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Author Topic: How To Polish Your Luke FX  (Read 12925 times)

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Offline todd4566

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How To Polish Your Luke FX
« on: November 05, 2005, 03:54:56 PM »
After picking up my Luke Saber, I was very disappointed that the hilt was not chrome plated, or even polished.  Rather than settle for this quality, I busted out some sand paper and metal polish. 

Step 1.)  Tape off the areas you do not want to polish using masking tape, or duct tape.  I personally polished the emitter ring, the hilt (not including the control box), and the bottom ring.

Step 2.)  Sand the area with back & forth movements using 2000 grit sandpaper.  It will take numerous pieces of sandpaper to accomplish this task, as the surface of the hilt has deep surface scratches out-of-the-box.  *You can speed the process by first sanding with 1500 grit sandpaper, then moving onto 2000 grit. 

How it looks half-way through.  The ring around the control box hasn't been sanded at all yet, and the area behind I've just begun:


After you have sanded to your satisfaction, use a metal polish to bring out the shine.  I used "Semichrome Polish" for this task.  If after polishing the hilt/etc you still have numerous surface scratches, repeat the sanding process with 2000 grit and polish again.  As you remove more layers of metal, the surface imprefections will also disappear.

Finished product:



Questions/comments?  Let's hear it.  :D

« Last Edit: November 05, 2005, 11:58:52 PM by todd4566 »
My collection:
2002 Anakin AOTC
2003 Vader ANH  **Sold**
2004 Luke ESB  **Sold**
2005 Anakin ROTS **Sold**
2005 Vader ESB **Sold**
2005 Luke ROTJ **Sold**
2006 Maul TPM
Custom 5w Luxeon (Green/Royal Blue)
2006 Obi-Wan ROTS  **Sold**
2007 Yoda
2007 Luke ANH
2008 Obi-Wan TPM
2010 Anakin ROTS (Removeable Blade)

Offline rob

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2005, 04:21:42 PM »
WOW MAN!  That looks great.  If I am not mistaken your polished hilt is more film accurate as well.

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2005, 04:40:55 PM »
wow...nicely done

Offline Jedi_420

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2005, 05:33:26 PM »
 wow,  that looks really nice...... 8).........pitty you can't sandpaper away the fat neck  ;)
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Offline Mr.Griffin

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2005, 05:55:31 PM »
cool... I first thought you would think that sandpaper would scrape the xxx out of it
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Offline todd4566

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2005, 09:05:02 PM »
cool... I first thought you would think that sandpaper would scrape the xxx out of it

Well it kinda does, but 2000 grit is so fine that it polishes when combined with a good metal polish.  :)
My collection:
2002 Anakin AOTC
2003 Vader ANH  **Sold**
2004 Luke ESB  **Sold**
2005 Anakin ROTS **Sold**
2005 Vader ESB **Sold**
2005 Luke ROTJ **Sold**
2006 Maul TPM
Custom 5w Luxeon (Green/Royal Blue)
2006 Obi-Wan ROTS  **Sold**
2007 Yoda
2007 Luke ANH
2008 Obi-Wan TPM
2010 Anakin ROTS (Removeable Blade)

Offline skizzoid

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2005, 10:28:53 PM »
Very nice job!  I thought that a shiny hilt might look too tacky, but I think you changed my mind. :)
Master Replicas Force FX Collection:
2004 Mace AOTC
2004 Luke ESB (in pieces)
2004 Luke ESB
2005 Luke ROTJ
2005 Mace ROTS

Offline Bandit-Jedi

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2005, 09:05:21 AM »
Wow, definitely a different look.


I wonder what the saber would look like if it was polished completely.  Even the Black areas, there is metal under there as those are just painted, right?

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Offline todd4566

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2005, 04:30:34 PM »
I'm fairly certain all of the grooved area is metal, but I have some doubt that the rest of the hilt isn't without any plastic.  I'd prefer to keep the hilt's appearance closer to the actual prop anyway, but the thought of polishing the entire hilt did cross my mind.  It would take a lot of patience to polish those groves/etc, but the result would definitely be unique. 
My collection:
2002 Anakin AOTC
2003 Vader ANH  **Sold**
2004 Luke ESB  **Sold**
2005 Anakin ROTS **Sold**
2005 Vader ESB **Sold**
2005 Luke ROTJ **Sold**
2006 Maul TPM
Custom 5w Luxeon (Green/Royal Blue)
2006 Obi-Wan ROTS  **Sold**
2007 Yoda
2007 Luke ANH
2008 Obi-Wan TPM
2010 Anakin ROTS (Removeable Blade)

Offline darthmaddy

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #9 on: November 07, 2005, 09:48:31 PM »
VERY cool. ;)  How long did it take you?
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Offline Obi Karn Kenobi

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #10 on: November 07, 2005, 09:54:36 PM »
I'm so glad I have you guys here to test these projects. I would have been much to afraid to take sandpaper to my saber. The end result does look very good. Although I'm still not certain I can bring myself to do it.
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Offline Yoda

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #11 on: November 07, 2005, 10:03:32 PM »
A lot of work that is...

More appropriate then chrome, but a long time it must have taken ;)
especially to polish to such a high shine and evenly :)

a good job you did... ;D and so you know the hilt "IS ALL METAL"...
see my exploded view in the data sheets.

but for those who have never polished metal before, practice
on something else first you should ;)


Offline benlurkin

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #12 on: November 07, 2005, 10:13:11 PM »
That looks beautiful todd4566, would certainly compare well in those comparison shots I took a while back with the EE.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2005, 11:02:59 PM by benlurkin »

Offline Yoda

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #13 on: November 07, 2005, 10:58:13 PM »
That one isn't mine(look at the top post for the author ;))
but it certainly looks worth doing 8)

if I had spare time I would try it but that's a lot of sanding rubbing
or even dremel polishing... to get it all even :o


Offline benlurkin

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Re: How To Polish Your Luke FX
« Reply #14 on: November 07, 2005, 11:05:18 PM »
The funny part is I knew it wasn't yours Meridian, but because I'm so used to you being the one with all the great tips, I just typed it anyway!

 

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