The Ultimate Guide to Lightsabers eBook

Fantastic book, aside from the few minor grammar and factual errors that have crept in. Otherwise, I love it. My only real suggestion is that, while this is not focused on the prequels, it might be nice to show comparison images of the prequel hero sabers so as to make clear how they were influenced by specific OT sabers. Visual aids always help!

Also, has it been determined that certain features of the Dagobah ESB saber are indeed the same as the Ranch, like the rotated clamp card? I tend to believe that the Dagobah and Bespin sabers are the same hero, just minus the upper red button. As I recall, the Bespin stuff was filmed before the Dagobah stuff, which means that the button-less saber was probably just the Bespin hero prop as it appeared near the end of ESB's production.
 
Grammar errors-- think I got those ironed out.

FACTUAL errors-- please point them out. I tried to be concrete only when it seemed like everyone agreed, pointed out where things are contested,, and made it very clear that things could always change.

There's pics of the PT inspired sabers in the back, I honestly just didn't want to spend too much space on them-- I'd rather see the props that inspired them. Like i've said-- this is about building OT replicas. The PT sabers are all scratch made. I know some people adapt Graflexes to look like the skinnyflex, but that's an idealized build, and Im sticking to what's on screen.
 
the vader esb blueprint is wrong.
the shround is probably not a mpp shroud, the bubble is not under the clamp claws, and it's not possible to get parallel clamp closure , the shroud bolt also has different design.

Lots of missing details about the obiwan "hero lightsaber" including the death star picture with the cone, andthe 3 archive pictures black and white color? I can send you files if you wnt, already made lots of searches and combined in pictures for several sabers.
 
So if you're anything like me, you forget to bookmark pages, and you frequently have to go searching for information on this saber or that saber. For awhile I've been wishing there was a master thread or site that had all the information the RPF has come up with on lightsabers. Like Parts of Star Wars, but something lightly more updated than a geocites page.

I decided to make my own wish come true. After doing the lightsaber tree I had all the photos and information at hand-- but what that chart lacked was the lore. I put all these things together and decided to make an all-inclusive, cover every OT saber ever guidebook that talks about the props, their history, their individual parts and accompany it all with the highest res bestest photos I could find.

Before I go unleashing it to the world, I have shown it to some of the vets here for input, and now I'm hoping to sort of beta-test it with the rest of the RPF.

See anything that needs correcting? Anything to fight over? Post it!

I hope you all dig it:

http://sethmsherwood.com/nerdery/SW_Lightsaber_Guide.1.14.17.pdf

Dude! This is so well done! It would look right at home as book next to my Star Wars Costume book! Congrats man.
 
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I honestly don't want to see any prequel sabers in this thing. It's an OT reference guide after all.

I agree. But at the same time, if Seth plans on making this a go-to guide for all Lightsabers past, present, and future, I wouldn't mind it if he included the prequel sabers at some point.
 
I think it would be good to have photos of the OT inspired Prequel sabers just to show the Prequel sabers were not made with the original parts. They have some similar features, but were made with very different methods.

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What an invaluable resource! Thanks so much! It made for an excellent morning read.

- - - Updated - - -

I honestly don't want to see any prequel sabers in this thing. It's an OT reference guide after all.

Yea I couldn't care less to see them. They were cool when I was 15. Now They're just "meh" to me.
 
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I've seen people disagree round this parts about the difference between brass and copper and bronze....

But aside from being specific about paint colors, I agree with you on which prop has what.

You mention the Yuma and ISYHCANL necks as being painted copper to match the V3. I believe the consensus is that the copper paint on the V3 was added after production. The aged brass on the Yuma and ISHCANL necks came first.

Also, you mention that the control boxes on the ISYHCANL and cave sabers are the likely the same, when I believe the cave saber has the extra gray bars beneath the top rails.

Lastly, the hero ROTJ sabers had 13 gold traces on a BLUE pcb board, and this blue color appeared in-between each trace. Your diagram shows this as black.

On the V2, you omit the origin of the cone knob: retainer nuts from a vintage English turntable.
 
