Reaper Questions

[YnrohKeeg]

Apologies in advance if these questions have been asked already.  I did my due diligence via the search function, but it's a bit wonky for some reason.

I'm strongly considering a Reaper for my first Ultrasaber.  I really like the look of it, but I'd probably go claw-less.  I'm such a goody two-shoes that I can't even play Sith in video games.  Here are my questions; the first can probably only be answered by Ultrasabers folk and on the other I will rely on the counsel of the rest of the venerable saber-wielders out there.

1.  Are there any plans or possibilities to make a silver reaper?  Like, a silver hilt with black (or even blue?) etchings rather than vice versa?  Though the black one could kind of pass for a light-side saber, I prefer the relative simplicity of a plain silver hilt, with the intricate etching just being fancy gravy. 

2.  I'll be using this saber primarily for solo spinning and, if it comes to that, home defense.  Imagine a thug breaking into a house and being met with a bright, heavy-grade saber to the head.  Bet you weren't expecting that, felon!!  But here's the question.  Because the button is placed so close to the shroud, it seems to me that spinning the saber would cause the hand to hit the button fairly regularly.  My main complaint about my Luke Skywalker Force FX saber is that when I do really fancy stuff, the aura of awesomeness is shattered when my pinky hits the off-switch in mid-swing.  It's absolutely infuriating, or, at least as infuriated as one can get when swinging a toy around.  I'm not sure how the whole ultrasaber button thing works, but my understanding is that you have to HOLD the button for a certain period to deactivate the blade.  Is there any possibility that spinning this thing will inadvertently shut the thing down or activate unwanted "saber locking" effects?  Again, the awesome mystique would be extinguished if suddenly my saber started flashing in an epileptic seizure inducing manner when I'm just showing off by myself.

Thanks in advance for any input you can provide!

[Master Bluespike74]

At the moment, the only two options available are Black and Red.  I did ask this question in the past two months concerning Blue anodization and I was told it is not on the table at the moment so we'll have to wait 6 months or longer to see if that changes.

I changed my Black Reaper to clawless as my wife has laid claim to it and does not like claws.  It still looks awesome and she is certainly a goody goody.  Now about the button.  If you go sound, the button will not be an issue whether you get guarded momentary or AV configurations. 

The button has to be depressed for a nice period of time to deactivate.  No problems with turn offs that I can assure you.  As for Flash or Lock Up activation, the new Obsidian sound boards have addressed that problem.  The switch as to be depressed twice initially to get the lock up to activate.  Then a single press deactivates and a single activates.  This feature was added to address this concern by those of us that bought second generation sound board sabers. 

You are making a great selection in the Reaper.  Mine is in the Emerald Green configuration and looks outstanding as a Jedi's weapon. 

Hope this helps you in your quest for the best lightsaber for your needs.  Also, glad to see that you like Blue as well.

Blue

[Kaiden Shardsbane]

As for the color of the hilt itself, you can convert a black-anodized saber to silver fairly easily.  Basically, you sand off the black with 100-grit sandpaper, and then move to finer and finer sandpaper to polish the silver.

Then you can simply paint the etchings whatever color you want.  I'm not sure how deep they are though, so they might disappear with the sanding.

[YnrohKeeg]

Bluespike:  That's kinda what worries me (the double-tap of the button), because that thing goes round and round rhythmically (at a moderately high rate of speed), and I'm worried that the saber might misconstrue that as a tap-tap-tap...  Know what I mean?

Kaiden:  VERY interesting suggestion about "silverizing" the black Reaper.  You may have edged me that much closer to a purchase, my friend!  But (and forgive me, I'm no metallurgist) will the sandpaper make the hilt dull?  I want it all bright and shiny... 

[James Casey]

You're braver than I ever would be even to consider it! The trick would be getting as even a finish as possible across the whole of the hilt, I guess.

I would think that metal polish should keep it shiny, although I don't know if you'd need a special one for aluminium.

[Aurentis]

Initially, sandpaper will make the hilt dull, but as you move up into the finer grains, it will get better.  You may need to pay a fair bit to get the extremely high grit for a good finish on your hilt, but it can be done in theory.  You will also need some metal polish to finish it off.

If you want a different color in the etchings, you could locate a shop that does powder coating.  That's probably what I would do.  

[Vex]

The Reaper is a cool saber. You'll find that your main hand will pretty much say on the shroud as that is a great spinning spot, and your other hand will rest on the lower hilt. The button it's well placed. The button will have to be depressed to activate, lockup,deactivate the saber. Spinning it will not cause the button to depress that much, unless of corse you wack something with the switch.

[Kaiden Shardsbane]

As they said, finer grain and metal polish will bring back the shiny.  And, unfortunately, even an unmodified saber will dull with use.  Regular polishing and/or not wielding the saber are pretty much the only ways to keep it really shiny.

And don't worry too much.  The sandpaper method has been used numerous times around here with great success.  Especially around the blue/red Grab Bag months.  Lots of people were sanding their sabers to make them silver.

[mcnaughtonM]

From what I have heard (Correct me if I am wrong), the buttons (AV atleast) needs to be depressed a good 4-5mm so you should be all good in the switch department

[Darth_Phobius47]

It's a good thing all clawed sabers can easily remove their claws. Makes them go from Sith blade to Jedi blade with that simple twist of a wrench! It's why I think the Malice would be an awesome Jedi weapon without the claws! Go for the Reaper man! Reaper to Retribution!