Anakin Starkiller V2 + V3 Builders kit Tutorial

To begin, we have to thank trooper trent for taking the time out of his day and converting my hand made templates into downloadable, printable version. that version can be downloaded in this post, attached below. please follow his instructions here to scale them correctly!

Now that you have templates printed out, cut out the booster and pommel section. making sure to cut exactly on the lines.



Next we are going to take our 1" angle iron and cut it to roughly 6 inchs. Now place the angle iron flat on the booster, centering it on the 4mm grub screw. With our pencil, now mark a line on the booster, using the 1" angle iron as a guide. BE SURE to have the pencil at a 90* angle with the angle iron so the line is perfect.

Don't forgot to continue the mark into the pommel recess, that line we are going to use later!

we must make sure the pommel is in the correct orientation. You want the pommel cube right of the D ring, to be centered with the 4mm grub screw in the booster. like below.





Now this is going to look familiar, we are going to cut small pieces of tape and tape the patterns we cut out on the booster and pommel recess. Now pay attention and make sure the Booster Template is on the pencil line we made. making sure the pencil is in 1/2" through the grub screw



Another very important thing is, we have to make sure the printer printed these templates out to the correct scale. if its the right scale, the template should wrap completely around the booster, JUST like trents stencils! if there is a large gap between the template this is a problem and its not to scale.. try printing them out a little larger and try again. if you decide to go with it and use the smaller template, the Cone knob will be in the wrong location...


Now that our template is on correctly, we are going to use a center punch to create a little dent for our drill bit to start in. if you have never used a center punch before it is very easy and works amazingly!



if you dont want to break down and buy a center punch... which i highly recommend purchasing if you plan on doing more lightsabers.. you can always use a nail and hammer.. this isn't 100% right way of doing it, but can be pulled off right.. again i highly recommend the center punch


now we are going to put on the mystery chunk template. double check and make sure the pommel is still clocked in the right orientation, then stick the mystery chunk template on the pencil line you made! are you excited yet?!



The dot for the mystery chunk so be located here on the pommel cube, this will make the mystery chunk sit half and half in line with the cube



use the center punch once more and punch that sucker!



Now we need to pay attention... we are going to drill and tap for the cone knob. The Cone knob Dan made for us is beautiful. it has a 6mm x 1.00 thread pitch. so we will need a 6mm x 1.00 tap, and a 5mm drill bit to drill for the tap. these can be purchased from mcmastercarr. just go to post #1 here in the thread and click the links to go right to the website with the correct part numbers.

you may also have some luck purchasing on eBay and amazon



With the booster flat on the table, you may want to put some cardboard under the ring section to let the saber sit perfectly flat. Carefully, try and hold the drill at a 90* angle and drill all the way through with the 5mm drill bit.

in my video at the end i show how to use a drill like a drill press but using the wall as a guide, check it out





Now comes time for the tapping. You want to use a cutting oil to help the tap cut through the threads. I am not a machinist, nor is my father but we have built some pretty crazy sh%t. and he always told me to tap until its tight, turn 1/4 turn, then back all the way out, clean the threads and do it again, wait for tight, turn 1/4 of a turn, back all the way out. SLOW is the key part here!! DO NOT RUSH!!



Now comes time for the famous Mystery Chunk..


The under side of the leather tool is thin, but then it slowly progresses wider for a more comfortable grip in the hand. we will have to sand this down to make it all one size, and then shove that in the hole we drill. so the thinnest part of the leather tool is 4.13 or so.

I personally threw my leather tool on the lathe, and turned it down to 4.10, because I have a 4.20mm drill bit i will use on the V3 this should slip right in.



BUT not everyone has a lathe... So i have done this in the past with bolts. I put the leather tool in a power drill, and used sand paper to turn it down. this takes time, but works! you can even use a file, to speed up the process, we only have to shave off 1mm or so..





Again, i turned mine on my lathe so i cheated... you can easily cut it with pliers



then sanded the edges on my bench sander to remove the sharp edges


Now i am not one to do comparisons, but since these are both from Dan. I figured theres no harm and i'd throw this up there, i also like this picture a lot with the 2 chunks



with the hole being 4.20 if it still is tight, just keep running the leather tool in the drill chuck with the sand paper until it goes in. if you take your time, you can do it so its a tolerance tight fit, and no glue would be required. if the hole is too big, you can easily dab a little e6000 on it and let it sit over night.



And thats all to it on installing the Cone knob and mystery chunk.



The last thing we need to do is add the milling circle in the pommel cube.

This circle can be seen on the 2nd pommel recess from the left of the D ring cube.


Dan Starkiller came up with this clever trick! And I love it!

