How was the spinning lightsaber blade made?

PropReplicator2

PropReplicator2

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
So this is a question I have pondered forever and am finally gonna ask it..

Does anyone know the type of motor used for creating the spinning blades in Lukes ANH saber? I've always wandered this because how would it fit in the handle? I remember seeing several pics over the scene in Bens home where the wire runs up his sleeve but never anymore than that. I am very interested to see what people know about this because this is one thing in theStar Wars universe I am totally clueless about;).

Thanks,
Alex
 
Pics I am Refering too:
luke-blue-lightsaber-530x302.jpg
lukeobigraflex2_scottjua.jpg
 
vader ep 4.jpgluke anh 7.jpg

you can see the reflective coating on both sabers here, especially the obiwan showing partial coating.
it's even fullier because the second pic show lue with vader stunt saber, meaning a 38mm tube with wires and motor, a fixed clamp button and lens and a black painted cut emitter without bunny.
On the first pic you can also see the motor alimentation is on top, not centered, it means a wired stator and magnet on rotor
I think the V2 front has a rotating emitter-neck section, explaining the groove we can see also on shared stunt prop.
About the motor, 30mm or 35mm sized motors are common, even in 1977, you can use the actual movie ep 4 lightsaber to check the blade frequency, then you will know what rpm you have to find.
 
The14thDr said:
Sorry if this is a noob question, but what do you mean by "spinning blades"? What was this used to achieve?

Kind regards, The14thDr
Click to expand...
The handles had a motor in it that spun the blade, Wich was covered in reflection tape, really fast creating That shaky look to the saber blades in ANH.
 
I would naturally assume that the wires going up the shirt were connected to the battery box in his shirt or something. The motor would have been fixed separately into the handle.

Sent from my KYOCERA-E6560 using Tapatalk
 
Wasn't the blade either triangular or square? I didn't think it was a rod, for some reason. Maybe something I dreamed up. I dunno.
 
Dann said:
Aha! So I didn't dream it up, they were triangular blades after all. For ANH.
Click to expand...

There is some debate about the shape of the blades because this is Star Wars and of course there is. I read an interview with Gil Taylor, who was the Cinematographer on Star Wars, in which he said that the blades were three sided. Photographic evidence on the other hand tends to suggest that they were four sided. It's possible that they may have tried both. If you reference a video interview with Peter Diamond on the Star Wars DVDs he said they were always breaking blades so it's certainly a possibility.

I'm pretty sure Kurtyboy's blade is four-sided and it duplicates the screen effect very closely. I've got a few parts I've saved for doing one of these myself but haven't gotten as close as doing the motor.

Dave
 
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