Saber Forum

So, two weeks to the day from receiving my Sentinel V4 in the mail, I ordered an Aeon V2 strictly for dueling and also to have a red blade for cosplay....  Within a day I had a black leather wrap on the Sentinel, and was eyeing the Aeon  V2 because I loved the look of the hilt and thought leather would look great on it...

Went with the local fabric store in search of larger pieces of leather but only found a faux leather in brown so I tried that...

Only thing I DON'T like about the customization I did on the Aeon V2 is I reaaaaally wanted for the wrap to go to the absolute bass of the hilt, just before the pommel. Problem is, I had a covertec wheel installed and have zero idea how to do the wrap so that it fits perfectly around the bass of the wheel. So, I did this wrap just above.... maybe i'll get brave and re-do it.

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/TmFnu1.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/poTmFnu1j)

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/0bA0ga.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pm0bA0gaj)

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/meBcq3.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmmeBcq3j)

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/4pyru6.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pn4pyru6j)

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/Xlh7jU.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/poXlh7jUj)

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/7Z3tc6.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pn7Z3tc6j)

Looking good.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Thanks!

Do you think I should go with black leather instead of the brown? I chose black covertec wheel, black AV switch as accents since this is meant for a Sith cosplay.... It takes two retention screws and I have both black and gold knurled head thumb screws on the way (gold to match the gold LE trim, and black for obvious reasons), so black leather like my Sentinel would have been perfect...

The store I went to tonight only had brown so maybe I'll keep looking and try again...   The huge sheet of brown faux leather only cost me $1.25, so i'm not really out anything by switching it to black leather...  With the black leather on my Sentinel, I find the parts where the cuts were made stay black but the brown faux leather kindof is white from the crossection of the actual material.... hmmmm

Leather just seemed easier to manipulate and stretch to get pretty good precision wraps... the brown faux leather wrap I did looks ok, but not as good as the Sentinel...  I'm no expert, btw... literally my first and second attempts at wrapping hilts lol

The brown looks good, goes good with the gold. But black would also look great on it.

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Very sharp looking results. Thanks for sharing

Looks awesome! I wonder if there's a way to cut a hole for the wheel. I know you measure the hole for an unguarded switch with a dime and cut it out. When I did that, I made it a little small, and the leather was easy to stretch over it.

you know something? you just demystified this for me...  I think at the bass of my wrap I absolutely have enough wiggle room to cut a hole then continue with the wrap so that it doesn't cross back over the wheel again. Going to try it right meow.

I'm going to head over to the local leather supply warehouse and get some actual black leather tho but first i'll mock up a strip in the faux brown I have to see how it will sortof look... The faux brown leather looks ok, but feels bad when I grip the hilt. I can feel the edges of the cuts and it's not as nice as leather...

Thanks for the tip!

Dave

Using the same cut piece of faux leather, found a dime and cut a hole... Worked perfectly... I agree that I have to cut the hole a little bit smaller for it to be snug and not show any of the metal underneath, so I'll do that when I mock up another piece to use as a template for the real leather I'll buy today... Will also need the strip to be longer to make it all the way up the hilt to cover that last ring of gold trim...

Again, the advice was much appreciated... :)

PS: I think I did a better job on the actual wrapping this time too, regarding the spacing between the spiral rings around the hilt... it's more in line with the spacing on the Sentinel I modded... i.e. how much overlap I use...

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/owARC2.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmowARC2j)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/WSuBwE.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmWSuBwEj)

Perhaps try taking the covertec wheel off, wrapping the hilt then poking a small hole in the wrap and screwing the covertec back on.

This looks really awesome, thanks for sharing.

I was looking to something similar but I am a newb at this and I am not the best way to attach the leather.  What did you use to attach or glue this down?  Did you tack it down or glue most of the way etc.

That's brilliant... zero chance to make the leather nudging up to the covertec wheel to look bad... just wow... thank you

No prob  ;D

Wow looks great congrats!

Here it is!

I very might well just keep the brown... took some work...  If anything I can unpeel it from the hilt and use it as a template for black leather, but I'll have to stew on it...

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/XM30Y2.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/poXM30Y2j)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/0WG4WT.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/po0WG4WTj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/tTGhex.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmtTGhexj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/xr6kgX.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmxr6kgXj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/h6ycUu.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pnh6ycUuj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/opIQ08.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/poopIQ08j)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/pNNygU.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmpNNygUj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/eSjr8Y.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmeSjr8Yj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/RNUCb2.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pnRNUCb2j)

Looks great, I would leave it brown. Goes good with the gold.

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Very nice

Thanks to you ;)

You're welcome

Agreed. Very nicely done.

Very nice! Gotta give a point for that!

That's a great idea for the wheel! I'll have to remember that. I've only done initiates so far, but I'm hoping to do some larger ones :) How did you glue it down? Just curious

Spray adhesive I bought at Michael's retail store...   once I had the major wrapping mocked up, the very very ends of wrap kinda came loose since the adhesive had time to dry while I was still wrapping... So, just had to peel the wrap back 2 or 3 inches and spray again, then wrap it back into place....

I realized that in order for this saber to know the true power of the dark side, a black leather wrap was still necessary. All kidding aside, this feels absolutely WONDERFUL now, compared to the rough and sharpish edges of the brown faux leather. Went for a trip to Tandy's and found a hide I liked... I still want to treat it somehow to make it maybe a little blacker/shinier, like on my Sentinel. I'll do some research.

Here's the almost final pics of my sabers. Last pic's will come once my thumb screws arrive...

Thanks again for all the input, advice and encouragement...

Dave

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/rPlK7V.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pnrPlK7Vj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/Z0UUIa.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/poZ0UUIaj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/aTkVnN.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/poaTkVnNj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/FRwNmr.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pnFRwNmrj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/3019XZ.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/po3019XZj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/6CPffI.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pn6CPffIj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/mwxB4b.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pnmwxB4bj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/GtLiEu.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pnGtLiEuj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/NsU7Zb.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/poNsU7Zbj)

Looks good.

If you want the leather a richer black, I'd dye it. Go back to Tandy and pick up some De-glazer, black dye, daubers and some leather sealer.

What I ended up buying at Michael's was Fiebing's Leather Sheen (not the aerosol). It worked exactly as I'd hoped... I feel like the leather finish on the Aeon V2 LE is pretty much the same as the Sentinel V4 now... My friend came over with his Aeon V4, so I did his too... He loves the feel of the grip and just below the emitter now...

Check 'em out...

(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/OREV0D.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmOREV0Dj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/VvkzEW.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmVvkzEWj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/4UC2NM.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pn4UC2NMj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/924/z9ojq8.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/poz9ojq8j)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/922/tHtvvj.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmtHtvvjj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/dGT4Cc.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pndGT4Ccj)
(http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/EgtfFw.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pnEgtfFwj)

I like the black leather

Very nice  ;D