Alright, so this is going to be my project that I work on while on my study breaks for the next few weeks, and I've got a really big update.
First, I didn't like the direction I was going initially. 2 batteries just barely fit, and didn't really fit in a structurally secure way. Since then, the 3.7v mod has become very common on builds, and with a single battery, I believe I will be very happy with the rigidity of the build, and I will be able to up the capacity of the cell. I can fit a single 17500. a 18500 would be pushing it, but if I was comfortable with really thin walls, a 18350 just might fit. I'll be sticking with a 17500 though.
I purchased 3 hilts initially in case this exact thing happened. I had to be sure I could get 2 perfect ones, and for that, I wanted to take the pressure off by having a spare saber. This gives me the freedom to change my mind about where I'm boring out the pommel (it will now be bored from the top of the "power cell" rather than the bottom), and little stuff like that.
Second, there was always the issue of the claws. I tried and tried to get a set waterjetted (goodman was going to have a set made up from a guy he knew, but I haven't heard from him in almost a year), but I could never find a place to do it. So, it was going to come down to making them completely from scratch and totally by hand. In the end, I gave in and did them. And let me tell you, I'm glad I did.
To refresh everyone's memory on this, a stock (accurate) claw cannot accept a blade. It comes almost halfway up the emitter, so it would totally block any type of blade. Bending the stock claw is impossible (not that it would produce good results anyway) as it just snaps when it would hit the bending point. So, the first and most important step for a successful conversion of this hilt is to make a completely new claw.
Now, since I didn't have a 3d model of this hilt on hand, I couldn't really make the claw so it just fit the blade. I would have had to make quite a few of them to get it just off of the blade, but I didn't feel it was worth 20 hours of work just to get 3/16" closer to the blade with the tip of the claw. It looks just fine to me as it is.
So, I traced the stock claw for the contour with pencil, and then shifted the claw so the front was out of the way, and sketched that section separately, then blended them together to come up with the final shape.
this one shows how the blade will fit in relation to the claw. The hilt is not "assembled" so it may be skewed in other pictures.
This shows approximately what the final finish of the new claws will be. It matches the chrome very nicely.
That's all there is for now, but just so everyone knows how hard it was to make these claws, I had to use a mill to thin the stock, a bandsaw to rough cut it out, a belt sander to rough shape it, a mini pneumatic rotary sander and dynafile to finish shape it, some triangle files for the cutout in the claw, and then finish it with sandpaper and a buffing wheel. I had to make 3 claws as one came out a little thin, but the two "final" ones are perfect IMO. I'd give them a 9.5/10. Each one took around 4 hours of shaping and so far, I've spent about 3 hours finishing, and I'm only about 1/3rd done finishing the first claw.
I have to order a 3" x 3/16" endmill and something close to a 51/64" endmill (closest I can get to .790", but above). Other than that, a piece of machinable polycarb or acrylic (for the switch plungers), mini 2w speakers, and the new batteries, I have everything I need to finish these up.
EDIT: I also want to make it clear, I am not just dusting these off because of the korbanth run. I did not have the same skills at freehanding stuff when I started these as I do now. As a result, I was absolutely not going to make the claws by hand. Since then, however, I've gotten dramatically better at freehanding parts, and I think that shows here. I've been meaning to pick these up since before the duke run was announced (probably about a month before), but unfortunately, have been too busy with commissions and school to do it. Well, now I'm finally ready to dust them off, and the timing just happens to coincide with the run.