Beautiful+1 build buddy, my vintage Obi is at the same stage, we sure need a new engine to complete a few builds
The Ultimate Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi Real Vintage Parts Lightsaber Group
- Thread starter Sym-Cha
- Start date
Beautiful+1 build buddy, my vintage Obi is at the same stage, we sure need a new engine to complete a few builds
Thanks Andrew! I really lucked out with that one, it's got the most beautiful patina I've ever seen on a hales!
Thanks Ian! Yeah seriously! I've been looking and have a few people in the UK looking and able to pick up and house an engine for me if one is found, so now we just play the waiting/luck game! I really hope one is found soon, something goods gotta come from this year!Beautiful+1 build buddy, my vintage Obi is at the same stage, we sure need a new engine to complete a few builds
russellsch
Master Member
Gorgeous grenade! Also, the weathering of your balance pipe is fantastic!! Awesome photos!
Thanks RussellGorgeous grenade! Also, the weathering of your balance pipe is fantastic!! Awesome photos!
I'm really happy with how it turned out! I took some cues from photos members have posted in this thread for how the wear and patina builds up on the real ones, so I kind of did a combination of what I liked from different balance pipes and hoped it would look good! I did a set of weathered parts for someone here a while ago and was considering seeing if people would be interested in having replica parts weathered the same way, but just haven't gotten around to it yet! Glad you like the photos by the way! I've been messing around with different settings on the camera and what better test subject than a nearly complete saber?
Obi1Kenobi
Active Member
Thanks Russell
Glad you like the photos by the way! I've been messing around with different settings on the camera and what better test subject than a nearly complete saber?
I'm interested. Please PM me if you ever get around to offering this. I have a Russrep balance pipe too, and would love for it to look as gorgeous as yours.
Obi1Kenobi
Active Member
How are people attaching their balance pipes to their adapters?
I have purchased two different adapters, but haven't decided which one I like best yet. I know I don't want to use a set screw and drill through the replica balance pipe because I don't want a screw head showing. Here are the options I've considered:
I have purchased two different adapters, but haven't decided which one I like best yet. I know I don't want to use a set screw and drill through the replica balance pipe because I don't want a screw head showing. Here are the options I've considered:
- Glue
- Solder
- Loctite
- Slightly crush the balance pipe hole into an oval (instead of a circle), and then 'brute force' the adapter into the balance pipe. [This technique worked very well to hold my replica ring on my replica windvane, but the two parts above are thick and not likely to bend easily.]
The adapter I have in my balance pipe is a really tight friction fit, so there is nothing attaching it. In fact, I had to use my dremel to remove some of the built up carbon (or whatever that black stuff was) from the inside of the BP, so the adapter would even fit inside. Your 4th option seems like the most unlikely to work. Crushing inconel is not as easy as it sounds.
Obi1Kenobi
Active Member
Thanks. To be clear, my balance pipe is a replica, so it is steel - not inconel. But I agree that option 4 sounds most unlikely to work - even with steel.
The two parts of my balance pipe also slip apart. What has this group done to solve that problem too?
Sorry for asking replica-related questions in a 'genuine parts' thread, but I figured this would be the most expert group of folks on this forum when it comes to this saber.
Wait really? I was always under the impression that the originals were two parts the same way Russ replicated them? I could see them being one part though for less waste during manufacture though
Obi1Kenobi
Active Member
That’s news to me too. Man, do I feel stupid. I’ve been following this saber construction since before the balance pipe was even discovered (while someone was making an IG-88 head). I’ve seen dozens of photos of vintage balance pipes over the years. But it never occurred to me that the photos never showed two pieces like my Russrep replica.* Wow. Just wow. I’m not worthy.
*Although, once in awhile, I did wonder to myself just how this two-piece part in my hands would hold together while installed in an engine.
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On the all-replica-parts saber I built, the cone is a real-world found part and I use a shim for a friction fit.
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Yeah, IIRC I cut that shim from roof flashing. It's cheap, plentiful, and easy to cut.
Trimmed a new exactra 20 bubble to fit my saber and filed and remelted the weld on this new booster, and re weathered it. The new booster had a sort of flat gray finish which I stripped and blackened again.
I cut some tape to protect the back of the bubble and chamfered the corners on a granite plate with a hand file. Once it was fit to the clamp I assembled everything again. Pretty happy with how the booster finish worked out, looks right again! I used the bearing to help align and hold the saber together
I cut some tape to protect the back of the bubble and chamfered the corners on a granite plate with a hand file. Once it was fit to the clamp I assembled everything again. Pretty happy with how the booster finish worked out, looks right again! I used the bearing to help align and hold the saber together
NickCline
Well-Known Member
Recently mailed this beautiful NOS female balance pipe to its new owner, and thought I should post the photos here so they’re archived.
Bittersweet to see it go, but it’s very cool to see someone else start down this crazy journey. Not a bad way to start by knocking out the hardest piece first...
Bittersweet to see it go, but it’s very cool to see someone else start down this crazy journey. Not a bad way to start by knocking out the hardest piece first...
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russellsch
Master Member
Beautiful! Congrats to the new owner
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