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Korium9
09-23-2014, 12:44 AM
Hello,
So I've decided that my baby-step into saber work was to mod my Darth Maul sabers.

I've read the tutorial and am getting my cart together.

Almost ready to order, except for the blade retention screws. (I figure the 8-32) The tutorial does not go into what length of set screw is appropriate and where to put it. While I would prefer to use a thumb screw, this would put it past/below the (whatever the emitter fins of the blade holder area is called) to sort of blend in with the rest of the hilt details. My understanding that this might be too far and the general philosophy for blade retention screws is to be as close to the emitter end as possible. I think I read somewhere that some people use the black button style and just hide it in the thick black "vent" area between the fins.

Still, I wanted to know where others have put the retention screw & what length is needed.

Less crucial, but was also curious as to how much of the blade is held in the socket (to determine what blade length to order -- I'm a bit little short @ 5'4", & a full 36" for both would get awkward when in double saber form)

Thanks.

Silver Serpent
09-23-2014, 04:57 AM
Unless it's for a blade holder I've used before, I usually just take a guess at the length of a thumbscrew. Always err on the long side, since you can cut a screw down to length, but can't stretch it out. With set screws, I find the 1/4" works well most of the time. The shorter ones are really easy to lose, and don't have a lot of material to hold with.

The blade holders usually hold about 1" of the blade in the socket, depending on the specific blade holder. The blades can be cut to length easily with a hacksaw, but you have to be careful about getting dust inside the blade. I find a pipe cutter works really well, and gives clean, dust-free cuts.

If you're getting a premade blade with diffuser film inside, you'll need to be extra careful when cutting the film.

Korium9
02-29-2016, 12:27 PM
Necro-ish, but I finally got around to working on this and followed the tutorial up to modding the sound module to accommodate the sensor. Since that requires a drill/dremmel I was going to also work on the blade holder step.

I started to slide the blade holder down the hilt to figure out where to make the marks for the set screws when I encountered resistance. I think I'm hitting the plastic/rubber that forms the black o-ring shape near the main body pin behind the emitter. This is not the same plastic ring/tube near the battery housing -- this was removed with some difficulty (I will have to sand the gouges made on the inside during this process, but the blade holder did slide past them). I'm a little worried and decided to not force it further since I don't think I could remove the blade holder afterwards. What is the best course of action? Even if I measure out where I think the blade holder ends up, the ring would make any maintenance on the saber difficult if I needed to remove the blade holder. Should I cut/sand/grind it down? (& best way to do that?)

Also, I did not see a step to re-insert the main body pin behind the emitter, can those holes be used for the set screw points? Or are they too low (would be too close to the led). Another question: What is the hilt body made of (to determine if I need cooling fluid before burning out my drill)?


(Just to be sure; these are the older fixed-blade models -- same as the tutorial)

ender9492
03-04-2016, 03:31 PM
I never removed any O-rings from my Maul hilt, and the blade holder fits perfectly fine; snugly even. In fact, I think the O-rings are rather useful, as it helps keep the blade holder in place.
To get the blade holder in place, I just used a long piece of 1" diameter PVC pipe to push it into place, past the O-rings. To get it out, I used the same piece of PVC to push it out by inserting the PVC into where the blade will go.
As for the "resistance" you encountered, there is a little lip of metal on the interior of the hilt that the blade holder tends to get caught on (about 1.5" down from the top of the hilt). If the blade holder is getting caught on this, just put your finger into the hilt from the top and wiggle the blade holder while pushing it up from the bottom of the hilt, till it slides past the lip. Again, using a dowel or piece of PVC pipe will help with this.
For the pin-holes, I just tapped them for 8-32 set screws, and will be using two of those to hold the blade holder in place. It might be possible to re-use the stock pin, but I found it easier to just add set screws.