Your best bet is to put the pommel in a vise, this will ensure it staying straight and allow you to heat it up.



First you will need a 3/8 x 16 hex bolt. Preferably nothing smaller then 2-1/2” this way you have a good grip on it.



The bottom of this bolt should measure around 6.40-6.50mm

Next, use a pair of micrometers and measure down 11.20 mm from the edge of the pommel recess.


Use a sharpie and mark a center Mark

Next, heat up the pommel with some heat. You don’t need much, 45seconds is plenty of time


Now carefully because the pommel is hot, center the 3/8 x 16 bolt on the mark we made with the sharpie





WE ARE HITTING STEEL ON STEEL USE EYE PROTECTION!!!!

I use a 16oz finish hammer and gave it one good pop!

And the end result is a beautiful circle!!

I hope this tutorial was helpful! so chemical aging, physical damage locations, painting, and weathering please see our master Anakin Starkiller FX thread. where I cover all the finishing work.

Anakin Starkiller FX thread

If you have not yet grabbed one of these, i highly encourage you to check out Anakin Starkillers Run thread, see if he has any left!
Anakin Starkiller V2 + V3 Builders Kit Run

No V2 is complete with out a accurate paint job, TrooperTrent still has his legendary stencils in stock, don't hesitate and grab a set today! also check out his Gaffers tape adapter kit!!

Trooper Trent Stencil Set

To complete the V2 we need the correct clamp card, thankfully sloth furnace came to our rescue and has a beautiful vintage finish option
www.slothfurnace.com

For the correct clamps you can grab a satin finish from Roman Props
Roman Props Satin Clamp

To complete the clamp you will be a lever from our boy Roy!
Wannawanga.com lever
(9/27/18 as of right now they are out of stock, but roy is quickly working to restocking them! CHECK DAILY!!)

Here is a little video of myself explaining how to apply the templates


Next up I will be doing the V3 version, stay on the look out!!

To begin, we have to thank trooper trent for taking the time out of his day and converting my hand made templates into downloadable, printable version. that version can be downloaded in this post, attached below. please follow his instructions here to scale them correctly!
Instructions for sizing:
Print at full size and it should fit. But just to be sure, the image should be printed at 593 x 644 pixels
This should give the entire thing a size of about 170.392mm x 156.889mm.





Now that you have templates printed out, cut out the Emitter and Wind vane section. making sure to cut exactly on the lines.


We must make sure the ring section is locked all the way into the correct position! to secure this position apply a piece of blue tape! if this ring section moves, the drilling marks can easily move in the wrong location!!



Next we are going to take our 1" angle iron and cut it to roughly 6 inchs. Now place the angle iron flat on the booster, centering it on the 4mm grub screw. With our pencil, now mark a line on the booster, using the 1" angle iron as a guide. BE SURE to have the pencil at a 90* angle with the angle iron so the line is perfect.

BEFORE we do this, we want to make sure the pommel is in the correct orientation. I have a video covering this, but the picture below shows the booster grub screw should hug the right side, of the second pommel cube recess, JUST like the picture below

this time, we will continue our pencil line all the way to the emitter. this is give us a "home base" to place our patterns



and up the emitter



next, in the pommel recess, we are going to mark where we want to punch for the hole in the pommel. we want to hug the right side of this pommel recess, like below. the blue circle shows where i made my mark to punch later





Next we will take our cut out patterns, and start applying them to the emitter and windvane



We will start with the emitter, just place the pattern on the line we drew with the pencil, and apply with tape, run it all the way around and but it up against itself.

If you use small patterns, the holes WILL NOT be in the right location. if there is a 1/8th gap between them, try printing them alittle bigger. keep trying and repeating the process until the patterns touch itself. thats when you will know for sure the holes are in the right locations.



wrap it round, round



perfect! now we will move onto the wind vane, same deal, make sure they touch!


take your time, check it twice [emoji6]



i make sure to put a good amount of tape on it, this way when we punch and drill we dont mess up with it moving on us

Next step, punch it! take your center punch, or the hammer and nail trick, and hit the dots. this creates a small dent, that out drill bits will easily rest in. this makes drilling holes on a cylinder like night and day! the center punch is fairly cheap, and i use it all the time, i really encourage you to use a center punch over a nail and hammer..

almost, MOST IMPORTANTLY if using a hammer and nail..... safety glasses! Z87 or bust!







