Effect of Various Glues on Graflex

I am slowly acquiring the parts for an ANH (and perhaps an ESB) with an eye toward building a light saber as a father son project.

Kinda legendary, huh?

Well, it may be - if I can get up the nerve to hack into all these rare antiques artifacts. Instead of just collecting and apprcting them. Because the kid's gonna get bored with the historical preservation thing mighty fast. Sent him straight back to the X-Box, it will.

So, gotta bite the bullet. I would help if I could do this with as little permanent modification to the real costly part - the G R A F L E X - as possible. The internal portion of the on/off slide switch, I know, promises to be the big challenge. Because it gonna have int real electronics. Either that, or its back to the X-Box again.

But, I also wonder at the use of glues to hold on the T-Track and the belt clip. I would naturally want to use a reversible glue like Butvar, but I imagine that holding power might be an issue. More permanent glues like the cyanoacrylate or epoxy would have the holding power and permanence. But, these are not reversible. They would have to ben removed mechanically. And I would worry about the damage to the finish if ever wanting to return the flash handle to its original state.

What are people experienced with removing T-Track and/or a belt clip that's has been epoxied or super-glued onto a G R A F L E X body. Can it ben done without damaging the finish? Has anyone used and other glues that work well enough but can be removed more safely?

Thanks in advance.

I'll tell you what I've tried. Superglue, epoxy, VHB tape

Superglue is great for grips you have to drill/add screws. It bonds instantly and can take the vibrations of a drill. Doesn't matter too much since a screw holds the track, so if the glue fails, you're better off. Will most likely damage the finish if you try to remove it.

Epoxy has a great strong bond, without drilling or dropping/shocking the grips, or freezing them. Ironically (just like on the real set in Norway) Freezing the graflex bottom makes the grips pop right off, and the glue can be popped off with a non-metallic wedge or flat pry thing without damaging the finish.

VHB 3M tape is very expensive, and it raises the track about 1-2 mm higher than glueing right to the surface. HOWEVER it bonds better than glue, can take a little abuse because it's flexible, and can be peeled off in pieces without damaging the finish. I throw these sabers in junk drawers and the grips aren't going anywhere. Epoxy wouldn't be able to handle that, and superglue is very finnicky and would probably break too. I'm pretty sure it's used to stick stuff to cars.


Edit: belt clips - I've drilled into all my bottoms and used bolt/nut and rivet attachments.

For the last time my dear friends, whom required a G R A F L E X recently . . . . the moment you thought about purchasing one for turning it into Luke's lightsaber it was no longer a vintage flash! And it will never ... ever ... pop a lightbulb in this reality again ... so stop whining about keeping it as prestine or undamaged as you can to return it to it's former glory, please ... now is the moment to become a true prop-maker . . . as Roger Christian did back in 1976 ... glue, hack, saw, sand and put Luke's lightsaber together and enjoy it for the years you have left ... I most certainly will ... soon

Chaim

Sym-Cha said:

For the last time my dear friends, whom required a G R A F L E X recently . . . . the moment you thought about purchasing one for turning it into Luke's lightsaber it was no longer a vintage flash! And it will never ... ever ... pop a lightbulb in this reality again ... so stop whining about keeping it as prestine or undamaged as you can to return it to it's former glory, please ... now is the moment to become a true prop-maker . . . as Roger Christian did back in 1976 ... glue, hack, saw, sand and put Luke's lightsaber together and enjoy it for the years you have left ... I most certainly will ... soon

Chaim

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Exactly! This goes for most of the props made from genuine parts In many cases you need to really choose what you want in the end: a vintage device/camera/flash/gun/etc. or a Star Wars prop replica.

I agree with Chaim on this.

I will say that I've taken super glue off a vintage Graflex with nail polish remover with no damage to the finish. Just FYI.

The only reason GRAFLEX flash handles are the current price is BECAUSE they are basically lightsabers. If they used anything else for a lightsaber, GRAFLEX flash handles would be around $40. So you're not hurting the value of it by making it into a lightsaber, you're actually increasing its value by gluing, hacking, sawing, & sanding. Go, make memories with your son, because that's WAY more valuable than any GRAFLEX.

Sym-Cha said:

For the last time my dear friends, whom required a G R A F L E X recently . . . . the moment you thought about purchasing one for turning it into Luke's lightsaber it was no longer a vintage flash! And it will never ... ever ... pop a lightbulb in this reality again ... so stop whining about keeping it as prestine or undamaged as you can to return it to it's former glory, please ... now is the moment to become a true prop-maker . . . as Roger Christian did back in 1976 ... glue, hack, saw, sand and put Luke's lightsaber together and enjoy it for the years you have left ... I most certainly will ... soon

Chaim

Click to expand...

