlite "glowing" effect on the stunt blades? Were those blades covered in 3M self adhesive scotchlite tape? This kind of tape is actually pretty "strong" and could probably keep a fiberglass pole from "splintering" or breaking. Would love to see a test beating with such a fibreglass pole covered in scotchlite self adhesive tape.

I forgot to mention, I still have one left. I think I have a roll of that stuff too.. black and red package, white tape.

I noticed in ESB the blades got really nicked, scraped and marked up. This is what originally made me think paint. Anything from the special 3M paint that is no longer made... to white paint and glass beads like traffic road markings.

You're right though, and I think I'll coat this last one with reflective tape (and a dowel) and see what happens
 
Like what you're doing here but naughty boy for no safety goggles after you said you'd get some.

GRP looks to me like it can be made to have all sorts of flex/stiffness qualities. Ski poles you'd want decent stiffness for support, sea fishing rods you'd need lots of flex. I wouldn't write it off just yet as a possibility. Decent flex on that wood dowel too. What breed of wood?

When ever some talks of flex I always think of this ROTJ shot I found.
bend stillB.gif

I‘m quite confident the Obi ANH stunt blades were painted black and partially covered with 3M scotchlite self-adhesive tape.
Jon said painted black & partially covered with strip of scotchlite fabric cut from larger peice , glued on but I know that doesn't rule out the other & we see dif levels of 'neatness' in the pic's.
 
I forgot to mention, I still have one left. I think I have a roll of that stuff too.. black and red package, white tape.

I noticed in ESB the blades got really nicked, scraped and marked up. This is what originally made me think paint. Anything from the special 3M paint that is no longer made... to white paint and glass beads like traffic road markings.

You're right though, and I think I'll coat this last one with reflective tape (and a dowel) and see what happens
Speaking about ESB, I, too, noticed the numerous black scrapes and markings on some of the stunt lightsaber blades. Many years ago I remember buying some reflective tape which had a pretty delicate surface. When you scratched it with your fingernail, the result was a dark scratch or spot. It was highly reflective though. Could it be possible that they added some sort of a "protective" translucent coating or thin film on later products in order to make the surface more "scratch resistant"?
 
I have worked with the small roll of 3m reflective tape on a boat before it is white in appearance and has a white vinyl texture to the surface. And when torn the wrong way or scrapped on the concrete, ect it did have dark scuffs of the surface where it was scuffed.
 
I want to say it's 3.5 graflex lengths. I have eyeballed the ESB blades to 3 graflex lengths plus a little more.

and thanks!
 
I found the ANH Stunt, rigged for fighting in ESB in another shot. note the lack of bunny ears and the hackjob emitter.
ANHStuntinESB.jpg
 
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