Ive started at last

[Leigh]

Firstly I appologise for my absence Ive been very busy lately But Ive managed to make a start on my project.
Some of you may remember I mentioned that I was intending to construct a saber hilt from Titanium, Well Ive made the first part.
Its made from commercialy pure Titanium with only 0.05% aluminium content, I spent a long time searching ebay for a peice the right size & eventually found a length in the Ukrane.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/LJH74/0043.jpg

It doesnt look like much I admit but its taken alot of work to get it this far, I still have alot of polishing to do but I'm going to use it to help make the blade holder (for alignment etc) & it'll be polished after that.
I've chosen to make it small, with a 35mm OD & 2mm wall its the exact same size as the Anakin LE prop which I'm using for templates & measurements.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/LJH74/0048.jpg

As you can see its a bit smaller than the Ani FX

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/LJH74/0049.jpg

heres a pic next to a graflex

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/LJH74/0046.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/LJH74/0051-1.jpg

In the last pic you can see the mock blade holder I made of stainless steel which is far to heavy & will be remade in Ti. I'm building it to use a 3/4" blade so that I can keep it looking acurate to the prop although it wont be identicle as I want to put a few small personal touches to it.
I intend to keep you guys up to date as this progresses, But I expect it'll take a while, what do you think?

[Malaki Skywalker]

Looking sweet! :cool: But Titanium? That must of put you back a bit :shock:

Can't wait to see it finished! ;)

[Leigh]

Looking sweet! :cool: But Titanium? That must of put you back a bit :shock:

Can't wait to see it finished! ;)

Neither can I to be honest, The cost of Ti isnt too bad, Ive been buying it from ebay usually offcuts etc but there are quite a few different grades of Ti, I bought 400mm of this tube for £37 ($70 roughly).
The part Ive made is equivelent to US grades 1-3 where as the blade holder will be Ti 6al/4v (6% aluminium / 4% vanadium ) as it needs to be very strong but light due to the neck between the emmiter ring & the bulk of the blade holder, By useing Ti I can reduse the wall thichness to 1mm & I dont have to worrie about any stress fractures.

I'm intending to use Ti through out the entire hilt inluding all mechanical fixings, grips, buttons etc. Its going to be difficult but hopefully rewarding once its finnished.

[B5813]

My question is how does cutting/shaping titanium compare to the same thickness aluminum? Is it a a real bitch or is it a softer metal than I'm imagining?

[Leigh]

My question is how does cutting/shaping titanium compare to the same thickness aluminum? Is it a a real bitch or is it a softer metal than I'm imagining?
Its way harder than aluminium, The grade Ive used is quite soft for Ti & is similar to 304 stainless steel to cut, Ive found that this can be cut relatively easily with high speed steel (HSS) drills, lathe cutters etc, Anything harder ie 6al/4v would need at least tungston carbide tipped cutters & pleanty of coolant.
Using abrasives & polishing is way harder than stainless let alone ally, To get the finnish I have (which needs more work) Ive gone from 180 grit through to 1500 & then half an hour on an industrial polisher & it still needs more work though I can be a bit fussy.

[Leigh]

Heres some usefull info on Ti if anybodys interesred:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium

& dont worry I dont understand most of it either :)

[Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie]

WOW! That's going to be quite a saber!

Keep the pictures coming!

[Stevegel]

Wow! Very sweet. Hmm... Maybe i should remove my Titanium from my Z06 exhaust. lol

[Hasid Lafre]

So your making it smaller than a graflex, how much smaller is it?

[Leigh]

It'll be about the same length but the Graflex is 38mm dia (1 1/2") where as the Ani LE is 35mm (aprox 1 3/8"), It doesnt sound like much but when you put the two side by side its quite alot.
Just for reference my Ani FX is 39mm dia.

[Barmic Rin]

I'm so impressed!!!!!


I'm using 35mm Ali on the ones i'm doing, but never thought of Ti!

Keep the pics coming dude!!!

[Leigh]

I'm so impressed!!!!!


I'm using 35mm Ali on the ones i'm doing, but never thought of Ti!

Keep the pics coming dude!!!

Cheers :), What wall thickness are you using??

[Jak'Kan-Ur]

Thats awesome!

[Hasid Lafre]

ok i see thanks

[Ghostbat]

I am enormously jealous of this saber already!

[Leigh]

LOL Its no where near finnished yet, I've got my work cut out with this one.
I had the day off sick today & spent most of the day designing the mounting of the red button switch (also to be made from Ti) unfortunatly its not as easy as screwing it on a Graflex, I have to make a small plate (5/8"dia) with a stud machined onto the underside, that then screws to the blade holder. Then I have to make a ring (7/8"dia) with a 5/8" hole threaded right through & screw that to the plate on the blade holder, Then I can screw the red button on to the ring after Ive made that. I'm probably going to have to buy or rent a modelers lathe as the big one at work is worn & I cant achieve the tollerances I want, Thing is their quite expencive so it may be a while untill I'm ready to make the detailed & small components, I have lots of drawing to do :)

[Leigh]

Heres a pic of the drawing I've done for the red button mounting, & another pic of the part I've made :)

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/LJH74/0054.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/LJH74/0042-1.jpg

Thanks for the nice comments folks :)

[DARTH KALEL]

looks great so far, i've been playing around with some different metals lately. I want to try some titanium but as of yet just been playing with brass and copper, if you don't mind where did you get that piece, got a link?

[Drichar Deis]

Brass.......Copper........Aliminium........Titaniu m........




Whos going to be the first to do a Gold saber?

[Leigh]

I can think of a few reasons for not using gold, 1. it tarnishes quite badly, 2. its very soft & would scratch & dent very easily, 3. its very heavy & 4. you would have to win the lotto to pay for it :)
On a good note though it would look nice & it would be easy to shape & machine.

Darth Kalel, If you want to have a go with Ti may I suggest using ebay & buy a small piece for not much money that you can play with so it doesnt matter if you mess it up. Have a go at cutting it, drilling it & grinding it, Grinding it's good, it produces brillient white sparks as opposed to steel with orange sparks & have a look at that link for info on Ti so you can determine what grade you want to try.
Just a tip, Ti is harder & stronger than steel but 40% lighter, it also doesnt tarnish & has a very high melting point.

[B5813]

You're hardcore... the only metal I've used aside from aluminum is brass and that's is so freakin' easy to cut/shape.

[Leigh]

Thanks, I agree Brass is nice n easy to work with & looks fantastic too. I just wanted to make a saber thats about as indestructable as I can make it, The advantages of having a Ti saber to me would be dropping it, Its less likely to break, dent, or even scratch much.
In ep3 obi wan drops his from a considerable height & it works perfectly afterwards, I also would immagine that from a story point of view a Jedi would use the best material he/she can put their hands on as it plays such an important role in their life.
If you can imagine making a saber from mild steel it would be pretty sturdy, but it would rust & would be very heavy, Ti has more strength than steel but weighs alot less & doesnt rust.

[37H4N]

Man I love the way that titanium looks! That saber is gonna be so sick when it's finished. Can't wait. 8)

[Barmic Rin]

Whos going to be the first to do a Gold saber?

Well, i'm letting the Euromillions build up to about 95mill again, then gonna win it (no sense in settling for some small amount) then getting an Electrum plated Sith one....

LOLOL!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrum