As the holcrons entry flickers to life the image is of T'zanith sitting at a large seat, his largest Tuk'ata by his side. "This entry will be on the Lightsaber, it's creation and the different forms they can take. We will begin with the very heart of the Lightsaber, It's crystal." He paused as he adjusted himself in his seat. "There are many different crystals one can use and the most standard of Lightsaber hilts allow for up to three crystals to be embedded within the hilt. Each crystal can have a different benefit and only the most numerous crystals such as those found on Illum carry not benefit other than allowing your Lightsaber to ignite.
Crystals such as the Lignan crystals allow your Lightsaber to cut through denser material faster than usual while others such as the Qixoni crystals enhance once force abilities as well as enhancing the blades power to a significant degree, however only those immersed in the force can use these."
He stopped to breathe in and then took out his own Lightsaber, it's crossguard facing away from him, he then let go of it and let it hover in the air in front of him. "With meditation and constant focus you will be able to construct your lightsaber. It is in this regard that I follow the teachings of the jedi and allow the force to guide it's construction." He said as the hilt suddenly opened up and revealed all that lay inside it, it's components fluttered about in a small orbit around the two crystals within the blade's hilt.
"In my Lightsaber for example, I made the hilt large enough to hold four crystals. Unfortunately I haven't filled it yet but currently I have a single Dantooine crystal as the main color crystal and a Lignan crystal above it, this gives the blade a black core and allows me to cut through things faster than with a normal blade. When it comes to your blade you must choose your crystals carefully as these will stay with you for as long as you hold your lightsaber... and loosing your lightsaber should only come at your own death." He spoke the final part with a grim tone and his brows furrowed a little.
Gesturing with his hand he turned the components in the air so that if the blade was on it would point directly upwards. He then began to explain what components and parts one would need for the internal components of the lightsaber along with finishing that with a simple sentence. "The hilt of your saber can be out of any material you deem is sufficient for it's purpose be it durasteel or even wood from the great trees of Kashyyyk. Your imaginaton and reason for creating the blade is truly the only limit to it's design." He said a slight smile forming as he made the hilt in front of him combine once again and then turned it on, it's large blade jutting up with two smaller guards jutting from the first blades base.
"The over all forms a Lightsaber hilt can take has been standardized into around 11 Hilt variations and they are as follows.
The Standard lightsaber hilt is simply that, a standard design consisting of a straight hilt approximately 20 to 30 centimeters long. As it is the standard make, it has no defining features other than details on individual hilts, as each weapon is often self-fabricated by the wielder and customized to suit their specifications.
Then there is the Double-bladed lightsaber also referred to as saberstaffs and Sith lightsabers. Double-bladed lightsabers consist of a single hilt that projected a blade from both ends, resulting in a deadly staff-like weapon. Most saberstaff hilts are of increased length, as they usually consist of two separate lightsabers connected at the pommels. Saberstaffs were first invented by the Sith Lords of the old Sith Empire. The first recorded usage of the weapon was by the Sith Lord Exar Kun, who obtained the schematics for the weapon from a Sith holocron, using them to modify his existing Jedi lightsaber to emit two blades instead of one.
Paired lightsabers emerged as many double-bladed lightsabers were simply two separate lightsabers joined at the pommel. This aspect was taken advantage of and the weapons were connected with a locking mechanism rather than a solid weld, allowing the two weapons to be separated for Jar'Kai dual-blade combat. Many duelists used the paired function to surprise enemies in combat, wielding it as a saberstaff before separating the weapons. Other versions of the paired lightsaber had the weapons joined by a fiber cord instead of a locking mechanism. Those linked by the fiber cords were held by the cord and flailed about, exchanging control for unpredictability.
The shoto is simply a short Lightsaber hilt, usually only holding a single crystal and is either used by species of small stature or as a secondary saber used to help in defense when nessicary, however this also gave rise to another hilt variation called the Guard shoto.
Guard shoto's also referred to as "lightsaber tonfa" are a variation on the standard short shoto lightsabers, guard shotos feature an elongated hilt with a secondary handle built angling 90 degrees out from the main hilt. They are built to be carried by the second handle, with the blade parallel to the forearm, allowing the weapon to be easily used for blocks. Due to the defensive nature of the weapon, it is recommended that the casing be machined out of lightsaber-resistant phrik alloy.
Crossguard lightsaber, this is the one I choose for myself, but I made the hilt a bit longer, more on that later, as it was and is an extremely rare variant only seen in the hands of skilled duelists, crossguard lightsabers, also known as forked lightsabers, feature a specialized hilt which emit two to three blades. One blade is the standard lightsaber blade, but the second to third are a significantly shorter and thinner blade projected by a secondary emitter next to the main at an angle. The secondary blades were used as a guard to protect the hand, and on occasion to catch attacks between it and the main blade. This allows for much more ease in disarming maneuvers but also makes some moves harder to achieve.
The Light Glub is another simple size variation of the standard hilt and is intended for species of large size and would be very unwise to use these if one is of a standard size.
Curved-hilt lightsabers are a design which features a hilt with a built in curve. This is usually done to allow the hilt to fit better into one's palm, facilitating the use of one-handed fighting styles such as Makashi, or to provide variable blade angles to confuse opponents. Again like with Gross guard Lightsabers this allows some maneuvers to be made with ease while making others a bit harder to achieve.
Long-handle lightsaber are built to cater to specific fighting styles, long-handle lightsabers feature a lengthened handle that provides the duelist with more surface area to place his hands, and providing more leverage for attacks. The length of long-handled lightsabers varies considerably, with some examples, such as the weapon of Warb Null simply being double the length of standard hilts, and others, such as Darth Nihl's weapon, being staffs with a lightsaber blade on the end.
Lightsaber pikes resemble pole-arms in many respects, lightsaber pikes feature extremely long handles, up to two meters long, with a somewhat shorter and thicker lightsaber blade. The handle is machined from phrik alloy to prevent it from being cut in two, as the purpose of the weapon was to provide increased range in close combat.
The sabercane is a simple variation on the standard; a lightsaber concealed as the head of a cane. In combat, the handle would be detached from the body of the cane and wielded normally."
He stopped and breathed, a little long winded after such a lengthy explanation. Next to him the Tuk'ata whined a little at him and he leaned his hand over and scratched it behind it's ear as he moved his Lightsaber back into his hand and put it away.
"As I've now explained what a lightsaber is made of, how to make it and the crystals one can place into it as well as the variations a hilt can take I only have one final advice to give to you and that is simple. Let the force guide you in it's creation, open yourself to it as you make it and it shall be made to fit you." He then said as he waved his hand and turned off the holocron, ending this entry.
