Halliwax's weird V3 theory

You mention that the prop department would want to save time so the cast the V3 in aluminum then put it in a lathe, but that doesn’t really jive to me to be a time saver, it would likely be as much or more work than just turning one from a piece of aluminum stock. Especially if there is any warping that would cause a ton of problems when trying to turn it in a lathe (oblong rather than a round shape being the main one).

The pommel being crooked can’t be from being mounted in the lathe off centre, at less not if the whole saber was cast as one piece as implied by the wood master. That angle would have had the main body of he saber at and angle that it would be whipping around like Thor’s hammer! Dangerous to say the least! More likely the pommel is an individual piece that perhaps was hollowed out and is just jammed on crooked.

That’s my take on it. ;)

The V2 and the V3 are metal castings that were produced from a mold taken off a wooden master during the production of ANH. There were even a few more metal castings produced from that mold, referred to as "blanks" or "spares". I think those castings were just sanded more or less by spinning them in a lathe. The "pommel" on the wooden master seen in the first post on that thread looks notably different compared to the pommel "section" on the metal blank. I still have no explanation for this.
 
The V2 and the V3 are metal castings that were produced from a mold taken off a wooden master during the production of ANH. There were even a few more metal castings produced from that mold, referred to as "blanks" or "spares". I think those castings were just sanded more or less by spinning them in a lathe. The "pommel" on the wooden master seen in the first post on that thread looks notably different compared to the pommel "section" on the metal blank. I still have no explanation for this.

Thanks for sharing! Does your metal blank have a pommel section? Happy to see some of these spares have survived.
 
The V2 and the V3 are metal castings that were produced from a mold taken off a wooden master during the production of ANH. There were even a few more metal castings produced from that mold, referred to as "blanks" or "spares". I think those castings were just sanded more or less by spinning them in a lathe. The "pommel" on the wooden master seen in the first post on that thread looks notably different compared to the pommel "section" on the metal blank. I still have no explanation for this.

From my experience, I believe it was a means to mount the cast in the lathe chuck. If that were the case, the spares may have been donor parts to make a separate pommel.

As a matter of fact, this makes a lot of sense judging by the eBay photos. The pommel is machined down so that the flange can sit further into the booster section so that the grub screw can secure under the flange. From the original master, there isn't enough space for machining the flange on the pommel if one were to directly cut under the booster to separate the pommel. They'd have to cut into the booster section in order to have enough material to machine.
 
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The pommel being crooked can’t be from being mounted in the lathe off centre, at less not if the whole saber was cast as one piece as implied by the wood master. That angle would have had the main body of he saber at and angle that it would be whipping around like Thor’s hammer! Dangerous to say the least!

Yes, yes it is. When I was dealing with my casts, I quickly found out just how crooked it was as this was exactly the case in my experience. The cast is/was wonky and centering it makes for fairly uneven, albeit straight, cutting. One side will be cut down more than another and line depths will be uneven, even when doing plunge cuts. I have a similar detail on my prototype V2 as it came out of alignment when I was casting toward the booster. When I lathed down an uneven surface like that, when the two curved surfaces met over one another, when I tried chamfering that edge, one surface was always flatter than the other, leaving one side with a distinct bevel and the other a smaller, almost flatter edge.

More likely the pommel is an individual piece that perhaps was hollowed out and is just jammed on crooked.

This could certainly be a possibility. It may not even have had a chamber lathed out for the motor. It could be that the inside is only hollowed out enough to allow for the pommel to be shoved in and to have enough space to lock the central rod in place.
 
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since they put tape on the bottom of the emitter, and tucked it in the neck groove, I think it must be hollowed out in order for the emitter to come off and to be held together with a rod through the neck.
 
Halliwax’s theory basically aligns with my own V3 origin theory as well.

I have my theory all mapped out on the wall in my office with black and white still photos pasted up on the wall with yarn and tooth floss connecting each to the other in non-chronological, zig-zag fashion, with thumb-tacked notes scribbled out in undecipherable crayon and sharpie on chewing gum wrappers, napkins, and post-it-notes. I call it my “wall of genius theories”.

Late at night, I stand in front of my “wall of genius theories” with James Horner’s soundtrack from “A Beautiful Mind” playing in the background. I waive my arms about as if conducting a symphony that only I can hear. Then, I sort of tilt my head slightly sideways and to the left with my mouth hanging in a slack-jawed fashion. I then go into a vacant, almost brain-dead trance, that resembles idiocy, and stare straight into the abyss of the “wall of genius theories”. A drip of drool then begins to collect at the corner of my mouth. It is at that magic moment that my theory makes total sense to me. I believe that Elon Musk has a similar routine.

I’m considering adding sheets of glass to scribble out my theories upon with white sharpies in furious fashion next. Apparently, that’s where the deepest of all “genius theories” are mapped out.

 
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until we got that famously HUGE high rez photo of the resin stunt R2 popper saber.

