Bakster
I think that some of wrangling I did made the holes a little out of round. Dang soft plastic! Not much I can do. I might have to reposition the optic so that the stress pulls that tip towards the center more.
Remember this? Guess what happened when I tried to reposition the filament? It went, SNAP!
I thought... Ok, I will fix that. I then move to the other filament and try the same. SNAP! What the... this wasn't a fluke.
I learned something here. Though the filaments are flexible, they are also pretty brittle. The filaments are packed in there pretty well and apparently the stress is more than they like.
So now what? My first thought was to carefully thread them again and live with however they position themselves. But--what will happen over time? Will they eventually fail all on their own? I think that there is a high likelihood for that. That won't do. It was Timmys comment about altering the tips that got me thinking. It reminded me that through the use of heat you can alter the filaments.
Below is what I had decided to do. Using a solder iron I heated the filament while applying pressure to it. The heat softens the filament allowing you the ability to create a right angle. Go slow, allowing the heat to do it's work. Too much pressure too quickly can cause the filament to kink.
Below: The filaments are fitted, polished, and then inserted from the inside out. I then used epoxy to secure them in place. With the filaments shaped to right angles, the tension has been eliminated. Hopefully, this solves the problem.
A few things to note:
1. There are plus and minuses to what I did. Light travels through the filament Ok, but... it is not as clean as before. The bend seems to create shadows at it's output. It's pretty minimal but if I had a choice, I would not bend the filament. In my case, because of the tight space, I have no choice.
2. I experimented with heating the ends to create a dome shape. I found that if you ignite an end using a lighter--let it flame for about two seconds--then blow it out--you can create a dome. The dome is created as the plastic contracts onto itself. Now... here is the bad news. Doing this creates inclusions. Worse than that though--the domed shape severely affects the light output.
3. You can also expand the diameter of the filament through the use of heat. The filament will contract onto itself lengthwise, whilst the diameter expands. Here again--it messes with the light output some.
4. Heating the filaments as I did caused them to expand some. I had to re-drill the holes in the conning tower to accommodate them. This was a blessing because it allowed me to bring their shape back to a full circle.
5. Using epoxy from the back side caused epoxy to migrate into any gaps. This gives it a tighter appearance.
My final thoughts: From what I have observed--you are best served to leave the filaments in their pristine form. Altering the original cast seems to affect it's functionality.
So--this assembly is pretty much done. It had better be. Too much time has been spent on this. I will probably add a little more epoxy to make sure that nothing gives--and then apply some black paint to block any stray light.