So here's some in progress / pseudo tutorial pics for the blade plugs (still working on the mods, so my arsenal isn't available for vanity shots just yet). All pics should link to a larger version.
These are the bits of the blades (all heavy grade) that I had left over after trimming the 36" blades down to 32". In both of these shots you can still see the film inside of the blade sections.
Using an exacto knife, I /carefully/ cut out the glue and removed the film. The blades pieces got a little scuffed doing this, but since they're destined to be plugs, this isn't a big deal. The film isn't necessary, since you won't be seeing the blade itself once these are done.
Each piece is 4" long or so. The mean average depth of each of my hilts (Aeon v2, Dominix v2, Dark Initiate v2 and v3, Dark Standard Issue v2) is about 2", so I measured off the halfway mark on each of these before cutting. Accuracy isn't 100% critical, since these will be trimmed down further later on so that they sit nicely in the hilts.
These are the PVC pipe cutters I used to shorten my blades, and I will be using to make the plug segments. I'm not sure about midgrade blades, but heavy grade blades are TOUGH to cut, it's no wonder they take so much abuse.
Here's the trimmed segments for making the plugs, each is (roughly) 2". The other photo is a bunch of sink aerators and parts. I had a bunch laying around (I've moved a lot and replaced several of these, not sure why I kept them, but it turned out to be handy). You can find them at any hardware store and they run $2-$10 a piece, depending on how fancy, ect.
Here's a side and top view of the assembled plugs. The second and third are made from UltraEdge Heavy Grade blade stock. The rest are just Heavy Grade.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth ones have a volume of hot glue in them (about 1/2"), the last one hasn't cooled all the way, but it will be cloudy when it does, like the other two. This helps with light diffusion so that the beam coming out isn't just super bright. Whether you need to do this will vary from aerator to aerator, you'll just need to check them in a hilt to see how much light passes.
I used hot glue to assemble these, remember that a little can go a LONG way, and mind the strings of doom. Also, you don't necessary have to put these on the end of the blade pieces as they are assembled for use on the sink. The second one is, essentially, inside out. I thought it looked more interesting this way.
These now all need to be trimmed some (how much really depends on the hilt, and how much of the side of the aerator you want showing), but that's easy. When I've finished modding my other sabers, I'll throw these all in and get some vanity shots so folks can see them lit up.
