Left-Handed Skywalker ANH Lightsaber?

Hi folks,

I'm a new member to this forum and this is my first posting.

I have an original Graflex 3-cell light that I bought back in the early 1980s. The previous owner stuck a Harley Davidson rubber grip on it and drilled in a huge screw-eye bolt in the end as an attachment point. I have since dusted it off, discovered this forum and seek to upgrade it to make it an authentic ANH model.

I’ve order an upgrade kit from Roy at Wannawango.com which he will be shipping early next year. The tremendous number of resources available on RPF is simply amazing. This is something that I could have only dreamed of having back when I was a kid. I did manage to purchase a John Marco ANH lightsaber in the early 80s before he was shut down by the copyright police. The thing is built like a tank and still is pretty accurate though (as I have now learned from the RPF folks) is somewhat longer than the originals.

The question I pose for you folks is this. My original Graflex appears to be a left-handed model (grin). The little release side clip on the flashgun clamp appears to be mounted on the wrong side. I have attached photos for your reference. You can see the side release clip is on the “X” side of the “GRAFLEX” logo rather than on the “G” side. This seems odd. Do you know if it can be unscrewed and then screwed back into the other side? I thought I would try unscrewing it but I don’t want to damage it.

I see from various postings on this forum that one can order new flashgun clamp replicas from such folks like romanprops.com which I might do rather than risk damaging the original part. I was wondering if the romanprops finish clamps are the closest finish to the original Graflex. Mine is kind of a duller finish than the main housing. Were the original Graflex parts coated steel or brass?

I was also wondering where the best source is to get the internal electronics, leds, blade mounts, etc that I could put into my Graflex to make it the Skywalker ANH model. I see on this forum that some have done this as part of their Graflex conversion.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Yes, it can be unscrewed. Remove the clamp from the Graflex (and the bubble strip from the clamp). Then squeeze the clamp together so the squared part of the lever stem sticks out from the sidebar. Then you just unscrew it from the sidebar, swap it around, and put it back on the Graflex.

You'll always want to be a little careful so you don't break the lever, but it's not too complicated.

Well, I did as Serenity suggested and found that it is not quite that simple. Graflex actually milled out a small rectangular stop hole so that the clip pin would not rotate once it was screw all the one in to the other threaded side. I'm learning to appreciate the quality of the original Graflex construction. I've attached photos below. Here you can see the clamp after removing the clip. See how the hole is rectangular on one side but not on the other. I guess I have a rare one. How were the grip bars (with threaded hole) originally secured to the Graflex band? Were they originally glued or soldered?

They're all like that with the squared stop hole; that's what I meant about having to squeeze the clamp band together so the square part of the lever stem sticks out from the sidebar. Sorry for being unclear, I should have worded it better.

The bars aren't supposed to be glued or soldered to the band; they should be removable without the lever holding them together.

My apologies. You are absolutely right. What threw me is that the previous owner glued the bars in! I think the original clamp sorta squeeze-fit the bars in. I used some rubbing alcohol and managed to soften the old glue. I took them apart and cleaned the old glue off and now they are back in the correct position.

I've just been real cautious as I don't want to break anything on the original.

Thanks so much for your help.

You're welcome! Best of luck with your build. :thumbsup

Out of curiosity, what is the stamp on the bottom of your Graflex say? Is it a Folmer or Graflex Inc with a patent?

Around the perimeter it says (top arc) "Manufactured by Graflex, Inc." and then (bottom arc) "Rochester, N.Y.U.S.A. Pat. No. 2310165" Can you tell what year it was made by this?

Here are photos of my original Graflex that I bought as a twenty-something kid back in the early 80s. I got this at a local SF convention. I remember being so thrilled to get it. The one photo shows it before I removed the Harley Davidson grip, crude black non-Exactra bubble strip and bulky end screw-eye "clip". The other photo is after Serenity on the RPF forum helped me figure out how to unscrew the clamp lever and switch the clipbars on the clamp so that the clamp lever is on the right side of the Graflex clamp.

I also removed the Harley Davidson grip in preparation for getting the new T-strips, Exactra bubble strip and D-ring conversion kit from Wannawango next year.

This might be a silly question... what is considered to be the activation switch for Luke's ANH lightsaber? Is it the Exactra bubble strip or the side clamp lever or maybe both?