Claws

[ashencross]

So...I'm trying to build my own Claws for my saber. Right now I've resolved to getting some sheet metal and cutting them myself, and then attaching them to a simple extension (female on one end, male on the other), but attaching them is concerning me. In looking through what MHS pieces I could potentially attach it to, I'm coming up confused...

Has anyone done this before and have some input for me?

[xl97]

all claws (and extra parts for them) are gone form the store..

they have been out of stock for a while.

Im not sure how much they sold 'en masse`' ...

and their had been rumors/rumbelings that they would be back (some day)..

however that is NOT today.. ;)


maybe look around at others who have done claws (in the gallery perhaps?) and see how they approached it.

[ashencross]

Yeah, I e-mailed Tim regarding that about a week ago.

At this point I want to try and just make my own, but I don't know how to attach them easily....I'd rather not put them in my main body or blade holder.

My current plan is to use a double female and connect it to a double male and screw the claws into that.

Checked through the gallery, but most of the pieces in there are from the old claws, or extreme custom pieces that I don't have the skill or equipment to make.

Still hoping some folks might have some ideas on if this is a good idea.

[Shadar Al'Niende]

What I have been considering, is purchasing some flat aluminum 6160 stock, and cutting/filing/grinding to shape. You would be able to drill and tap the claw and the hilt if you left the stock wide enough. Then you could simply screw the claw onto the hilt.


Hope this helps, good luck!

[ashencross]

That sounds good to me. Like I said, my plan right now is to try and get some MHS pieces to be a piece so that the claws can basically be removed from the saber seamlessly.

Where's the best place to get 6160 stock? I'm new to metal work...heh

[Shadar Al'Niende]

Tim has a link to Onlinemetals on the storefront....

[cardcollector]

If I may present a link to a fine tutorial...

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?t=8555

Aaahhhh, its good to be back.:cool:

[Jedi-Loreen]

Not everyone wants round claws though.

[ashencross]

Still some good tips there, though, CC! Thanks!

So...I'm not really that skilled and I don't have great tools, so what thickness of Aluminum do you think I'd be able to cut with say tin snips, and still have the claws be relatively strong...or is there another fairly cheap tool I could use to cut thicker metal...?

[Arkhan]

Nothing you can cut with tin snips is going to be strong.

It may, however, be flimsy and sharp as heck, which might be an extra bonus on a sithy saber.

If you want claws, you want maybe 1/16-1/8th, and you want it cut out by a machine shop, laser cutter, or similar, unless you have the skills to do them by hand (dremel, files, etc)

[Shadar Al'Niende]

If you want claws, you want maybe 1/16-1/8th, and you want it cut out by a machine shop, laser cutter, or similar, unless you have the skills to do them by hand (dremel, files, etc)

This is exactly what i was planning!

[ashencross]

That's what I figured...I may have to rethink this one.....

[ashencross]

My latest idea/delusion...

Would a tabletop grinder (http://www.lowes.com/pd_20842-46922-3380-01_4294857491_4294937087?productId=1233523&pl=1&currentURL=/pl_Bench%2B_4294857491_4294937087_) be sufficient to cut away at 1/8" aluminum...?

I feel like such a newb here, so please forgive me for my metal work ignorance...

[xl97]

you probably only need a bandsaw of some kind to rough cut your metals strips/claws

and then some large and fine file sets to get things fine tuned

[Arkhan]

grinder will work for rough cuts. Keep in mind that most grinders will come with a ferrous metal abrasive wheel, not one meant for aluminum.

Aluminum will clog up the pores in the abrasive and *can* cause the wheel to get over hot and parts of it to expode off at extreme RPM directly at your face and neck.

I'm sure we've all done *some* aluminum work on a normal wheel (I still have a normal wheel on mine), but I use a piece of iron to clean the aluminum buildup on a fairly regular basis to prevent said shrapnel.

You can buy grinding wheels meant for non-ferrous metal.

I'm not saying your grinding wheel *will* explode if you spend 2 hours solid grinding aluminum with it. I'm saying "if it does, please don't say you weren't forewarned"