It was a collaboration. I gave him my requirements and he generated a design, then executed that design like the master that he is known to be.
It was a collaboration. I gave him my requirements and he generated a design, then executed that design like the master that he is known to be.
Ok so now to talk a little about the leather work. I picked up several techniques talking to some of the really great builders out there like Darth Alice, Solo's Hold and Jordan from SoCal Custom Sabers.
I ordered a 1.5oz charcoal grey lambskin hide from ebay (about $35) and cut a 1" strip. You need a lot for a full 7" extension wrap, so the cut was made diagonally.
Next step was to wrap the extension in black hockey tape (not pictured), this really helps the leather seat in place and lessens the amount of glue needed.
Once it was cut, I did a few test wraps to see how much overlap was needed. then I cut the leather to length (cutting each end at an angle) and did the wrap. There are a few good videos on YouTube about this part. I coated the underside of the leather with a thin layer of contact cement and did the wrap. The final point at the top is also secured with super glue.
If you are doing a new looking (un-weathered) saber you can stop here. Since mine is heavily aged, time to move to the next phase.
I took a red scour pad and sanded the leather down a bit, then treated it with a 4-way conditioner. I also beat the leather up a bit here. Do this incrementally and repeat as many times as needed to get the look you desire.
This is the conditioner:
You can really start to see the difference here. I will likely keep up this process for another few rounds.
Once you are satisfied with how it looks, its time to seal and preserve. Below is what I use for that (pictured with a completed Padawan wrap). You should apply it by hand once a week for a month, then periodically to maintain the leather.
Eventually, I'd like to "weather" a saber...I'm just so nervous to ruin one. Maybe I need to start with a MHS that I build to weather.
"Mistakes are our greatest teacher."
4-40 channels built into the emitter.... oh really....... very cool!
Another hallmark of this saber is a red glass eye, usually a garnet. This is more difficult with a vintage style glass eye. So, I ordered up a 12.5mm garnet cabochon. Now to figure out the best way to secure it in the housing...
Amazing work!
The Garnet is a nice touch. Epoxy 330 is a jewelry grade epoxy meant for bonding two non-porous materials. Its made by a helicopter company.
Ok, so I had to figure out a way to secure the garnet in the vintage-style glass eye housing (Roman's in this case). 12.5mm garnet ad a little bit of space all the way around. Most epoxies were just too thin or otherwise hard to work with, so I went with epoxy putty.
Last thing to do is put a little acrylic wash where in the seam where you can still see a bit of the putty on the visual side. But, boom, full shine through garnet!
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