Fake Mara Jade Bars

[ARKM]

Hi all, I am currently working on a saber hilt that has Mara Jade-ish bars. Instead of making 10 to 12 bars that are 5/16 to 3/8" wide by 1/16" to 1/8" thick (you can't buy thin flat metal bars at those widths folks... at least not that I could find) I decided to try something different... make them fake. Below are pics and a tutorial on how to make them should anyone be interested. First, the pics...









1/32 of an inch, from the ID of the pipe outward (which is between where the gaps between the bars come together in the point of a "V" and the inside hole going through the pipe), will be covered by the parts that attach to each end of that pipe thus helping to create the illusion that they are bars attached to a pipe via screws and not part of the pipe itself.

To pull off the illusion that the bars are mounted to round metal, I had to make it look like the bottom edges of the bars touch eachother. To do this I used a 60 degree drill mill bit to mill each slot. I used aluminum pipe at 1-5/8" OD by 1-3/8" ID and milled each slot at about 3/32" deep. Because that only leaves the pipe at 1/32" deep, I decided to reinforce the pipe by lathing down some 1-1/2" OD by 1-1/4" ID aluminum tubing to 1-3/8" OD. I inserted the pipe before milling the slots to help prevent crushing of the pipe in the vise once some of the slots were milled.

Using the OD of pipe that I did, 12 bars worked best. They are each about 5/16" wide on top.

A nice upside to this method is that the bars are curved on the outside instead of flat, thus providing a more comfortable grip. Anywho, just thought I'd share this idea with you. I personally wouldn't mind seeing an MHS version of this piece made by Tim if the demand is there and he wanted to do it. I myself want nothing more than TCSS forum fame (and a swelled head) if Tim goes for it.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

Once again awesome job and tutorial. I have been looking for an easier way, other than cutting strips in a 1.8" aluminum sheet and then cutting them to legnth. Your way is much, much better. Great job.

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

Fantastic piece ARKM!

I agree that an MHS version of this would be SUH-WEET

[DJMoonbass]

those are sweet ARKM! what size was the slotted insert for your lathe attachment (Lathe chuck jaw thingy. i have no idea what the technical term is.) i usuall use a four or six.

i could use some help working with these. did you use a live center at both ends so you could mill the entire slot w/o leaving jaw marks? a procedure would be awsome if you have the time. im planning on doing some custom flutes and dots on my 3" MHS section and also some slots on my pommel....

[ARKM]

those are sweet ARKM! what size was the slotted insert for your lathe attachment (Lathe chuck jaw thingy. i have no idea what the technical term is.) i usuall use a four or six.

i could use some help working with these. did you use a live center at both ends so you could mill the entire slot w/o leaving jaw marks? a procedure would be awsome if you have the time. im planning on doing some custom flutes and dots on my 3" MHS section and also some slots on my pommel....

I unfortunately don't know what you mean by a slotted insert for my lathe. I have not taken any machining classes or read any books on the subject. I didn't even know what a collet indexer was until after I made a device (my rotary table mod) that simulates (sort of) what it can do. Yes, I'm a noob, lol.

To avoid jaw marks when using the lathe, I either have the lathe chuck thingies on the inside of the pipe or I use a longer pipe and cut off the part that was held in by the lathe chuck thingies.

After the pipe was done on the lathe, I used my rotary table mod to place 12 evenly spaced marks around the aluminum pipe using a Sharpie marker.

For milling the slots, I just placed a kitchen towel in the mill vise and clamped the pipe in. I used a small drill bit placed in the mill's drill chuck and used a ruler to center the drill bit with the pipe's diameter. If need be, I can take a pic of what I mean. This can also be done with the 60 degree drill mill as opposed to a drill bit (for those who use a mill properly, using collets, as opposed to my redneck use of a drill chuck, lol). Then I have to adjust the pipe in the vise by rotating it until one of the 12 marks is perfectly aligned with the point at the end of the drill bit/mill bit when it is in a firmly clamped state. After that, I mill away. Do that 11 more times and you're done.

I know that I may not have explained things clearly so if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.

[Allaerra Secura]

Nicely done, and well executed! Though, not to burst your bubble, our own Randy of Arm on Fire Designs already designed this part and proposed it as an MHS part a few months back and it may be already in the works, you never know

[Kal El Rah]

Either way it is a very nice piece and a timesaver to boot. I like it very much.

[Thaxos]

Looks very nice, also great job on finding an alternative to what you wanted!

[Lord Dottore Matto]

Great minds apparently think alike...Good job man, the grips look great!

[ARKM]

Nicely done, and well executed! Though, not to burst your bubble, our own Randy of Arm on Fire Designs already designed this part and proposed it as an MHS part a few months back and it may be already in the works, you never know

I saw that you posted similar info on my identical thread over at FX-forums. I did not know that he came up with the idea first or that he proposed it to Tim. Thanks for letting me know. Randy does some excellent work so I'm not really all that suprised that he beat me to it.