Every sabre has a beginning...

Here's one inspired by Obi-Wan Kenobi's sabre from "Episode IV: A New Hope". It represents some of the original techniques I developed for my earliest attempt at creating a sabre replica.

Another early design...

This would represent my first truly custom design. It has no direct influences of any of the cinematic sabres. It also represents the last of the original found parts I'd used for activation boxes. Although it's design has flunctuated a bit since it was first built, it's final form is not far from what it originally looked like.

A variation on a theme...

After it's initial build, this sabre was upgraded with an early attempt at fabricating a real metal Graflex style clamp. It features chrome mylar tape and an ESB style bus connector activation switch. The silver rings on the forward grip were created by placing 3M automotive pin striping tape over the raised portions of corrugated sump pump drain hose. The section between the grip and the neck is covered in brass tone mylar. It sort of looks like a really bad attempt at duplicating Luke's ROTJ sabre, though that's not what it was ever meant to be.

A Graflex inspired design...

This is my second attempt at Anakin's ROTS sabre. Since I started this before all the design information became available, there are some marked differences between my sabre and the actual Ep III version.

The clamp should have a knurled inset that resembles the emboseed silver tape of the Ep V Graflex, but mine has corrugations running parrallel to the length of the sabre, based on my interpretation of an early behind the scenes photo. Overall my clamp is more similar to the Graflex variety than the Ep III's machined counterpart.

Also, the emitter and "ears" are two seperate pieces on the EpIII prop. For ease of fabrication, I opted to use a single piece similar to the original Graflex, though it is attached differently.

A Sabre Rebuilt

This started out life as my first attempt at an Obi ANH sabre. Since some of the details actually resembled Luke's ROTJ sabre, I decided to pursue that avenue a bit further.

The rebuild was inspired when I finally found a sink knob (essentially an oversized Pheonix knob) to replace the horrible PVC/epoxy pommel I'd fabricated. Since the pommel was now bigger, the rear grip, which was already short for the Obi ANH, looked even SHORTER. I decided to replace that, but it demanded I shorten the forward grip and move the activation clamp up. I also dispensed with the old activation box, and replaced it with a Graflex style clamp fabricated from aluminum flashing. Finish that off with some activation bubbles and some pinstriping tape for the forward grip, and it's not a bad looking sabre.

I picked this sabre up one day, and noticed the nut holding the neck/winvane/emitter assembly had come loose, allowing it to turn. Of course, to fix it, I had to take it apart. And if I had to take it apart... While I reused the emitter (it now actually has a hole, instead of the head of a carriage bolt painted black, but no "ring of holes") , the entire neck/windvane assembly has been replaced with one that was originally intended for my second Obi ROTS sabre.

A three hour tour, err... Sabre

There was a challenge of sorts on a message board discussing whether a sabre could be constructed from scratch in 24 hours or less. Well, I beat that mark by about 21 hours with this one. The main body is part of an air pump rocket from Dollar General (it fires a small foam projectile) that was already silver. The rear grip is the old standby sump pump drain hose, and the emitter and pommel are PVC connectors painted and covered in chrome mylar film. The details of "neck" and "activation band" were picked out in black with a Sharpie pen.

Here's a mostly plastic Vader/MPP inspired sabre along side the beginnings of a plastic Anakin ROTS style sabre.

The "Plate Sabre"

It's a curious design that never really existed. On a collectible plate, there is an image of Luke Skywalker in one of his ESB costumes, but carrying a sabre that is definitely not from that film. Or any film for that matter. It appears to be composed of two different sabre designs.It looks like the rear grip from his ANH Graflex based sabre and the forward grip and emitter from ROTJ.
This is my third shot at the design. The emitter and neck/windvane assembly are castoffs from another Obi ROTS project. The activation band is a plastic tube that slides right over a 1 1/2" pipe, and the box is two modified Lego bricks capped with Plastruct I-beam and a circuit board from the Hasbro electronic Obi ROTS sabre. Once finished, it was covered in chrome mylar film.