TOPIC: Problem with the Aeon new design ?

Hi Everyone,

First of all, forgive me if I make some mistakes, I'm french and I'm not at ease with every saber technical words in english.

I explain you my problem (I've already contacted Saberforge for it) :

I received my new Aeon saber on monday. It's a dual tone warrior with medium blue blade color.

I don't know if other customers experienced the same issue, but apparently SF have changed the design of the screws so that they are now on the opposite side of the hilt, and as you can see in the pictures, it does work very well :
The blade make an angle with the hilt !
And the more you tighten the screw, the more the blade make this weird angle. And I'm afraid to return it for another with this new screws design, (for me it's kind of weird to screw the blade whereas on the other side, the blade isn't maintained by the hilt as it is not symmetrical, if the screw hole was 3 or 4 centimetres down, it can work, but here, I don't understand how ).

Saberforge answered me that :
Does anyone experienced the same issue? And did you know that the screws of the Aeon saber will now be made on the "long" side of the hilt?

I hope that my problem will be solved, but as I live in Europe, it's not as easy to return the hilt for exchange as if I was i the usa, so I don't want to make a mistake, and I don't know if I have to replace it with another hilt. What would you do?
Does anyone have an Aeon with the screws on the same side as mine? Does it work well for you?

Thank you

I don't have any feedback to your raised queries however there may be some other Aeon Owners that will provide their own user experiences with that specific hilt.

Just a note also, all of your attached images were blank and had no content. Attempts to open also timed out. Perhaps edit your original post and re-attach them for hopeful second-time success.

Thank you OvrcAHst, I've edited my message, I think now the images are attached to my post .

The retention screws on my Aeon are on the other side compared with yours and I do not have the angled blade insertion problem. You might like to send SF an email to show them the photos and ask for advice or even to swap for a new one.

pierregloom wrote: Admittedly, it's not a hilt that I've held or handled or paid much attention to however consistent to your observations and the reply received from Customer Service..



From your image, can you confirm IF both setscrew holes are for blade retention or if just the uncircled one is (circled will therefore equal the LED retention only)?

EDIT: Have since been informed that the circled screw is for the LED.
IF it is just a single blade retention, against the relatively deep blade socket it should work well with the changed design and placement of the screws. With yours though, it looks like the blades outer diameter is still much smaller than the blade holders inner diameter and creates a gap, hence why with a seated blade and tightened produces the angling of the blade.

The only thing I'd suggest as a DIY remedy to ensure the blade secures at a more level angle (parallel to the blade holder) is to pack that inner side of the blade* with strips of either tape or masking tape to increase the blades outer diameter.

*inner side only as not to interfere with the shine through effect of the emitter windows.
Interesting.. I'd suggest you continue your exchanges with Customer Service (as you have) to explore a solution. However as you have written above (& as CS has responded), if a design change has been implemented, a replacement may just present the same observations with the exception of the angled-seated blade.

I would imagine you may be liable with inbound Duty when you received the item. Sending back is an option if you choose to explore BUT first obtain the authorisation from SFCS and they will advise the RMA protocol. Upon the return, the goods should be marked as Repair so you shouldn't have to pay Duty on it again by providing verification of the initial purchase details and first Duty paid.

One other possible solution would be to drill and tap another screw hole on the other side. The screws that SF uses are 8-32 thread, so either use that size tap to reuse the same screw or find set screws in your desired thread size at a local hardware store. That would be a cheaper alternative to shipping the saber back to SF.

OvrcAHst wrote:
I just verified, and the circled one is for the LED retention only, the LED can't be pushed deeper in the hilt, so I think this can be called a single blade retention .

My brother has got a Disciple hilt and it is also a single blade retention saber. So I imagine that every Apprentice sabers are the same.

Execute66 wrote:
Thank you Execute66, I've already sent an email to SF, and asked if it was possible, may be, to replace mine by one with the screws on the other side (like yours, and what I thought mine will be, as the images on SF's website are still the one with screws on the windowed side...).
I wait for SF answer.
And I have also seen pictures of a guy called Saber_corps on instagram who's got an Aeon too, with the screws on the same side as mine, but he does not look to have my problem...


