I just bought an MR 2005 Anakin ROTS saber and am strongly considering converting it, as I would very much like to have a duel-ready saber.

However, I have a couple of possible issues.

The first and most important one is that due to medical issues, I have a lot of difficulty doing any sort of machining. I can manage simple soldering in many cases using "helping hands". The steps shown in the tutorial in which I would need to cut off a section of the original blade holder and in which I would need to drill and tap the hole for the blade retention screw ... I don't own the tools and even if I had access to them, I don't know that I'd be able to operate them

It looks like there might be a possibility of substituting a different piece of material for the portion which is usually cut from the original blade holder. If so, can someone tell me the length, diameters (inside and out) and any other information I would need trying to replicate it?

With regards to the blade retention thumbscrew, can anyone thing of a way to keep the blade in without having to drill this hole? If not, does anyone have any ideas on where I could inexpensively have this done for me?

If it helps matters, I live in the Northern Virginia (Washington, DC metro) area.