I am still going over in detail and see some of my photos used, but I've caught a few things that need added/corrected too.

ANH Graflex: Christianson, has contradicted himself numerous times. His most recent reddit thing he actually stated he knew for fact that the T track was Draft Excluders actually... not cabinet track.

The V2 wasn't purposely weathered down for ROTJ, it was literally used on set as a practice saber for Mark and Dave for all of ESB production, and was used on ROTJ at the last minute. It was a total afterthought as production of ROTJ started out with a graflex saber.

I'll keep going through it.
 
I think it would be good to have photos of the OT inspired Prequel sabers just to show the Prequel sabers were not made with the original parts. They have some similar features, but were made with very different methods.

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That was what I was driving at. Nothing extensive, just a photo or two to show the influence. It's not at all essential, but since the book mentions the PT versions, a brief visual aid would be nice.
 
the vader esb blueprint is wrong.
the shround is probably not a mpp shroud, the bubble is not under the clamp claws, and it's not possible to get parallel clamp closure , the shroud bolt also has different design.

The blueprints are by Roy, and by his own admission they may not be 100%. If anything they represent a clear visual of how all the parts work together as a reference. The fact he often names third parties on the blueprints, like Slothfurnace, shows he's offering these up as blueprints of his builds, not prop gospel.

If somebody is down to worrying about the knurling pattern in the shroud knob they're probably beyond this book, but if people think they need a disclaimer, I can add one.

Lots of missing details about the obiwan "hero lightsaber" including the death star picture with the cone, andthe 3 archive pictures black and white color? I can send you files if you wnt, already made lots of searches and combined in pictures for several sabers.

I only have room for so many photos, but if details are missing, please fill me in and send pics. I'll always replace images if theres a better one. If the facts or details or wrong, let me know what they are.

You mention the Yuma and ISYHCANL necks as being painted copper to match the V3. I believe the consensus is that the copper paint on the V3 was added after production. The aged brass on the Yuma and ISHCANL necks came first.

Agree on the V3 getting painted later-- that makes sense. But since the Yuma and ISYHCANL were scratch made they would have likely just been aluminum. Not sure if you are saying you think they are actual aged brass, or just painted that way to match the V2/V3?

Also, you mention that the control boxes on the ISYHCANL and cave sabers are the likely the same, when I believe the cave saber has the extra gray bars beneath the top rails.

I reworded that in the current version. I just meant one was probably adapted from the other-- but yes, in the scenes they are different. The cave has the rails.

Lastly, the hero ROTJ sabers had 13 gold traces on a BLUE pcb board, and this blue color appeared in-between each trace. Your diagram shows this as black.

I'm going by bad photos and slothfurnace's repro. Do you have pic that shows the blue? I've never seen that. Happy to change and put the actual pic in there if you have it.

On the V2, you omit the origin of the cone knob: retainer nuts from a vintage English turntable.

I didn't know that was the origin! Hadn't seen that before. Thank you!

ANH Graflex: Christianson, has contradicted himself numerous times. His most recent reddit thing he actually stated he knew for fact that the T track was Draft Excluders actually... not cabinet track.

I'll add that to the debate! Thanks!

The V2 wasn't purposely weathered down for ROTJ, it was literally used on set as a practice saber for Mark and Dave for all of ESB production

That was noted, I included some pics of it too.

was used on ROTJ at the last minute. It was a total afterthought as production of ROTJ started out with a graflex saber.

I wasn't sure if that story was confirmed, or general consensus. If we've accepted it as gospel I'll throw it in! The paint doesn't look worn down, every inch looks like it was intentionally scraped off.

As for the prequels...

At the risk of repeating myself-- this NOT a guide to all lightsabers. I probably should have called it something different. Lucasfilm makes a guide to lightsabers. My 11 year old has it. Here you go: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lig...LA&sid=BNB_DRS_Core+Shopping+Books_00000000&2

There's also this guy's ebook that he'd love to sell you:
http://guides.starwarsfactfile.co.uk/lightsabers-a-visual-guide/

The point of this book isn't to say HERE'S ALL THE LIGHTSABERS. It's to talk about Star Wars props, specifically, lightsabers. There's a difference. If I were to include the PT sabers, it would go something like this:

"This is Baris Offee's lightsaber. It was designed by Doug Chaing and then fabricated by the Episode One prop team."

