Okay, I'll be a sport.
Leather. all kinds of different types. Suede feels really nice. Anther cool grip material is Deerskin. Sure it angers the PETA types, but it makes a great grip material. How can hundreds of thousands of Native Americans be wrong?
Neoprene: Stuff that mousepads are made from.
Brass: I have seen some really cool brass grips made. They tranish FAST though.
ABS plastic.
T-Track
Silk thread
Gut
Cord
I used leather on my "Focus" MHS saber. I used double sided carpet tape to hold in in place for most of it, and stitched it up the seam.
I play with this saber almost every day, and after about a year, it has held up very well.
I don't have a great picture of it, but you can see a bit of it in this shot.
I've also used Magic Wrap as grip material. That's the rubber tape that sticks to itself when you stretch it. If you are careful to stretch it evenly, it makes a nice effect, and the rubber has a good "grippy" feel to it. Just stretch it out and wrap it so it overlaps itself a little. Here it is on a PVC saber.
Have a good look through the galleries and you should get lots of ideas.
Last edited by Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie; 12-15-2008 at 08:58 PM.
I've become partial to metal strips... similar to the Mara Jade setup; however, I like brass for the very reason Darth Morbius stated. It tarnishes quickly and has a used/aged look.
I worry about metal grips cutting the hand. People say heat shrink wrap but that stuff seems to melt into odd shapes. We used to have grip material for the underside of skateboards back in the day. Something with adhesive backing....
You just sand and bevel the edges on metal grips so they don't cut you.
In order to see the Light,
you must sometimes risk the Dark.
TCSS MODERATOR
BLUE 8 Ready to ROCK and ROLL!
Typically, the metal strips don't have sharp edges. The ends can be though especially after cutting but I use a piece of sand paper cupped and run it over the ends so they become rounded off both on the sides and on top.
ok I will try to test it
p-tex is the stuff on the bottom of an everslick skateboard deck, but that is slippery, maybe you mean the grip tape on the top of the board? I couldn't find a picture of one, but the cheesy free stomp pads that come with Burton snowboard bindings are/were self adhesive ridged foam. They look similar to the grips on the storm trooper sabers that have been floating around.
Ive used windshield wipers, which work good except that if you use glue be very careful because when it dries it leaves an ugly looking residue.
Another thing i have used is Foamies paper. They have the kind with a sticky back that can be found at Michaels, or most arts and crafts stores.
Ive had better luck working with foamies because you can be a little more creative with a grip pattern other than your standard straight strips with an exacto blade.
The grip tape ive dabbled in with a couple of test runs. (wish i had a pic, but i guess i can post that later) I placed the grip tape completely around where my main hand will grip the saber hilt, then placed a few foamies strips over it to give it a little extra snazzy look.
hope this helps
Temporis
"Execute Order 66!"
Bookmarks