Hello Everybody, today I am very, very excited as I get to share with you a lightsaber that has been assembled by a good friend of this site DK44. And this lightsaber is a Graflex replica hilt! DK44 bought this hilt as a replica kit from a company named Korbanth and assembled and installed the lights, sounds and blade (plus a little extra something I’ll get to later). What is astounding is that this was DK44’s first full saber build project! He did build a Saberforge Adaptive Saber Parts (ASP) lightsaber but that was fully modular which screwed together fairly easily, with no need to solder wires or cut and shape parts. This saber was built very much the same way as the original lightsaber was way back in 1976 by the special effects artists John Stears, John Mollo and Roger Dunlop . This particular hilt is made to look like the one seen used by Finn and now Rey in The Force Awakens. Here is DK44’s Graflex Lightsaber…
As you can see this is BEAUTIFUL! Sorry to raise my voice but I love this hilt. The saber is a work of art (although DK44 says he wishes he could have done better!) and has everything that you associate with the Graflex saber. The emitter with the slanted opening and metal collar that extends through the tube to form two tabs, which are affectionately called “Bunny Ears” by fans. The collar and tabs are actually the mechanism that held the flash bulb in place when the handle was used as a photographic flashgun. Just behind these Bunny Ears is the red topped activation button and below that there is the “Glass Eye”. The activation box is really the clamp that attached the flashgun to the side of the camera. But if you slot a carefully shaped piece of circuit board between the two jaws of the clamp it looks like a switch! Next down the hilt is the famous T-Track grips, the black ridged parts that form the distinctive handgrip. And to finish the hilt off there is the Graflex pommel with the D-Ring to hang the saber off your utility belt! Though I doubt this saber will be hanging on a belt it has a very nice custom stand (built by a mutual friend of DK44 and mine called Kouri, who is a whizz with 3D printing and prop making.) But you will have noticed I haven’t mentioned the blade…well I have a SECOND gallery with this beauty activated and in all it’s glory with a very special REVEAL surprise….
Yes this saber has what is called a Crystal Chamber Reveal, which shows that this saber has a “heart of Kyber”. The electronics allow the crystal to light up and actually pulses and flashes along with the blade. This feature is usually found on expensive higher end replicas but DK44 decided he wanted one in his (and with help from another friend called Vechaljian he was able accomplish the feat). The colour matches the effects seen in the film perfectly thanks to an LED that can mix two colours to make the blue light and has a white bulb that flashes when the saber hits something! I think you’ll agree this is impressive.
I’d like to thank DK44 for sharing this fantastic saber with us on this site, he was gracious enough to provide me with great photos and a full description to help me write this post (did you notice he lined up his photos like the images for my designs? Thanks man!) This shows what is achievable with determination, patience and Talent!
I am now once more approaching the end of ths special post so thanks DK44 and also to you my viewers and followers. Your support is much appreciated and I hope you will return to see future posts featuring more designs from myself and my friends…and who knows there may be more “real life replica hilts” to come! Till next time.
DK44 Designs is © Copyright of DK44 and is used here with permission. Graflex is a Trademark of Folmer Graflex Photographic Co. of New York. All Star Wars/The Force Awakens names, logos, images and other related material are Trademark/© Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm.
FTSabersite 
I’m not sure if you want to answer this but I was wondering how much it costs (ballpark) to produce a bespoke lightsaber? Just curious.
Hello Mr and Mrs NW, it depends on how complex you want it to be. You can buy stock models for around $54 that are very basic and just light up with no sound (called a Stunt saber as choreographers use them in fan films then add sound FX afterwards) Then the price increases for hilts with sound. Then go up another level and you can get sabers with sound, lights and the ability to swap the sound effects and make the blade flash when they clash. The two big companies Saberforge and Ultrasabers carry these type of sabers. Then you can go full custom and order a hilt from a “Saber Smith” who can design and build you a hilt to your specifications, but these can range from several hundred dollars into the thousands.
If you want to have a look at some of the hilts available there are links in my sidebar to both Saberforge and Ultrasabers. If you like what you see and would like more advice I would be pleased to help.
I haven’t included the building system I use as the parts can be very expensive for a starter hilt but if you want to check them out the parts can be found on Saberforge’s website in the Adaptive Saber Parts section. And finally (whew!) if you want to try and design a hilt you can visit Saberparts.com which will take you to the Adaptive Saber Parts Builder app where you select and swap parts till you find the design that “Calls to you”. Hope this helps.