I ended up with 2 of these recently. One that was untouched (hasn't arrived but should be here any day now) and one that already had a 1" blade hole machined into the blade holder. When they machined it they made a 7/8th adapter and after looking at it I realized I had enough space to put the LED in the emitter and with the help of the adapters I could have a good sturdy blade holder. I realize others have done this but this is how I did it.
First I decided to bore out the blade holder a little more so I could make a 1" adapter as well as the 7/8th" adapter. I also machined a little deeper than what was already cut so I could get as much room as possible.
The way I plan on it working is to have 4 small 4-40 set screws in the 7/8th adapter to secure the blade in it and then slide the blade holder with blade into the emitter and it will be locked down with the existing set screw. I will dimple the blade adapter where the set screw is to secure it. This will keep the blade in there for any dueling anyone would want to do.
For the 1" blade adapter I will just drill a hole through it since its so thin. The set screw will go through it and secure the blade. It should be fine but the set screw (was already there) is a little low on the blade so the blade may need to be glued into the adapter. Not a big deal as a blade could be purchased specifically for the saber etc.
both of the blade adapters and the blade plug have recesses in them that secure the LED in place. It shouldn't go anywhere but its just added insurance. They also have a built in blade stop to protect the lens.
alright enough typing here are some pics. I will post more and explain what I am doing when I move onto the other parts of the saber. I am not going to go crazy with it because its just getting a CS but it will be a nice saber.
First I stripped the saber and will do my own worn weathered look that I like to do on all my V2s.
Next I drilled out the blade holder to 3/8th and made a copper heatsink for it. I made it slight oversize so I could press fit it in there...
Here are pics of that
click all pics to see larger pics.
and here is a pic of the LED in place
Here is a pic of the top of the blade adapters and plug which shows the blade stop
and here is a pic of the bottom of them showing the recess for the LED lens
Here are 2 pics of the blade plug in place
Here are 2 pics of the 7/8th" blade adapter
and finally 2 pics of the 1" blade adapter
I hope to have more time this week.