Saber Forum

Hey all, so we all know the Butcher saber. Its beautiful, mean but most of all

big, like really big.

I wasn't the first to mention that the claws around the hilt can make it a bulky and occasionally umcomfortable wield, however, aside from Edon Bluewolf's frustrating episode attempting this I couldn't find anyone that had done it successfully so I gave it a whirl.

Im gonna start with my conclusions from this in case anyones curious and impatient.
-I ultimately do not recommend this, the metal of the hilt is cut to accommodate the claws, and without them there are sharp corners and gaps in the hilt that can cut your hand if youre not careful
-It is however, much easier to wield
-This will allow you to swap the emitter like any other MHS part, BUT it may not be possible to replace the emitter AND have the claws installed.

So lets get down to it. IF you want to do this you will need a 1/16" Hex/Allen wrench (this is smaller than your standard blade retention screw by a good bit.
1) Unscrew the allen screws located at the bottom of each claw near the pommel
2) Unscrew the emitter as much as you can (you should have about a 1/4" clearance
3) Lift up on the claws and remove

This should be the result
(https://i.imgur.com/MxpLvXB.jpg)

Much easier to grip
(https://i.imgur.com/Q4aFknG.jpg)

With a Manticore emitter, cause why not
(https://i.imgur.com/AbA2s1K.jpg)

Single claw felt pretty good and added a "spine" which looked pretty cool
(https://i.imgur.com/1T1KczL.jpg)

Downside: this doesn't look very aesthetic and the edges here are precise and quite sharp
(https://i.imgur.com/xajqg8v.jpg)

On its' stand with the "spine" appearance
(https://i.imgur.com/GOrFtHT.jpg)

Ultimatley I'm placing the claws back on. Its a cool idea in concept but the saber looks best as intended IMO. Plus I like not cutting my hands.

Definitely makes for an interesting look without the claws, tho0ugh

See your point about the channels as well

To be sure, if I ever think of a modification I could easily swap on/off I might go without the claws but for the time being theyre just too big of a reason against it for me.

You could machine some pieces (if you have the tools) to fit in where the claws were to clean up the look a little, and save your hands.

Do not have that sort of equipment sadly

Interesting look. Me, I prefer the claws on.

Why?!

Looks pretty decent without the claws, guess very carefully with a Dremel you could file the edges of you wanted to. Did you read what he wrote, I thought he explained why.

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Hi PsychoSith, I think I can see an X-Acto/craft knife on your table so you might be able to cut some strips of rubber to fit in the mounting slots. You can get door sealant strips approximately 13mm by 8mm which could probably be cut and shaped a little to fit. Plus you might get a bit more grip. (Use some non permanent contact adhesive or such to attach the strips).

When I saw your single spine setup it kinda reminded me of a hilt I called "Khaarnage" whichI designed a while back in Blender 3D...
(https://ftsabersite.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/alex-khaar-saber-1-mk1.png)

Anyway, this is an interesting project and I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

Did you ever think I wanted more of an explanation than too bulky :P

That is his reasoning 😜

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If I had a Butcher and removed the claws, I would cut some pvc pipe to fill the grooves, then use heat shrink tubing to hold it in place and to use as a grip.

Course, you could use grip tape, leather wrap, etc.

Nice of the OP to test this out though. Have a point.

Interesting look with the Butcher without the claws.  Good write up, Psycho.  -1 for that

Ill assume you've never held the butcher then, no worries.

The Butcher is a FANTASTIC looking saber and I have been loving mine. My only issue is they use the normal width for the hilt and then add three ribs/claws around the circumference. All told the hilt is around 2.3" *wide* meaning youre only actually gripping the saber in 3 places and your hand barely makes it fully around the grip. Its a fantastic wall hanger but for dueling, sparring, spinning, etc Id take either of my other two sabers since they are much more comfortable to hold.

If you look around youll see a similar opinion from other butcher user and a few have attempted to remove the claws but had trouble with the screws stripping. I got lucky and my screws weren't installed so tight that it made it impossible to remove the claws, so I did.

Ended up putting them back on for safety and aesthetic reasons for now.

As I've said, I prefer the claws on.  But that's the beauty of this community, we all love sabers in any configuration.  I think you're taking the claws off was a bold move. It also gave me the opportunity to actually see the butcher without the claws, as opposed to just using my imagination.  We all appreciate those that modify the sabers. Those modifications sometimes bring new life to the saber design. Some might love the changes, some might hate them, and that's just fine.  Let's just chalk it all up to be able to be in such an awesome forum.

Well said! My whole issue was simply comfort; the saber looks much better with the claws I fully agree. I had the stuff to do this without damaging the saber and I like taking things apart so it was a fun challenge all told! hope someone got some useful info out of it - I had a good time doing it, lol.

And I, for one, enjoyed learning through your experimentation, rather than my own.  Thanks for sharing what you did and what you found out!

Ditto.    I started the original "what does it look like without claws" thread, and now I know!  You've given me valuable insight!  Thank you!

Not a problem!

