Graflite Flash Lightsaber: Day 1

When George Lucas came up with the concept with the lightsaber, he had no idea of the impact it would have on the world for years to come. While Lucas created the concept, it was fully realized by Roger Christian who used vintage camera flash guns, added a few rubber grips around the base, covered up the brands and that's how the weapon of the Jedi came to be.

Vader's was made from a rare British 3-cell MPP Microflash while Luke's was made from a 3-cell Graflex flash unit and has become the most sought after item among the geek community. A single Graflex on eBay can cost between $300-$900 depending on their condition. Of course, you can buy replicas from special sites like Saber Forge, Ultra Sabers, and The Custom Saber Shop to save some money. However, if you're lucky, you can find one at flea markets for a fraction of the price which leads me here.

On a family camping trip to Okoboji Memorial Day weekend, we spent the Saturday at the outdoor flea markets browsing for deals. I was able to find a couple prime lenses, but my best find came from the third flea market. I stumbled upon a booth that was selling vintage cameras and lying in a box next to them were several flash guns, one of them was a Graflite (top), which I grabbed without a second thought. A second look resulted in me finding a Graflex Swivel Head (bottom), a lot different to what I was looking for, but I don't know when I'm going to find something like that, especially in Iowa. I'm going to be working on the Graflite since it allows me to be creative and make my lightsaber more unique to me.

After a lot of fiddling around with a screwdriver,  I was able to take out whatever I found unnecessary and was left with the main tube, the two switches, the battery cover, the top ring insert, and the flash bulb holder. Part of the flash bulb holder will be cut to make the emitter for the lightsaber.

That's all for now.