Do you think there are different diameters of blades? Or may it just be my hilt that has a too large blade holder?

I will continue to discuss with SF before I do anything, but, even if I'm not very confident with technical saber words in English, it's cool to find people to talk to about my problem .

The screw hole doesn't need to be moved to the other side of the emitter, but it does need to be moved 15-20mm away from the tip.



Currently, there's no hilt wall on the opposite side of the retention screw - hence the tilting.

Kouri wrote:
I told it to SF in my email, I don't understand how the new design of the screws can work fine this way. If you screw with nothing on the other side of the blade, you create a kind of lever effect.

That's why I hope that somebody with an Aeon "new design", shows us if it works with his saber, because saberforge told me normaly this new design of the hilt's screws got no problem.
Kouri wrote:
I just tried to put some tape around the blade (on the very end of the blade, that goes the deeper in the blade older, and on the place the screw presses).
It works quite well, I mean the blade is maintained more parallel to the blade holder, but not perfectly, so I don't know if it solves the problem.
And I'm not very pleased to do that, I mean with such prices it's not very cool to receive a hilt that does not fits perfectly with the blade .

Hello Pierregloom,

You describe the *problems* very well. There are similar *problems* with Disciples and Acolytes where the Retention Screw is placed WAY TOO CLOSE to the end of the blade. This results in the blade forming a Lever which pivots at the lip of the emitter and creates a greater force pressing down on the Retention Screw. Because the area of contact of the Screw with the blade is so small and so close to the end of the blade, the blade gets CRIMPED and *can* crack or break completely.

I say *can* and *problems* in asterisks as not everyone suffers such issues (some people's blades fit much tighter than others etc) and when the issues with Acolytes and Disciples were brought up a while ago their design was deemed satisfactory and not a problem. However there are drawbacks in only having one Retention Screw (due to principles of Mechanics and Physics) on these models but then SF have "Cosmetic", "machining" and "cost" considerations they have to address when designing hilts.

I hope you can find a satisfactory solution to your saber situation,

For Tyeth

(p.s. I studied Physics and my father is a fully qualified mechanical engineer who taught me a few things on the subject like Mechanical Advantage. Oh and I own a Disciple and also discovered the *problem*)

The Acolyte I have is fine. But, the screw also isn't on the long end of the angle cut. And I don't duel.

The Aeon, on the other hand, is a major issue. With nothing but open air on the other side, the blade has nothing to press against. Anyone with a hilt with the retention screw drilled there will have this problem, it's simple physics. Kouri's suggestion for a new screw location would alleviate the issue just fine. The aesthetics may be a bit ruined, as the holes would then be asymmetrical in relation to the oblong oval cut, but aesthetics are secondary to function, especially for people wanting this hilt to be more than a shelf queen.

Saber Forge's customer service answered me yesterday, (I think it was tonight for you in the USA ). And that's what they told me :
That's the picture of the new drilling :

So I think may be I won't send back my hilt for exchange, I will try to find someone qualified in France, that can help me drilling another screw hole in the middle of the two I already have on my hilt.
I think it will be quicker than sending my saber, then wait for SF to drill the hilt, then wait again for another shipping to France.
But I don't know yet, I don't want to ruin or break something...

I tried to find a conversion in the metric system of the 8-32 thread used by Saber Forge (Are you sure that's this size?) and it seems to be "M4 x .07". I don't know what it means yet, I'm not used to engineering things, but I learn.

It's good that they are aware of and are willing to resolve the issue, but that return shipping from France would be prohibitive. Yes, 8-32 is the thread size. I wish you the best of luck finding someone over there who can drill the hole you need.

That finishing screw looks way out of place there. You can just keep a small Allen head screw in the top one and lock tight it so it can't be removed and it will look just like the other two not seeming out of place.

pierregloom wrote:
I think it is best to send it to SF and let them fix it. I understand you might prefer to find a local person near you to try but that will void the product warranty. Fill in the SF RMA form and attach your emails for reference. Their warranty service is very good. The form is here:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1440/9434/files/sf_rma_form_5fa899ae-81ff-4daa-95b2-3f1cebf1e8f2.pdf?16406703381553450789

All blades are manufactured with one inch diameter.