McTinkersome
New Member
Above is the result of about a year's on-and-off labor and the real limitation: budgeting.
Left is the full axe in current shape at 5ft exact. I may be half way done, but not much further.
Doing it backwards, from Right to Left above
The water bubbler is the modern Melnor version which must be reshaped into the classic.
Two bubblers at $16 total, (one for experimentation).
Next are twenty-two (22), 1.5"Outer Diameter, 1"Inner D. plastic rings from Dritz on ebay. Pack of 8 for $5-$8+, need 6 sets (if not a seventh as well). ~$50
The rings are encapsulated by 2" heat shrink. $5 for one meter. As may be seen, the definition could be better for the individual rings when directly touching each other on the lower and upper usages vs. the deliberately separated pairs of rings in the middle, which I think is telling.
The heat shrink is 'very thick' (for heat shrink) and the heating process creates motion on the rings as it settles into its new shape. This test suggests that the next round, I use double-sided tape on the staff or a quick dab of super glue to hold the rings in place for heat shrinking. The middle section stayed in pairs as desired, but offset from perpendicular to the staff itself. They need to stay flat in place, 90° to the staff.
The shrink's thickness suggests I need to create artificial separations between the rings, however slight, in the upper and lower ring sets to allow for more definition of the individuals. I haven't gone back to my sources for a side by side with these results as yet. however, at first blush, these results are promising. The current Shrink will be razor bladed out of there easy enough.
As to the sources, I am primarily going through Zorg's build here at the rpf.
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=36994
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=38512
and these are good ones...
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=47590&page=6
http://www.therpf.com/f9/vibro-axe-2-a-160392/
I'm also aware of the work done by Adamiato (sp), but don't have that link immediately handy.
And then also general image searches as a few image links are busted in the previous threads. It seems there are few quality photos of the original prop from the day and none of the film material is much good other than to show a few axe variants such as the double blades that greet Luke on his entrance and the one Leia uses to pike the gunner on the barge deck.
Next up in the photo montage above is the middle section where a set of 8 rings with a $50 ANH Solo blaster bit reside. The rings are set in pairs as that's what my ref suggested to me at the time. The blaster bit still needs some shaving. For the moment, it's held in place by a looped piece of gaffers tape behind.
And then up to the top... A heat-shrinked set of 18 rings sets above the dark brown version of the Gillette Max for Men at $20 (shipped!). A machined aluminum Vader chest rod from Argentina at ~$40 for a pair is gaffer's taped into place above that. That makes ~$20 for this one rod if I can sell the other, or this one costs me $40 and the other is spare or junk.
The blade has only been eyeballed for shape at this time. It is currently too long and the curve needs fixing. It is made from slices of 1/8th plexi each sheet cut down successfully smaller to form the blade edge. The 'terraced' edges that make the blade edge were then clayed over with Aves Apoxie Sculpt and smoothed with plenty of water. From here, I need to run it on a friend's table sander for final shape and finishing. Of course, there is also the ornate 'side-plates' to do as well.
Ah yes, and to the staff itself. All is not what it seems. A copper tube sounds like the common pipe used as pvc is too wobbly and wood is too thin, brittle and bendy. Problem with copper is it's freaking heavy.
The staff is generally agreed to be 1" diameter. PVC tube ($4) with a 1" outer diameter has a 3/4" internal diameter. A one-inch wood rod ($3) has an actual diameter shy 3/4". Put the one inside the other and you have an exceptionally sturdy staff at less weight than the copper and far sturdier than any one of the two materials would be alone. The slightest of bending along the length takes a lot of strength and feels like what you would want from an actual weapon of this kind, just enough flex.
All well and good, however we want to take this to London this summer for C8, so it needs to fit into normal luggage. That means this baby will be modular, including the staff itself. What magic is this? The magic of the wood/pvc connection. The staff is five feet. So at the bottom end of the pvc, a half-foot piece of wood will be permanently fixed into place inside. The otherwise empty PVC pipe will then be cut on-the-foot, from bottom to top. The wood, now missing a half-foot will now be cut at foot marks as well. When then inserted into the pvc, the half foot offset in the bottom is built-in, creating a sleeved-effect for slotting the portions together.
The wood is friction fit inside by winding a few layers of masking tape around it at each end of the piece to build the diameter. Couldn't be a better or tighter way to get a great fit. Replace the tape as it frays over the years to come.
While I haven't gotten anywhere near this 'slotting' step yet, I am pinning hopes on it working. It looks good on paper and sounds good in my head; but will the real-world physics of it match up? I expect some flex will be lost, or at least will have a 'blockier' less fluid motion to it. I don't expect parts will fall off or apart under any condition other than deliberate action. I expect the whole will pack into a dozen or less pieces. I expect the staff seams to be negligible or unseen with the final paint and all the finishing.
This is not a rush job right now, so posts may be long between over the next few months.
Thanks for any notes, leads on parts or other comments. Cheers.
PS If quoting any of this, please trim it down for relevance. This is a long post with a lot of scrolling otherwise!
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-Tom
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