A recent post with someone looking for an OBI ROTS got me to pick up an old project I started a while back and consider finishing it up.
Instead though I dug through my parts bin and found an old grenade and neck section I bought about 5 years ago. At the time I didn't have machines and wasn't sure how I was going to make an Obi saber from just those parts. I am not sure who made them...I was told RussRep but I thought all his old ones were steel. It is definitely not parks though because it has thinner cubes on it (much better suited for the ROTS) and all the threading is totally different.
So I started looking at what I could do. I had already bought a large chunk of brass for the neck ring a while back for the last Obi ROTS I was planning. I have the copper for the upper neck as well.
Here is what I have done so far.
- turned down the last segment on the grenade section toward the emitter and re-shaped it (ROTS has much more of an angle).
- thinned the brass neck
- turned down and threaded the last section of the grenade toward the pommel end
- threaded the last section toward the pommel end.
- made and threaded a section to go under the TCSS box
- machined the next to last segment of the grenade section to match up with the threaded section I made (both end segments are thinner than the middle segments on the original prop).
My next step is to make a correct gear section. The ANH has 18 grooves but the ROTS has 12 and are shaped differently so I have to make it from scratch. I will thread it to go into the center section I made.
For the pommel I will use a modified TCSS pommel because they work great and look good for an ROTS saber.
After the body is done I will work on the neck section.
Anyway here are progress pics (click to enlarge)...
Yes in order to angle the top segment correctly I had to machine into the brass part. Once I powder coat it black you will never know (the ROTS has black up to the neck)...
Questions or comments welcome...