New equivalent to bb&b salt shakers?

Peacefrog35

Sr Member
The last thing I wanted to do was start another Graflex thread, but my question is pretty specific. I know several years ago these salt and pepper shakers were a great alternative to the 3 cell bottom. I found many flashes in the 90s and sold them all off. Last week I was able to obtain a 2 cell for cheap. It was missing the red button, but I obtained one from graflex shop and cut off the threaded part used as a blade retention screw and drilled holes for the brass pins so it could sit properly. So far so good. I used a bit of epoxy and it's all good. If I find a real red button in the future I can easily get the replica out.

Now need a bottom. I am currently using the bottom half of an old parks saber, but I'd rather start fresh with a new bottom to use when my grips from Roy arrive. So, are there any modern equivalents to the global decor shakers that I can look for? I'm not about to pay $300 plus for an authentic graflex bottom off eBay... That's just insane and my wife would kill me. Lol

Thanks in advance!
 
He he - I need a new 3 cell bottom too. I even sold a NOS one a while back Duh!
My wife would kill me too if I do a naughty insane eBay thing.
 
Ok all. I've got an update. I purchased what was listed as a 2 cell heiland flash on ebay. I have purchased flash guns of many varieties over the last 20 years so I was surprised to see one that appeared to have a finish very similar to a Graflex 3 cell/2 cell. I bid and won it at $20. I figured I could cut it down to make my 2 cell I scored for $40 a couple of weeks ago a complete flash. When the new movie came out, oh how I regretted previously selling all of my Graflex flashes, but I digress. I figured I could throw something together and lucked out and found the 2 cell with a missing red button. The previous owner used this port as a sync with a wire going to the camera. I got that sorted with a replica that I altered to use on the flash. The glass eye however, was in excellent shape already.

Now on to the Heiland. It arrived yesterday and to my surprise, it was not a Heiland 2 cell. It was an unstamped Graflex 4 cell batter case with a Heiland head attached to the top. I debated on if I should proceed and cut it, but I realized why I got it in the first place so I purchased a cheap pipe cutter from the local Menards hardware store and went to work. I measured it and precisely cut it down. The pipe cutter made a nice clean professional looking cut. The channels on the other hand are not nearly as clean as what I would like, but it functions as intended and is fine. In the end, it still ended up being all Graflex except for the red button so I'm happy for that. I will at some point soon attach my grips from Roy.
Below are pics of how it arrived. I quickly used a white pencil and marked the line where I would soon cut it. There is also a pic of the full extension on the flash showing it was a 4 cell case. The other pics are how it looks after the cuts and on the flash now making it a 3 cell.

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Ok, I cut Roy's grips down to 3 5/8 and temporarily put them on with very strong double tape. I will leave it this way until I update my d ring and drill the hole in the bottom. I know that the ANH grips are angled on the ends, but I took my set of files when went for a gently rounded top. I really like the way they turned out. I know the screw on the clamp should be gone by now, but I will get it removing that in due time.
The only thing on the Graflex that isn't legit vintage Graflex at this point is the red button. I got one from the Gralfex shop and cut off the threads. I think drilled 2 holes so that the brass pins could slide through then put a small spot of epoxy to hold it. I will replace it with either a real one when prices come back down to Earth or a Roman replica. The color of the bare plastic on the button portion was more pink so I sprayed it with as close of a color as I could, then used a drop of wood stain, then buffed with wax to get the correct luster. I've owned many of these and the color is now identical to most of the others that I've had. I'm pleased with the results.
Of all of the builds of Luke's ANH and ESB sabers I've done in the past, this is the most gratifying. I must say having the hard grips really does add something.
 

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