Care and construction of your Cheese Sabre

Note: You can view the pictures larger by cicking on the thumbnails

The laser sword, or `Cheese sabre' is the weapon of choice for the budding padawan. Not necessarily because of any superiority over blasters or other ranged weapons, but because it can be acquired easily through bars, taverns and other drinking establishments for under 120 republic credits. (Some Laser swords are family heirlooms and passed from parent to child, but are rare as Cheddar monks do not make good parents) It is also easily concealable beneath cloaks, easy to handle and suitable for close quarter combat in confined or crowded spaces. It is important to know the components of the cheese sabre in order to properly field strip and clean it. For the Cheddar monk who wishes to construct their own weapon from scratch as it were, Watch for our up coming video on Detailed construction.

The over all design of your weapon will be determined by personal preference, required components, and the unique anatomy of the individual wielding it. For the beginner, it is best to keep it simple with a grip that is light weight and comfortable to handle. Controls consist of a power switch, and field adjustment knob, The wise padawan will also include an auto off switch in case it is dropped or knocked from your hand while training.

The internal layout and components as shown in the diagram to the right are relatively standard however there is some `wiggle room' for customization such as the type of primary crystal and power source used. The type of crystal in conjunction with the shroud field limiter will also determine the colour of the blade, handy for quick identification of friends and foe in the heat of battle.

The two primary tasks in care of your laser sword are to ensure a full charge on the power cell at all times, and to keep the crystal and lenses clean. Most power cells recharge from a standard #IX Lythos socket (found on most droids, spaceships, and hotel rooms) Recharge your weapon when ever you have some quiet time between conflicts and negotiations. There is nothing more embarrassing, and less intimidating than a flaccid blade in the field of battle.

Cleaning the crystal and lenses requires a little more care. ensuring your hands a clean, and preferably wearing a natural fibre gloves, remove the crystal assembly and lens and lay them out neatly on a clean soft surface to prevent them from getting scratched. Polish each using a soft chamoises and solvent such as an 80% alcohol solution. Return the lenses and crystal to the case in the reverse order they were removed.

Building your own sword
(Warning the following section contains techno-babble)

For my Laser sword, I started with a cold-rolled Klaranthite casing with beryllium end cap. This is a dense material which allows the laser sword to be used as a bludgeon when aggressive negotiations are in order, but dismemberment is not desired. This material can be difficult to work with, because of both it's density and that it is only available in 2.5m lengths, but the extra security in knowing that the internal parts are well protected is worth the time and effort to do the job right.

Here you can see all the components laid out ready for assembly. Various parts were salvaged from flea markets, recycling centres, and Junk yards (Word of caution, Many junkyards are owned by mad mekkaniks who will just as soon chase you out as sell you parts. Try using your cheddar monk Negotiation skills, failing that, offer to buy them a beer and curry). The components labelled in the picture were all acquired for 21 credits, and about 6 days of hunting and scrounging. As mentioned I used a Klaranthite casing. The power cell was a Shargo 8-Alpha-3 with Dichromium hyposillium metahexaline core and Nea-Klymer copper based cold cathode ion source. I wired two of these in series to get sufficient power to drive the crystal resonance circuits.
The RetiQlum 2 phase resonating crystal then fed into a Uniphase firehawk Gaussian Beam collimator which combined the crystal output and fed it through the focal lenses (taken from a Soro-Suub imager found on the scrap heap) The Illiway optically coupled beam conductor wave guide then brings the raw power up to the emitter through the middle of the Rogue 1.9.71 cyclic field confinement coil which generates the limiting field that confines the actual laser energy.
At each stage it is important to test the components at low power settings both individually and in conjunction as they are assembled. the picture to the right shows me testing the wave guide at low power to ensure there is no leakage of energy which could be both fatal and messy if failure occurred at full power. Also While testing, ensure that components are pointed away from you. (If something goes wrong, you can always find a new friend)


The final step was to add a DR66 Ominous hum generator this gives your weapon a distinctive sound that will instill fear and respect in your enemies, and any detailing such as cooling fins, suregrip™ strips, belt clips or oot-rattail wrist strap to keep you from loosing it as you fly around the galaxy.

Once finished, you have a weapon that you can be proud of.