Blade holder set screw

[andyfairall]

Not sure if this is the right page or not, if it isnt them my humble apologies. When ordering drill and tap services for the blade set screw is there a specific location to ask for or is is pretty standard where they go?

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Usually Tim has an idea of where to put them, as long as you mention what the drilling and tapping is for. Typically they go hear the emitter end for best results.

[andyfairall]

I figured he would but I wanted to make sure so there was no confusion

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

I figured he would but I wanted to make sure so there was no confusion

Make sure you order the screw too, so you know what size threaded hole you need.

[andyfairall]

any particular one works best, seems the 8-32 are the size but I see 2 different lengths?

[Weaver]

I would pick a thicker part of the emitter. I stripped my blade retention screw after a few months of use, through a combination of over-tightening (whoops) and placing the hole in a very thin portion of the emitter. The second hole is right below the tip of Blade Holder 16, which happens to be the thickest part, and I haven't had any problems. A screw length which closely matches the depth of the hole will also help, by giving the screw more threads to hold with.

On the topic of overtightening (in case you hadn't read it yet), I know it's tempting to really work it in there, but a little bit really does go a long way. I believe it was one quarter-turn I saw mentioned in another thread. This is the method I use and my blade won't budge until I want it to.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

any particular one works best, seems the 8-32 are the size but I see 2 different lengths?

Either will work, one just may stick out a tad more than the other.

[Weaver]

Good point, FJK. I originally put my screw in the center of the "choke" portion of that blade holder because I thought it might hold better. My original set screw protruded quite a bit, and I ended up filing it down to fit. It worked well enough, but led to my overtightening the screw to "make it go away". In hindsight, I should have known better than to put a screw where my hand needed to go, but I originally never intended to grip the saber there.

At any rate, yes, thicker portions of the emitter will decrease the chance that the screw will stick out. Nobody wants to have something poking them in the palm while they're trying to duel!

[Darth Obi Don]

Like BlessedWrath said ,You can get the longer one and file it down for an exact fit.

[Weaver]

If you do grind down a set screw, make sure to use proper safety precautions. There was...an incident. I won't go into detail here, but suffice it to say that even a set screw can cause some pretty serious damage if thrown by a power tool. I'd use an aggressive metal file to remove most of the material, then follow it with a fine metal file for finishing. Make sure to round off the tip, so that you get a clean insert when using the screw. If the threads on the tip won't straighten out, you can use a thread repair tool, or do what I did and insert the screw from the inside of the emitter, and unscrew it until it pops out the other side. As the tip of the screw enters the threading of the emitter, its threads should be forced back into alignment.