Lightsaber Project - Clamp

Quite honestly, I'm not having much luck with the clamp. Here are my first (botched) attempts:

My first attempt I made out of aluminum flashing. This comes in a roll, and is used on roofing projects. The material is very thin, but very easy to cut and work with. Unfortunately, it appears to be tooo flimsy to work with. This picture even has a strip of silver tape across the middle like the ESB prop. Not bad, but like I said, a little to flimsy for my taste. (strike 1)

Second attempt involved getting a sheet of 4"x8" craft aluminum from the local hobby store. I cut out the correct shape with a dremel which took quite a while, and got the first major bends in the metal with no problem. As you can see, I'm not very experienced in working with metal. I don't have the correct tools, and when I tried bending the small-radius bend at the end, I totally bloched it! *huff* (strike 2)

Any thoughts??? Let me know.