1 punch, now onto the windvane



we are making good time now. next lets drill these suckers! i personally drilled mine on my drill press, but if you watched my videos you saw how i used my power drill which has a flat bottom, as a drill press by sliding it up and down a wall of my work bench.

this is where our taps and drill bits come in, for the pommel and emitter we are using a 5mm grub screw. so we need a 4.20mm drill bit, and m5 x 0.80 tap


i put a piece of wood under the v3, this keeps the booster 90* with the drill bit. slowly and i mean very slowly place the bit on the dent and begin drilling. it wouldn't hurt to have someone hold the v3 for you and you have both hands on the drill, keeping it steady.



see it wasn't that bad! now repeat the process for the booster!


break out that 5m x08.0 tap, and slowly begin to tap it. i did this live on the video, showing you how to turn it until its tight, do a 1/4 turn, then back all the way out. i always use some form of oil, if you dont have cutting oil handy (lowes and homedepot surprisingly doesnt carry it) if you got some old motor oil, hell i would do it with vegetable oil if you had any. anything is better then nothing, especially when we get into the smaller taps


i chose to go all the way through the emitter. i believe the hole goes all the way through to hold the blade. i have no proof this is only my theory


Im not going to lie.. the next step is probably the scariest part of this whole kit. 3mm is very small, and small taps are known to break easily. so be sure to follow all the steps and dont skimp... if you tapped the 5mm's with out oil... go ask your wife your mom, what ever woman lives in the house with you for some oil. hell, if you dont have any oil what so ever get some shampoo... no not joking, use that if you dont have any oil. its better then nothing.. and if you dont have shampoo, peeyyyooouuu!

all seriousness lets begin. lets get out the next set of taps. the m3 x 0.5 tap, and the 2.5mm drill bit


slowly begin the drill and drill as deep as you want. i went all the way through, believing this 3mm grub screw was used to lock the rod inside the holds the nipple-less emitter



now, since this is such a small tap, be sure to clean it out. every hole i drill i vacuum out. the larger holes you can usually get away with by blowing into them. this smaller one i dont want to take any chances of the tap binding and breaking off.. so i ran the vacuum over it real quick

go get the cutting oil, old motor oil, vegetable oil, or shampoo, SOME kind of lubricant and dip the tap in, slowly turn until tight and back out. this took me 2-3 minutes before i thought it was good enough.


did you make it all the way with out snapping?! CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU DID IT!! all the scary parts are over! now go grab those grub screws, the 3mms that come with the nipple, you can scavenge them from the nipple since you wont be using them, and install one in the next. you will have to go to your hardware store and grab the 5mm grub screws though



Now she's really coming together. the V3 i do not believe has the 3mm screws under the emitter plate. there is thick black paint, or black tap over this section today, so we can see any holes. but i truly believe there isn't any holes there, and thats why there is a 5mm screw in the side of the emitter. they ditched the idea of 2 small 3mm screws holding the blade and went with 1 big one (5mm)



I hope this Tutorial has helped you understand how to drill the holes on the V3. if you still confused check out my video, im a visual learner so sometimes thats easier.


If you havent purchased a V2 + V3 builders kit, follow the link below to Dan - Anakin Starkillers run! see if he has any left!
Anakin Starkiller FX thread

You will need a graflex clamp to finish this project, Roman has these in stock! i dont think there is many left so i wouldn't what long
Roman Props Graflex V3 Clamp

Sloth has had V3 clamp cards in his store forever, grabbing one from him you cant go wrong. hes the best in my eyes
http://www.slothfurnace.com

as always guys, thanks for your time!

Alright gang, here we are again. This next tutorial is going to explain how to drill the holes in the correct locations on the V3 clamp. Gotta give our friend TrooperTrent another shout out for banging this template out for us today!

So now attached to these posts are the new Clamp Template. down load it and print it out at 100% scale.


Cut the template out and throw a piece of blue tape on the edge with the black location bar.



This black bar should be located right over the oval channel on the graflex clamp. if you printed it out correctly it should match exactly.

picture below is used only as a example of the black bar in line with the oval channel. The picture below is NOT how to attach your template, and only used as a visual example!


I took these measurements off a vintage clamp. This tutorial i'm using a spare 89Sabers clamp. and the 89sabers oval channel matched perfectly as well! I also threw this template on Roman's newest clamp and it also fit very well!

But i cant guarantee any other clamp will line up correctly because i dont have all the variants. so make sure to test fit these templates before you drill anything!

now with the template locked with tape on the Oval channel side, wrap the template around the clamp and secure on the other side with tape.


Next we are going to whip out that center punch. But heres the deal... we DON'T want to warp the clamp... most replica clamps are made out of brass and can warp, and change shape very easily. While doing this tutorial i didn't feel comfortable with the flex in the clamp. So I ran out to the shed and got my 1-1/2" dowel, it is actually extra hand rail i use for denting V2 emitters.

