I wanted to start a new thread for this. Given the limited tools I have, and money, scratchbuilding this saber was a fool's dream. ( I'd need a bit of luck, a bit more talent and such) So I did end up going the replica part route.
Today I finished the transistors. It took a couple days, some new grinding bits, a router bit, and some balls. The inside of a transistor or amplifier is incredibly dense - regular drill bits bounce right off. I used the blue tile/concrete grinding bits to start. Once I got most of a cone drilled, I started with a straight router bit with two flutes, which did some decent damage. I thus resorted to a tiny cylindrical diamond cutter as well, going back and forth between the three until a little puff of smoke told me I'd hit the last of the transistor's guts around the rim.
Look at the third pic above. The area I drilled out isn't as deep as the outside of the transistor. I had already hit metal, this is what I mean by the component having a thicker top. <This is wrong, I later found out that was the plate/chip inside and I COULD drill further>
It was hard finding the right screw. I used DC amplifiers I think, which have a lower clearance. The socket heads were too high and i couldn't find another slotted brass of this kind. So, I found another soft metal lamp screw.
I took a dark brown/brass lamp screw (the ones with the flat smooth tops and tiny cuts along the rim) and ground it down to fit. This took a surprisingly long time. I stuck it in a drill press and pressed an orange grinding wheel to it with my hand (I broke all the pink ones). I soon found that a nice long solid metal file worked better. It was also safer, as you can see, the grinding wheel was a bit too close. I only got nicked a couple times.
I flattened/thinned the top and filed the sides until it slid in.
Then I cleaned the two with alcohol, put a drop of Loctite epoxy in the transistor and set the screw in to dry. Keep an eye on yours when you do this, they tend to tip sideways and dry crooked. Thankfully, the first dried only slightly crooked and the second I caught while the glue was gummy and I corrected it.
Set in Roman's beautiful washers and spacer
I have a weathered grenade coming from him soon. Maybe I'll upgrade my booster from the resin one I have...
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