Luke's ANH Lightsaber History

mp610

New Member
Hello! I am new to posting here but have been looking over many forums in the past several weeks as I am building a lightsaber replica of Luke's ANH saber. I have the original Graflex 3-cell, the original bubble strip, and I have some T-tracks coming in the mail.

The build is a surprise for my brother and part of what I know he will love is the research and history behind the parts. I have read on many forums/threads and sites about the graflex flash, that people are saying the t-tracks came from (likely) a cabinet track, that the bubble strip is from the 19 or 20 Exactra calculator. I would love to include references and historical information on how the community has come to find these were the original parts. I have the Star Wars Costumes book as well as The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film and unfortunately there is not much information about the lightsaber in there. Are there any other reference materials/sites/books that talk about original construction or do we only know about the parts needed because of diligent people like all of you tracking down what each individual part might be? I have found a plethora of comments from you all about the parts and history but I am hoping to be able to reference something more than a forum (not that this forum hasn't been immensely helpful!). Any info would be greatly appreciated!!
 
Hi and welcome aboard!
Look at the top of this forum for a sticky thread "Ultimate Guide to Light Sabers" which was written by our own SethS.

Its a great read and is chock full of the kind of information you're looking for about all the original trilogy sabers.

Enjoy!
 
Good luck! If you're in the states, Todd's costumes also sells t track. It's based on the boba Fett rifle which used the same stuff on the barrel I think. Anyway, it's almost identical tical to Roy's and a bit cheaper! Also, VHB tape is much more shock proof than epoxy for the grips. It comes in half inch strips just like the t track. I've thrown my sabers in junk drawers and the grips won't budge
 
I second the VHB tape! Epoxy can be messy and just like tom said. If it's dropped sometimes they can pop right off.

Used the tape on this last commission and never looking back now!


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Because I like sharing things, I hope these images help in your build

luke-skywalker-lightsaber-a-new-hope.jpgJQ3nMNv.jpgC3Uw4h6.jpg
 
That's very intriguing about the tape I haven't read that yet! And once applied the grips are able to sit flush with the handle? I had planned on using epoxy but was worried about the potential mess. I can't imagine the taper would be too hard to find, I guess I'll need to start looking around my local hardware stores!
 
I haven't handled any of my sabers in probably about a year, but I took out the old Graflex last night for a spin. One of the epoxied grips had fallen off at some point. I think I'd opt for the VHB tape or some kind of silicon glue. Epoxy is just too brittle. The VHB gives you all the benefits of a silicon without the mess.
 
Do you use the VHB tape that is almost 1 mm thick? Is it visible under the grips?

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I haven't handled any of my sabers in probably about a year, but I took out the old Graflex last night for a spin. One of the epoxied grips had fallen off at some point. I think I'd opt for the VHB tape or some kind of silicon glue. Epoxy is just too brittle. The VHB gives you all the benefits of a silicon without the mess.

before i played with the VHB, i used e6000 silicone, and that holds excellent as well

- - - Updated - - -

Do you use the VHB tape that is almost 1 mm thick? Is it visible under the grips?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

i think it was measured in MIL i think mine is 5MIL thick. i can't see MIL standing for millimeter because 5mm is far thicker then the VHB tape i picked up
 
thd9791 nice shot of George and Mark. The button seems askew in that photo! Has anybody considered setting up some sort of central repository for images like these? I find when trawling the RPF there's huge numbers of photos posted here and there (like in this thread) but I haven't seen a single location. Obviously there's some amazing resources like the SethS eBook, as well as sites like partsofsw.com and this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/35142064@N03/sets/72157652052892746

But one place where everyone could put images would be be kinda cool. A saber wiki/gallery if you will?
 
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