Gauntlet darts

Did anyone ever come up with an accurate way of reproducing the darts on the right gauntlet? I tried the "ballpoint pen tip" method with an unpunched rivet and it actually looks pretty good. I don't think it's very close where accuracy is concerned though, so I'd like to hear some alternatives (short of machining them myself - don't have the tools for that)

Mark
mafight@tampabay.rr.com

For ref, here are my two best pics of the darts from MoM.

I am having Trevor machine these right now...I have already looked at one dart and it looked great! He is now finishing up the set and as we sit right now he only plans on doing the one set. Two reasons, they are very difficult to make and they are running 'bout 25.00 ea. Dustin Crops Boy may be able to cast resin sets for all who are interested but that will be up to him. If anyone should decide that they are willing to burn 100 bucks on machined darts...Trevor might be up for it, but lets just first see how they look as a set and most importantly...if anyone would even be interested in getting these darts.

Just spent 89 cents on ball-point pen tips.

Took em apart.

Painted em' chrome.

And they look **** near identical to the darts in those reference photos.

~Brian

I don't want to "Over simplify" this but it seems to me you could get something simular if you get some aluminum rod, stick it in a hand drill, start the thing up, and use a couple of needle files to shape the thing the way you want, to match the shape of the dart. I understand that having these parts machined is difficult considering their size, but I think you could get ok results the "Cheaper" way.

That's one reason I have been sticking with Trevor...he turns this stuff around in 'bout two weeks or less. Something that I did not realize myself when I got started with these machined greebelies is that the smaller the piece is...the more difficult it is to machine. And with tiny details, as with the darts, you end up paying more for the product. I have been happy to dish out a little more $$$ for the prompt service that I am receiving. It's a personnal choice and as in the past I am always willing to pass along any information regarding this stuff for interested members.

I just followed the directions from Obi-Wan's Jedi Academy. For mine, I bought a package of Bic "Round Stic" (the standard cheap Bic pens with the white plastic grip).

1) Cut off the white plastic grip
2) Pull out the gold-colored tip of the pen with pliers
3) Pull out the tube with the ink (and clean out the tip, which can get messy)
4) Cut off the cone-shaped part of the tip
5) Glue the cone-shaped tip to the end of a nail or unpunched rivet (which is what I used for mine. They don't yet have the wider tube at the base that the MOM pics show, but I'm just going to try and find a small piece of thin tubing and run it over the rivet before gluing on the pen tips.

Mark
mafight@tampabay.rr.com

In reference to your photo's. Are these darts machined? Now I'm not knocking your darts or calling you a liar, but I used to work in a machine shop, and I can see just from the pics some odd things. One, is that they are not all identical. The tips are all different. If they were machined ( would have to be on a CNC, due to the cost you gave) they would be EXACTLY the same, as they are all lathed off the same master. TWO, I can see spots that resemple cast metal, or pot-metal, but if that was so they would be very fragile. So my only conclusion is that (from the photo's) they look to be metal rodding with cast or manually cut tips, made from a spft casting metal, like lead or pewter. Then again they could be various pieces soldered together, sanded down to a uniform finish. At any rate, they look good, just not good enough to be $25 machined pieces. Sorry

Has anyone tried to use the 'body' of any actual dart? I saw some at Walmart that, with a little work, could turn out quite nice. The part I'm talking about is the piece between the stabilizing fins and weighted dart head. It is machined aluminum in approximately the shape & size needed, threaded on one end & comes in a 4 pack. I think I'm going to try to further shape this in a drill as Fettcicle had suggested earlier.

I must have been smoking something that day. The dart shafts come in a THREE pack.

The best type of machine to run these are a CNC Swiss Automatic a type of lathe for small parts typically medical, aerospace and microtechnology stuff. These parts can be done in one operation and not at $25 a piece. A Swiss type can crank these out without a problem. It can run unmanned with a barfeeder until it is out of stock. Popular manufacturers of Swiss type would be Citizen or Nomura. I have direct connections to Nomura Sales in the US. I have had the drawings made for the Darts for quite awhile and have been working on the tooling costs and materials as of late. I was trying to tie the Darts in with the Adjusting Rods for the Anti-Security Blade shin tool. Anti-Security Blade rods are also ideal for a Swiss because of the cross-drilled holes. For cross-drilled holes, a conventional CNC lathe can't do it, so you would need a mill and an additional two setups to complete the part. All these things add to part price because of time and labor. When the appropriate type of machine is used price can come down. And I work for a company that makes CNC lathes and mills, however our smallest piece of equipment is still too big for this part. And I know it can be done quicker and cheaper on a Swiss. -Mark

i was at wal-mart looking into parts for my dremmel when i ran across a bit that looks pretty dam closeto a dart, painted them gold and they look great in my guantlet and the best part was they were only 4.00 each.

sorry no pics suit still under construction


TR3171

I haven't bought any yet but i did see alot of bits that look similar. just look in the dremel section and make your own decision on which looks best. they ranged in price between $4-15 each.