I slide the dowel into the clamp just to give it some reinforcement


Clamp reinforced



while i was in the shed i figured i would just use the drill press, you have much more control with the drill press then a hand drill. but in my V2 video you can see how to use the hand drill like a drill press if you do it carefully.

So the holes in the clamp, I saw a thread where many agreed they were 8mm. I dont have a 8mm drill bit with me tonight ( i had a 8.5mm) so i used a 5/16th drill bit for the holes. but i used a 1/8th drill bit as a pilot hole first

1/8 Drill bit pilot hole


Now with the pilot holes drilled, switch out to the 5/16th and drill them all over again

Ideally if I was at the big shop I would use the step counter sink. They look like this and would have made everything much smoother.


but Trent and I have had some PM’s about this template and I had a issue this weekend stalling the process of getting them out. I didn’t want to make everyone wait longer so I pumped this tutorial out with what I had at home. But if you don’t mind spending a few bucks, these step counter bits are amazing



Next can be debatable... So it looks like in the resin stunt the holes are chamfered...



BUT this chamber could be clay used when casting the V3 originally... OR this is exactly what a hole looks like when using a step counter sink bit.

since the holes of the clamp are now rough i figured I personally was going to just counter sink them just a little, so it will look like the resin stunt.



Just a light little tap with the counter sink



You can see the inside of the clamp holes are really rough, hit them with a file to smooth them down. The clamps for some reason really fit tight on the Builders kit. With these burs its going to be very tough, and could ruin your finish. So i recommend to sand them smooth



You can also use a rat's tail file to remove any burs on the outside of the clamp




The only thing you should remember is to take your time. I would not do this with out reinforcement of the clamp. i was lucky to have this Hand rail in my shed, if not i wouldn't have finished the Tutorial tonight because the clamp was way too soft. I would not attempt this with out all the tools, it can go south real quick!

I hope this little tutorial helped you guys who wanted to drill your own holes! Thanks again Trent, for taking the time out of your work day and doing this for us! much appreciated!!

If you don't feel comfortable, Roman Props has these clamps in stock with the holes drilled already. With all the V2 + V3 kits Dan has produced I wouldn't hesitate to grab one!
Roman Props V3 Clamp

If you have not yet grabbed one of these, i highly encourage you to check out Anakin Starkillers Run thread, see if he has any left!
Anakin Starkiller V2 + V3 Builders Kit Run

To complete the V3 we need the correct clamp card, thankfully sloth furnace came to our rescue and has a beautiful V3 version.
www.slothfurnace.com

Please reserve 4

Please reserve 5

WOW awesome man!!!!

- - - Updated - - -

I should really wear gloves...

Amazing work!

Awesome!

Mental note: pick up goggles when I go to get the bolt

thd9791 said:

WOW awesome man!!!!

- - - Updated - - -

I should really wear gloves...

Click to expand...

I have working hands, never really was insecure about them until my ex. She always complained about them, now in most videos I’ll always wear them


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Anakin Starkiller said:

Amazing work!

Click to expand...

Thanks dan! V3 part should be finished this weekend, need to retake a few pics

The bolt trick worked awesome!!


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TheUnchosenOne said:

Awesome!

Mental note: pick up goggles when I go to get the bolt

Click to expand...

Yup! Safety glasses is very very important. I use them all day at work and have 3 pairs in the shed. The glasses were right there on the bench when I was drilling as forgot to put them on

Always have phantom glasses, since I wear them all day it feels like they are still on. I forget them most of the time..

Down side is you sometimes forget you DON’T have them on lol


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Really ... really great work once again Danny !

MakBzh said:

Really ... really great work once again Danny !

Click to expand...

Thanks buddy! Trying to keep it organized, forgot 1 or 2 things it was getting late, I’ll tweak it tonight

Also uploaded all the new pics for the FX thread so that will be updated too


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halliwax said:

Always have phantom glasses, since I wear them all day it feels like they are still on. I forget them most of the time..

Down side is you sometimes forget you DON’T have them on lol

Click to expand...

I have prescription glasses and sometimes lose them on my own face, while they're correcting my vision so I can see. I can just imagine how easy it is to lose track of safety glasses

TheUnchosenOne said:

I have prescription glasses and sometimes lose them on my own face, while they're correcting my vision so I can see. I can just imagine how easy it is to lose track of safety glasses

Click to expand...

Yeah or leave the safety glasses up on my head lol do that all the time too


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Outstanding work!

ALLEY said:

Outstanding work!

Click to expand...

Much appreciated, got a few hours invested in computer time lol


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Do you know the exact placement of the 3 holes in the Graflex clamp? I wonder if trooper Trent could supply another paper template for this? I got a beautiful Graflex stamped clamp from The Graflex Shop that needs to be modified. I already flipped it upside-down for the install.