You're welcome! It's always a pleasure to help drive you crazy. ;)

Here's where it is if anyone needs it...

https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=274185&page=2&p=4203527&viewfull=1#post4203527

And thanks again to D48thRonin for the initial find in Wired Magazine!


Who has the wooden and aluminum eBay masters again? We need some new photos of them!

I'm very curious about the aluminum one at the groove in the neck area below the emitter. I'm wondering if part of the wrinkling there may be due to mold flashing and that it's not solely wrinkled tape/wrap.

It's also weird to me that the aluminum casting has that little section poking out of the booster section when the V2 and V3 both seem to have that section removed and then have the booster part hollowed out to accept the pommel within (hence the need for the grub screws in both).

Though I'm not discounting the wobbly centered lathe work idea, I had the same thought that E Williams has in that the chrome tape there over the hole seems to wrap up onto the lip between the booster and the emitter on the V3.

I'm up too late and too tired to fully finalize this thought, but the angles/positioning of the D-Ring holes on the Resin hilt and the V3 are different. If the resin was cast before the V3 had its pommel cut off, it would explain why both have the clamp holes, and the seam lines appear to line up on both in relation to the clamp hole, but why the grub screw hole/knob is absent from the booster in the resin cast, and also why there's no indent in the pommel in the resin where the V3 currently has chrome tape over a hole.
 
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It had a pommel similar to the metal blank seen in the first post. I had to cut it off in order to attach a screen-accurate pommel.

Here is a pic of the "booster" and pommel section of my ROTJ V3:
ssDjO7gl.jpg

I have measured the "booster" today, near the graflex band it's diameter is 40,7 - 41,2 mm (measured with a caliper, I slightly rotated the saber during the measuring process), and near the pommel the diameter is 41 - 42 mm.

Some more pics:
TlSy2zYl.jpg

ql9xfY5l.jpg

jxAE90bl.jpg
 
Here is a pic of the "booster" and pommel section of my ROTJ V3:
https://i.imgur.com/ssDjO7gl.jpg
I have measured the "booster" today, near the graflex band it's diameter is 40,7 - 41,2 mm (measured with a caliper, I slightly rotated the saber during the measuring process), and near the pommel the diameter is 41 - 42 mm.

Some more pics:
https://i.imgur.com/TlSy2zYl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ql9xfY5l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jxAE90bl.jpg

nice work on that thing - is that an original pommel cut off and milled or is it a new piece?

I was also going to ask if you decorated the rest (grip rings,) with silver paint or that's the bare metal. looks beautiful
 
nice work on that thing - is that an original pommel cut off and milled or is it a new piece?

I was also going to ask if you decorated the rest (grip rings,) with silver paint or that's the bare metal. looks beautiful

Thanks. It was all done in the last century, sometimes I think I should have left the blank in it‘s original state.

The pommel is a separate „new“ piece. A friend of mine made it on a lathe based on my measurements back in the nineties. There is no silver paint on that saber, just bare metal, black and copper paint and aluminum tape.
 
Here is a pic of the "booster" and pommel section of my ROTJ V3:
https://i.imgur.com/ssDjO7gl.jpg
I have measured the "booster" today, near the graflex band it's diameter is 40,7 - 41,2 mm (measured with a caliper, I slightly rotated the saber during the measuring process), and near the pommel the diameter is 41 - 42 mm.

Some more pics:
https://i.imgur.com/TlSy2zYl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ql9xfY5l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jxAE90bl.jpg


Good god, this looks just like my new master.:D Thanks for sharing this!
 
THE EMITTER PLATE

sorry everyone. the V2 and V3 do not have the same diameter emitter plate. the V2, logically, probably had it's emitter plate lathed down. good way to tell them apart?
 
THE EMITTER PLATE

sorry everyone. the V2 and V3 do not have the same diameter emitter plate. the V2, logically, probably had it's emitter plate lathed down. good way to tell them apart?

I always thought it looked wider.

On a side note. I noticed that the resin V3 has the Graflex clamp in line with pommel cube that has the D-ring. I'm guessing that's why the Yuma has the box/pommel/ring orientation that it does.
 
THE EMITTER PLATE

sorry everyone. the V2 and V3 do not have the same diameter emitter plate. the V2, logically, probably had it's emitter plate lathed down. good way to tell them apart?

Yup, v3 is alittle it chunkier all the way around. I don’t mind some extra meat on my girls anyway


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
THE EMITTER PLATE

sorry everyone. the V2 and V3 do not have the same diameter emitter plate. the V2, logically, probably had it's emitter plate lathed down. good way to tell them apart?

Among many things, the V2 has a smaller diameter emitter plate, longer upper and lower neck, smaller windvane, an (I think) ever so slightly shorter booster, and dimensionally thinner than the V3. V3 is straight from the mold and smoothed, essentially. Vadermania's photo pretty much prove that.
 

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