Don't know if this will help but back in my high school days I was into archery and these "darts" remind me of whats called a "blunt" or field/target point. By the diameter it would have to be a screw in type instead of a press fit. One thing is for sure.... They don't cost $25 @!%*& dollars.

That's what I was thinking about but some that I've seen are smaller. Possibly for a pistol crossbow. Also the Dremel parts that people have refered to are probably the cut off tools part #117 or for a sharp dart #125. These are the right size but again are not very accurate.

the tips look like stereo plugs almost.

If you dont want to spend alot of money i still say the dremmel points at your local wal-mart work great, and there is alot of differant styles to choose from and they go for .89 cents to 3 bucks depending on what you want.


TR3171

I have dremil bits that I special order that are very close, but I'm looking for accurate, not almost.

Does anyone have the length or any of the dimensions for the gauntlet darts. I MIGHT be able to do something for them, but I'd like to make an accurate blueprint first. I can figure out the rest if I can just get one accurate dimension--length or width of something.

Great news for me and maybe some of you too. A friend of mine said he will make some metal darts while he's at work. I told him I might need quite a few, which he said wouldnt be a problem. I don't know how he's making them (if you can't tell from my posts i'm ignorant of all things costuming). Anyway, I need a great reference pic. I don't think I'll be paying for anything, so I'll do what I can at getting a couple of extra sets made. He just needs something to go on. So send me a pic or if anyone has an extra dart you can send as a reference let me know.

Mindphunk@aol.com

I can send you one from the ref. CD if no one else hasn't aready If he is going to "make" them,I'm hoping they are machined aluminum.

I don't know how he's making them or what he's making them from. He said he has the equipment to do them at his place of employment. He just wanted one as a reference. I thought about doing the pen thing on Obi Wans site but I don't think its accurate enough. Anyway, i'm going to forward the pics to him and see what he says. wish me luck.

I just lathed a dart pattern out of wood tonight, and it's not perfect, but I am going to cast it in light casting metal for my set of 4 (waiting on the metal and new RTV to get here). I started with a 1/8" dia hard wood dowel as the bast of the dart. Looks pretty close to me. I'll post pics of the set when they're done.

-Dana

I've been searching for a metal alternative to pen tips for quite some time. There are plenty of reference shots on the CD, so hopefully someone can finally nail this project.

I talked to the guy today and he said when he has time at work he will attemp to make them. Said he has alot of aluminum laying around and he has no intentions of charging me for anything since it will be done at work with their scrap aluminum (am i spelling that right?) I'll post more as it goes. I don't have a scanner so i will send a dart to someone (probably Spidey since he's close) so he can scan and rate them for you guys looking for accurate darts. I'll just be happy to get something on the gauntlets personally, being as movie accurate is not what I'm trying for as of now.

I have pics of the finished darts if someone will post them for me. Seeker and Impervium both have pics (maybe one of you guys will post them?). I think they look great, want the rest of you guys to see them.

Well lets see them darts!! Hope some one will post them for you. Please let me know if you have an extra set available, would be much appreciated! 8)

I asked this once before but, what length should the gauntlet darts be? I'm going to get the guys in my toolroom to make up some sets, but, until I get a dimension, I can't have them do them up.

Jer

Update on the darts: first of all, I have asked enough members to post pics for me that sooner or later you will all be able to see them. Next, these are being done for me as a favor and I do not intend to sell them. I do, however, intend to trade for some smaller parts that I am still missing. The guy who is making them has recently bought a house and is getting married next month so he will be busy for a while. I have a list of those that have asked to be put on a list and I will do my best to help you out. There is no timeline and I will let you know (individually) when I have another set available. I do have a question though. Has anyone tried to make a fiberglass set? I was just thinking that if someone can help me, maybe we can make some temporary sets until I get more. Just an idea, let me know what you think.

The shape is right, but they are way too long. Using the Ref CD, it looks to me that the darts should only be about one inch long (including the portion that will be sunk into the gauntlet itself). Brak's or BobaPhett would probably be the best ones to get an accurate measurement from.