The end. If I am telling prop stories, there's literally nothing else to say.

I think it would be good to have photos of the OT inspired Prequel sabers just to show the Prequel sabers were not made with the original parts. They have some similar features, but were made with very different methods.

They are in there, in the back. Hidden in with everything else. Enough people are bringing it up though, so in the next version I'll give those three sabers their own page and talk a little more I GUESS! ;)
 
here are the obiwan pictures, one for the components and other for the various views o the different sabers one with the cone in emitter and other with black inside (probably the black white archive picture saber)
obiparts.png
obiwan1.jpg

and here is the vader esb photo I made from the various available pictures:

VADER ESB.jpg

I have higher resolution but it's so heavy no way to upload it on the thread.
 
Thanks!

Those are the Vader ESB pics I'm using. Same photoshoot.

The obi-parts are great, I'll replace some of the ones I was using with these.

The Obi-Wan screengrabs are great too-- I'm actually using them already.

I'm confused though about what details need to change in the book with the Obi-Wan saber. Should I just include mention of the cone knob on the hero?
 
Agree on the V3 getting painted later-- that makes sense. But since the Yuma and ISYHCANL were scratch made they would have likely just been aluminum. Not sure if you are saying you think they are actual aged brass, or just painted that way to match the V2/V3?

I'm going by bad photos and slothfurnace's repro. Do you have pic that shows the blue? I've never seen that. Happy to change and put the actual pic in there if you have it.

I didn't know that was the origin! Hadn't seen that before. Thank you!

The rails on the ISYHCANL saber could indeed be actual 1/8" brass bar stock, as is readily available. The yellow doesn't look bright/polished. It looks more like it has been aged to match the patina that the Obi hero would have on its brass grenade. The brass color of the Hero control box rails and neck wasn't done in a attempt to match the V2. Else they would have used silver on the control box to match the Graflex clamp side bars, and dark bronze on the neck to match the V2s original ANH paint job. It looks like they instead referenced the Obi hero when deciding to make the neck brass, and just came up with something entirely new by adding a matching color to the control box rails on the Hero.

Here's a better shot of the ISYHCANL hero, which I believe @Sym-Cha posted originally. It shows the unmistakable brass (not copper) color seen on screen AND it shows the blue PCB.

LukeISYHCANL.jpg

Then there are these pics of the MOM Luke ROTJ hero that clearly show the blue PCB:

BluePCB2.jpgBluePCB3.jpgBluePCB4.jpg


The above are all Sym-Cha's photos. Note: I have no idea why the control box rails look closer to copper on the saber as it exists now, as compared to the brass seen on screen. They could have been repainted at some point during/after production.

Here's what @kurtyboy said about the cone knob used on the V2:

Yep. Top plate nuts. Transcriptors are now selling modern machined replacements on their website. Think they're listed as motor cover nuts.

The unknurled version was used on C3P0's chest.

Note: Transcriptors, based in the UK, no longer sell these nuts. But even if they did, it was a revised design with a slightly enlarged knurling pattern.
 
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Correction. With some quick Googling, the company has been sold and the new owners now list the nuts on their parts page, bottom left:

http://www.transcriptorslimited.com/shop/

I believe you have to buy a set screw and insert it into these nuts, and then into the hole in the V2. Again, though, the modern knurling pattern on these is slightly different to what it was in the 80's. But if you want to be able to say your V2 has one of only a few "found" parts, it's an option.

It looks like they come in packages of 3. I just ordered a pack myself and will list the other two in the JY when they arrive.
 
I'm confused though about what details need to change in the book with the Obi-Wan saber. Should I just include mention of the cone knob on the hero?

I think he is talking about the cone shaped part inside the emitter. As far as I know it has never been identified.
 

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