The Ultimate Luke ANH Graflex Research & Discussion Thread

hey,
just be aware that this photo of the telegraph on the right is from my own flash and that photo was particularly to show that this glass eye was not original to the flash ;-) the glass eye is a later version that was rudely modified by someone to try to fit it to the bayonet style hole on the flash.
more detail and comparisons of the telegraphs flashes can be seen on that thread:

an interested detail for instance that I don't think I have seen listed here is the fact that the shiny chrome bunny ears present on the telegraph version also has a much much thicker chrome ring inside the the end of the flash,
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Hope you don't mind I've posted it here - I've converted those flashes to ESB Wampa cave builds log time ago, so the original buttons and glass eyes are somewhere in my boxes. I knew these particular images show in a quick google search so it was faster to show what I mean. As Diego mentioned the red button also does not belong to the telegraph flash, but the fact that both can be seen retrofitted to telegraph flashes for me is another hint that they came from the flash model was released closely after the telegraph
 
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One more thing.. Telegraph and 1928 share another component that makes me think they are directly sequential: the screw head of the clamp lever is CHROME plated and SQUARE shaped! And this is another feature that belongs ONLY to these 2 models.

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1637007437222.png

Yes, mine are similar, however I think yours has bigger "rusty dot". From the pictures I've seen I got the impression it is like this also on the telegraph clamps. Or maybe it is just the different scale of the two pictures ? Mine are .. well what I would call the standard size for a Folmer clamp like what you'll see on the round screw heads.

Why do you call this flash variation "1928" ?
 
Because it is the year of production!

About the rusty dot.. I think it’s just the different scale and the viewing angle..
 
Hm, are you sure about this? The telegraph flash patent was filled in 1940 ... does not make sense to do it 10 years after they stopped making it
 
I've collected some dates here: Graflex Variations: Facts and vs. Replica
Now, patent dates are sure thing as it can be looked up online. Flash release dates however were from some graflex history site, could be off, although line up nicely with the patent information. So I don't know ... 1928 seems little early

Edit: Just saw teecroz already posted the patent link :)
 
I've collected some dates here: Graflex Variations: Facts and vs. Replica
Now, patent dates are sure thing as it can be looked up online. Flash release dates however were from some graflex history site, could be off, although line up nicely with the patent information. So I don't know ... 1928 seems little early

Edit: Just saw teecroz already posted the patent link :)
That teecrooz is the man
 
Regardless of the exact release date, it looks like the "ANH Graflex" version is essentially "Gen3" in terms of how the various details changed.
But the levers don't seem to match what I see here: (mine certainly don't)
1637029661960.png

Is it safe to assume it came from a later variant and not the Telegraph, the 1928 (Gen2) or Gen3?
And what about the levers actual RAF stamped clamps that have surfaced so far? I don't think I've seen any pictures posted showing them from that angle ...
 
This is Nick's original RAF-Flex lever, which he replaced with one in better condition, later. However a common early folmer lever... And this matches my theory:

0B8B00F1-41E4-40F5-A5E8-A291FD6FD1B7.jpeg


I agree that there has been a "quick repair" to the clamp lever and that what we currently see is a nail head or something similar. It wouldn't be the first time an OT clamp has been fixed this way (see MPP Silver Bars Vader ANH v1). It is also possible that this "quick repair" is the reason (or one of the reasons) why we see the Graflex ANH clamp lever always open in pics..
 
This is Nick's original RAF-Flex lever, which he replaced with one in better condition, later. However a common early folmer lever... And this matches my theory:

View attachment 1513095

I agree that there has been a "quick repair" to the clamp lever and that what we currently see is a nail head or something similar. It wouldn't be the first time an OT clamp has been fixed this way (see MPP Silver Bars Vader ANH v1). It is also possible that this "quick repair" is the reason (or one of the reasons) why we see the Graflex ANH clamp lever always open in pics..
It is seen closed in one picture that is in Seth's book
 
It’s possible that it broke during production.. Anyway, since I don't know the photo you are talking about, could you show it to me? Thanks!
It's a screenshot of it so not the best quality
 

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It was a theory a while back that with the washer missing and maybe something mis-aligned with the clamp, the lever wasn't able to lock, and would frequently fall open
 
It was a theory a while back that with the washer missing and maybe something mis-aligned with the clamp, the lever wasn't able to lock, and would frequently fall open

I still stand by my idea that it's because the lever was screwed onto the clamp so tightly. You can see the end of the screw standing proud of the hole in the sidebar. I suspect that it was done to ensure a tight fit for all the parts, or perhaps to keep the bubblestrip in place.
 
I still stand by my idea that it's because the lever was screwed onto the clamp so tightly. You can see the end of the screw standing proud of the hole in the sidebar. I suspect that it was done to ensure a tight fit for all the parts, or perhaps to keep the bubblestrip in place.
1000% agree... we not only see this on the hero, but the mitchell saber as well
 
If the bubbles (or esb cards) are cut just a little too wide it is hard to close the lever all the way and after some point I start to feel that if I force it more it might break. As I don't really want to replicate the open lever in my builds I just file the bubbles until it closes nicely. But I won't be surprised if they didn't bother to do that and just left the lever as far as it could go.

I've seen some broken levers posted by forum members and I'm not so convinced anymore that you can use a just small nail and maybe some glue to fix it and will be strong enough to hold. Can't rule it out completely, but now I understand why they fixed the ranch saber lever the way they did.

So currently I find the type of levers that were suggested by Drew Baker few pages back to be the most convincing match to what I see on the picture.
 

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