Dude, that's too cool.

Measurements........ Bobafettish ... **** Close

The plateau of the gauntlet right below the darts (or better said, the plateau that they rest on) is approx. 4.7 CM wide.
This data, gathered from research I have been concentrating on lately. It's based on the right gauntlet I just made. It's at least 96-98 % accurate (in SIZE that is) as far as we can tell so far(it's huge). Maybe more. I won't know for sure, until there is an oppertunity to compare it to an exhibit. But even then, it will always be off, unless you could hold the real thing and measure it.

But anyway, enough rambling. I came up with this ...

Dart Length - (Approximation Only) 1.8 CM or 13/16 ...

from the tip of the dart head, to where it sinks into the gauntlet. How much is actually sunk into the gaunt, who knows. Who cares if we get that anal, we'd better seek counseling As long as there is enough to hold it secure in the gaunt ( say 1/4 inch or less) life would be good.

FP

Fettpride, I actually came up with 13/16" too! I just rounded it off to a whole inch with the intent that the other 3/16" should be enough to glue into the gauntlet itself. That, and I didn't want people to know that I was trying to take (semi)accurate measurements from my computer monitor.

What can I say?

Great minds think alike? -JK-

The newer darts I had machined this week are a lot smaller. The first set the guy was working from reference pics but had no clue as to how big the gauntlets were. After I got them home I saw that they were way too big. They hung off the gauntlet by 1/4 of an inch. The newer ones are smaller but I think the detail is even better. It took him about 20 minutes for each of the larger darts, and about 30 minutes for each of the smaller ones. If someone can post the new pics for me, I'd appreciate it.

Gee cm & 16th. I think you're right, it may be possible to get too annul.

Lookin Gooooood


Is the dart body still a tad too thick ? Maybe just the picks?

Is that an MB or GA gaunt that they are mounted on ?

Its just the pics. They actually look better than the larger ones, I believe everything is close to the scale previously posted by a few of you. The gauntlet is an old, old GA that I havent bothered to mess with because I'm in the process of getting fiberglass gauntlets. We were just using it for scale. They really arent orange either, again the pics. Sorry that the pics couldnt be better. I'll see if I can get some better pics posted so you guys can critique. I didnt realize how bad these pics sucked until I saw them posted.

Hey folks,
I've got some found-part darts. I got them in the automotive section of Wal-Mart. They're Valve Cores made by Victor. Part #V710, described as 'short type, fits standard auto tire valves'. They come in packs of 4 (how nice!).

Each looks detailed enough to be a dart, even more detailed actually than the real ones lol, but they'll suffice in a pinch. I've been trying to take pics but my digital won't focus on something so small I hope I can get some pics later maybe.

Each is about 1.5-2.0 cm in length.

Hope this helps,
Phil

It looks like your right. The shaft of the dart seems thicker. There is not as much difference between it and the head of the dart. It doesn't look like it's just the pics or the angle.

Hey are these: http://www.zvalve.com/newsite/vp_cores.html

What you are referring to? I put "tire valve core" in google and thats what I got.

Gwizah, that's exactly what I have, the top left one. They're a little short (so they won't stick far into the gauntlet) but I like them so far.

Phil

Ego, Nice blueprints! Maybe now I'll finally have something to take to my uncle, aka..."Lathe Guy". Usually when I explain things, he looks at me confused. He asked if I could sketch out Jango Fett's blasters for him...IN AUTOCAD!

Now maybe your prints will impress him, I guess he likes to see the exact measurements

Nice blueprint! I didn't do the math conversion, but make sure there is enough extra on the end the you can sink them into the gauntlet a bit with approx. 13/16" sticking out. A total length of 1" should be enough with the excess being on the tail (the thick part).

It's about a HAIR smaller than an inch . . . 0.97 inches to be exact so . . . it should be enough.

Hopefully will have them made this week if all goes well.

Of course pictures to follow as soon as they're done!

Jer

Great, now that I've got ya droolin', watch my toolroom tell me they're not going to do them! That would be my luck! hehe

Update: I've heard I should have them soonish (of course I can only get them to make them while there is nothing else pressing to be done), but, on the downside, if I am able to get extra sets made, it will be a VERY limited number of extra sets.

Update Update: Not that I would be offering any extra up for sale of course, as that goes against all LFL copyrights.

Jer

I didn't realize how small those buggers were until I printed them out at a 1:1 scale. Thanks for the drawing . I redrew it in CAD so I could get a 1:1 scale.