I understand what you are saying, but I can certainly understand fear in making permanent changes incorrectly. It's not something you want to rush into and do incorrectly.

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maybe look into getting one of the graflex 2.0 from the run posted here.. $195.. and you dont need to alter your OG flash handle.

xl97 said:

maybe look into getting one of the graflex 2.0 from the run posted here.. $195.. and you dont need to alter your OG flash handle.

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I'm with xl97 on this. There are some very nice electronics-ready replicas already here (Graflex 2.0) and coming (Obi ANH, Vader ANH/ESB) that are designed to be fairly accurate and functional without cutting up antiques or spending a fortune seeking vintage parts. As much as you enjoy building the sabers, nothing beats whacking your youngling with a lightsaber with light and sound. It REALLY scratches a groovy itch.

H0llyw00d said:

I'm with xl97 on this. There are some very nice electronics-ready replicas already here (Graflex 2.0) and coming (Obi ANH, Vader ANH/ESB) that are designed to be fairly accurate and functional without cutting up antiques or spending a fortune seeking vintage parts. As much as you enjoy building the sabers, nothing beats whacking your youngling with a lightsaber with light and sound. It REALLY scratches a groovy itch.

Click to expand...

Are those new replicas already available? They're being made by Korabanth correct?


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thd9791 said:

I'll tell you what I've tried. Superglue, epoxy, VHB tape

Superglue is great for grips you have to drill/add screws. It bonds instantly and can take the vibrations of a drill. Doesn't matter too much since a screw holds the track, so if the glue fails, you're better off. Will most likely damage the finish if you try to remove it.

Epoxy has a great strong bond, without drilling or dropping/shocking the grips, or freezing them. Ironically (just like on the real set in Norway) Freezing the graflex bottom makes the grips pop right off, and the glue can be popped off with a non-metallic wedge or flat pry thing without damaging the finish.

VHB 3M tape is very expensive, and it raises the track about 1-2 mm higher than glueing right to the surface. HOWEVER it bonds better than glue, can take a little abuse because it's flexible, and can be peeled off in pieces without damaging the finish. I throw these sabers in junk drawers and the grips aren't going anywhere. Epoxy wouldn't be able to handle that, and superglue is very finnicky and would probably break too. I'm pretty sure it's used to stick stuff to cars.


Edit: belt clips - I've drilled into all my bottoms and used bolt/nut and rivet attachments.

Click to expand...

Great suggestion and you would be correct on the VHB! I spent a summer a few years ago assembling a mounting clip for a Ford brake light, and we used trimmed out pieces of VHB tape as the adhesive which would be stuck directly to the frame of the truck, once it reached the Ford factory. This stuff also gets used to hold your rear view mirror to your front windshield. And those never peel off!

VHB would definitely add a raised element to the grips and they would be very hard to remove since the tape is so durable. It is possible, but would need some adhesive removal maybe or some time at scraping or pulling it away in chunks as mentioned before. It's meant to stick and not be removed.

elr02k said:

Are those new replicas already available? They're being made by Korabanth correct?


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Click to expand...

Search is your friend, brother...

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=264951

We should be getting close to our graflex from roman. There are a bunch of excited people!

Sym-Cha said:

For the last time my dear friends, whom required a G R A F L E X recently . . . . the moment you thought about purchasing one for turning it into Luke's lightsaber it was no longer a vintage flash! And it will never ... ever ... pop a lightbulb in this reality again ... so stop whining about keeping it as prestine or undamaged as you can to return it to it's former glory, please ... now is the moment to become a true prop-maker . . . as Roger Christian did back in 1976 ... glue, hack, saw, sand and put Luke's lightsaber together and enjoy it for the years you have left ... I most certainly will ... soon

Chaim

Click to expand...

Oh, I understand the spirit. But, Roger had the relative luxury of working with an old surplus item that was worth roughly $20 in constant dollars - and almost certainly cost his employer much less. We, are operating solo in another Galaxy, far, far away from that...

Anyway, it is free to go slow. Mistakes can be easily made; far less easily unmade.

That said, life is relatively bland without risking for more.

So, which saber (if any) do I really need to find a Folmer for, as opposed to a Graflex, Inc. w/patent #? And, do I need both halves of the bloody thing? Because I'm really grokking with the vintage as much as reasonably practicable philosophy. And, unlike Roger, I have the relative luxury of time... ��

With the utmost respect,

JAG