I had considered getting a butcher just to remove the claws as the body looked to have a nice profile underneath, but it didn't look possible at first and I didn't want just a showpiece. Now that I know they can be removed I might try it, but the sharp channels are a bit of a turn off. I noticed the same thing with the Dominix/Aeon v5 when I took the claws off, which is even more frustrating considering they're the standard hilts. Not to mention how the default configuration has them stabbing your hand and blocking the upper choke. I kinda miss when claws were an add-on and not essentially an integral part of the hilt tbh. Granted, the Butcher is inspired from an existing design so they had to maintain it, but I hope all of this isn't indicative of Ultrasabers caring less about dueling capability and more about aesthetics moving forward. Anyway, if you're ever tempted to try it again sometime, one thing to consider is getting some rubber fins to fit into the claw channels. I know TCSS sells some that are designed for Graflex and Prophecy-style grip sections, I'm sure they'd probably work well enough here as well if you could get some wide enough.

I noticed the same thing on my V5.   I actually put the claws back on because the channels were not what I was looking for.   I was hoping the grenade grip of the forward hilt was continued under them, but the channels cut through.

I think what I REALLY want is a V4 with a V5 pommel...  :-)

I guess my hands are just big enough to handle the claws, since the sith's attempt to discredit my question didn't work :P

So... does it take you two hands to handle a Whopper™️?


Yeah, that’s an old one, I know.


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post removed by author

...perv

Ewwwww... dude, no!

That's a jingle from Burger King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGgocZkEF4k (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGgocZkEF4k)

And also from the "Hungry Jack's" brand
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d5e2OZjWg8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d5e2OZjWg8)

Wasnt trying to discredit anyone just explaining my own experience with it

Well the fact I own one is in my signature. I just call mine Gold because I ordered in the preorder before the LE title.

Honestly hadnt looked. Thats on me

PS, thanks for pointing me to this thread, great pictures, very informative. Glad you had a much more successful experience than me!  -1 point

I was going to suggest some sort of wrapping to cover the sharp edges but then that might not look good and would take away the visibility of the windows.

That was my issue with it. Ultimatley I like how it looks now, but if i ever come across some tools to address the gaps i might take 2 of the claws off

It's funny, I actually did this earlier today on accident. I wanted to remove the emitter, and had to remove the claws in the process, and found it was much more comfortable to wield it. Honestly, if US were to make the Saber without the claws, making the whole thing smooth (without the indents for where the claws go, just rounding it off), I would totally buy one right away. The claws definitely make it really cool, but it is super awesome on its own without the claws.

Wow!  Thanks for doing this! It reminds me of Kyle Katarn's first lightsaber from the video game Dark Forces 2.

Glad theres still people fining this useful! Honestly it does look great either way, though my decision still stands for safety reasons to leave them put.

OK, I don't know HOW I missed this thread but I am glad that I finally saw it!

PS, I like (and appreciate!) your experiment here with your Butcher.  Aesthetically, I like the claws but I think the hilt works better ergonomically without them.  Regardless, what a fantastic looking saber!  Thanks for this awesome thread  :)

Point!

Thanks for this thread.

I had a bit of a blade plug issue (see http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=43507.msg742325#msg742325 (http://)) and followed your guidance to disassemble.  Just takes a bit of upward pressure to get each of the claws free.  Here's a couple of additional pictures showing the design of each claw, and the upper section where the claw slides into the hilt.

(https://i.ibb.co/3pgjhRz/butcher-hilt-claw-mounting-notch.jpg) (https://ibb.co/D90vKrp)

Light adhesive residue can be seen in both photos.

(https://i.ibb.co/m8x97Cj/butcher-claw-side-profile.jpg) (https://ibb.co/749nFJf)

Ok this is pretty cool! I really like it without the claws. I do enjoy the original look, but only the look, I'd never even think it'd be duel worthy in that awkward looking state to grip with claws. I'd have to round down those channel edges or fill them in for sure.

My question is, does anyone with a different lightsaber with claws know if any others fit into those "slots" near the emitter properly? Meaning are they the same size as any other type of claw, so you could still have forward claws of some sort easily adhered instead without them monopolizing the rest of the hilt?

I think you would have to fill those grooves the entire way and mount using the screw holes provided in order to comfortably duel. 

I received my Butcher in the raffle and love it (THANK YOU ULTRASABERS!!!) and am sharing one of the OP's pictures to show more detail of 2 of 3 places on the hilt that are designed to accommodate these custom made and very ornate claws.

(https://i.ibb.co/bLTZgmw/Screenshot-2021-02-21-173317.png) (https://ibb.co/gwNpM9q)

It's a very intricate design, and as the OP noted, this is a pretty sharp edge that holds each of the claws in place, which runs the length of the upper quarter of the hilt.  Unless these can be filled, wearing gloves might be in order if you plan to duel.  There is also a trio of notches in the ring immediately below the switch, not quite a sharp, and to finish it off, a light machining down the bottom quarter of the hilt ensure the claws sit flush, which end at the screw hole used to secure each claw.