The Gaffi Stick

The Gaffi Stick used by the Tusken Raiders in the movies was actually modeled after a wooden war hammer used by native Polynesian tribes in the Pacific Ocean. Lucas Film modified the Gaderffi stick by welding a long metal rod with fins and a spike on it. Our Gaffi stick is going to be made from plastic pipes and plastic bowls. We considered safety to be more important than accuracy. ...You don't want to split someone's skull open at a convention do ya? (grin)

Our supplies are simple:

• A 1 1/4 inch PVC pipe cut 29 inches (74 cm.)long
• a 1/2 inch PVC pipe cut 13.5 inches (34 cm) long
• a 1 inch-to-1/2 inch PVC pipe reducer coupling
• 4 pre cut fins (approx 5 inches/10 cm long - 1.4 inches/3.5 cm tall)
• a 3.5 inch (9 cm) long plastic spike
• a medium size plastic bowl with lid
  (get 2 or 3 bowls just incase you accidentally destroy one while building the Gaffi Stick).

First we will cut 3 inches from the end of the 1 1/4 inch pipe at a 45 degree angle. Basically we will take a wedge out of the pipe which will leave us with a 26 inch long piece and a 3 inch long piece.

Heat the beveled edges of the two pipes over a stove just long enough to melt the plastic. Be careful doing this... you do not want to burn yourself our your house down.

Once the plastic is soft enough... join the two beveled ends together... making a 90 degree angle out if the two pipes. Keep the two pipes together until the pipes have fully cooled down. You want a really strong bond between the two pipes. This one pipe is now the base body for the Gaffi stick.

Lets take the lid to the plastic bowl and heat up just the center of the lid over the oven. This HOT SPOT will be pushed in with the 1 1/4 inch pipe to make a support bracket for the bowl.

Push the pipe straight down into the HOT SPOT. Getting the lid on square to the pipe is crucial to the look of the Gaffi Stick. You only need to push the pipe down about 1 inch into the lid. You only need a small surface area to connect the lid to the pipe.

Heat the bottom of the BOWL the same way you heated the lid. This time heat up the entire bottom surface of the bowl... not just one spot.

Once the bottom is heated sufficiently, Take a small rod and SLOWLY push the bottom of the bowl outward. This is a very difficult task at times. You might destroy 1 or 2 bowls while pushing out the bottom. That is why I recommend buying BACK-UPs. Getting a uniform heating across the entire bottom is difficult.

Now just connect the bowl with it's lid and attach everything together onto the 1 1/4 inch PVC pipe. USe contact cement or Super Glue to seal everything together. You do not want the bowl to come flying apart while showing off the Tusken Raiders prowness with a Gaffi Stick do ya?!?

We need to attach the 1/2 inch pipe to the 1 1/4 inch pipe via the reducer coupling, Super Glue the fins and the Spike onto the 1/2 inch pipe. and paint the whole thing the colors you desire.

I suggest painting the 1 1/4 inch pipe and the bowl a wood grain color and the 1/2 inch pipe and the fins a Gum metal color with highlights of silver or chrome. Seal the entire paint job with a coat of CLEAR Urethane. now your ready to kick some Soon-To-Be-Jedi's arse!!!! (grin)