Helmet has been set aside until I can find a painter. Now onto my Force Pike. Long wall of an update coming, the below taking maybe a couple of hours at most. As it's my first time doing this, I. Once the Force Pike thread is updated, I can compile it all together and put it into the ROTJ Force Pike thread if there's interest.
Am recovering from being under the weather. As the helmet has been put aside until I can arrange a painter for the helmet I worked on the force pike. Long wall of how-I-did-it following.
What I started with:
1x Oatey Fix it Stick putty
1x Ski pole: sanded striped and already cut based on where I'm going to put the handles
Handles: 2x 6" Direct Burial Splice Kit, as they were the longest I could find at the size I wanted
Pommel: 1x PVC Check Valve for the pommel, already sanded, and one end cut
Pommel end: 1x Rubber Stopper, will be the bottom of the pommel
2x o-rings for adding support where the ski pole goes into the pommel
2x 1/4-20 coupling nuts
1x 1/4-20 x 2 Hex Head Bolt (the picture above shows a 3" Threaded Rod, but I switched to Hex Head for simplicity of attaching)
1x M8 threaded rod, for the Emitter tip
1x ROTJ Emitter tip, purchased from @Cabbagefarmer
Started by partially threading the first coupling nut and applying some Oatey putty to hold it in place. The putty got quite warm, even making the ski pole feel warm where it was applied. But dried rock hard in a matter of a minute or two after mixing. Since I had the extra threaded rod to help position it and hold it steady as I applied more to fill holes and let it cure. Then I sanded it flush to the tip of the aluminum.
Then I threaded the hex bolt tightly onto the second coupling nut. I mixed up some putty and tightly packed it around the hex bolt and coupling nut. I roughed it up with some 60-grit sandpaper to ensure the next step had something to adhere to. Then I used the same process as above to put the threaded portion of the join into the pole. While it was still setting I quickly screwed it onto the other part to ensure that I could line up the cut with the grain. It also helped to ensure the two parts would fit together once it cured from the cut line. Then sanded it flush with the aluminum from the pole.
Once both pieces cured (a matter of minutes), it screwed together like this. This part will be sanded and fine-tuned a bit more to close the gap. But it will sit about just above the top handle so shouldn't be easily seen.
Onto the hardest part, as the opening is so small. The force pike emitter tip I ordered from @Cabbagefarmer looks amazing, but uses metric measurements. A local fastener store happened to have a perfectly sized M8 threaded rod, so I picked up two. Because the top part will be able to be removed, I'll be able to use my second ski pole as a backup.
The two pictures look a little off-kilter, and I was able to get most of it worked out. It's not 100% straight up but pretty darn close.
Here is the force pike minus the handles and the pommel. And yes, there are frogs on the laundry room door.
Here is the first coat (hopefully the only one needed) of flat black on the pommel. Obviously some spots went on a bit thicker than intended so I'll run over it with some very fine grit sandpaper and see what happens.
