Did somebody say... lightsaber?

[Spaceception]

With the release of "The Hacksmith's" video about his lightsaber, I decided to make this post

Here's the first one;

And here's an old livestream;

Yes, yes, I know Star Wars is more akin to science fantasy, but someone actually built a functioning lightsaber! Or a protosaber anyway. Just have some fun

[insert_name]

I wouldn't call this a lightsaber, just some hot metal

[Scotius]

An "real" is just some hot (very hot) gas. Small steps, young padawan...

[Mayer]

For real, if someone made a plasma sword it would be unbearably hot in its surrounding. And melee weapons, especially larger ones don't belong on modern battlefields. Maybe you can find a miraculous solution for the heat problem or create a low-temperature plasma but it will still be useless because of projectile weapons.

[DDE]

An alternative design I’ve seen proposed is a hand-held linac that uses a superconducting fire to make particle beams run in circles.

Probably still suicide.

Also, nice timing, right near release of Ep VII. Hm...

Edited December 8, 2017 by DDE

[peadar1987]

4 hours ago, Mayer said:

For real, if someone made a plasma sword it would be unbearably hot in its surrounding. And melee weapons, especially larger ones don't belong on modern battlefields. Maybe you can find a miraculous solution for the heat problem or create a low-temperature plasma but it will still be useless because of projectile weapons.

Indeed. To make Lightsabres relevant, Star Wars had to make most of the main players Space Wizards capable of reacting quickly enough to parry a blaster bolt

[magnemoe]

1 hour ago, peadar1987 said:

Indeed. To make Lightsabres relevant, Star Wars had to make most of the main players Space Wizards capable of reacting quickly enough to parry a blaster bolt

True, it would make an nice bajonett however, perfect for forced entry and dealing with both structure and armor. 
An force shield would be better anyway, kind of the rolling robots at the start of episode 4. 
Now if three or more guns fire at once you could not deflect them all with one light saber, how hard would it be to get robots fire in an synchronized volley. If you would be fighting lots of jedi an three barrel weapon with 7 cm between barrels would work, make the beams weak so it would not penetrate the armor you wear, or just use an shield. 

[NSEP]

I always thought lightsabers where lasers, but the fact that the light stops at one point made it seem unlikely. Hot metal is also unlikely since you can put one in your pocket and activate one at any moment. And hot gas/plasma peobably needs some magnetic frame to hold it together and that would prevent you from cutting.

Edited December 8, 2017 by NSEP

[Scotius]

Yes. Weapon hot enough to cut easily through a plate of solid metal, in the first place would ignite its wielder. If you can create plasma that hot and intense AND you can keep it in such tight containment, well... you would be better off building a plasma blaster. Oh well - nobody watches Star Wars movies for their realism and faithful depiction of laws of physics

[StrandedonEarth]

While incredible energy density and future space flight go hand-in-hand, being able to melt a blast door fairly quickly requires a stupendous amount of energy to be packed into that lightsaber handle. Oh wait, (waves hand) “the crystal is channeling the Force to up the power output. Also, these are not droids you’re looking for”

Also, the relevant xkcd hasn’t been posted here yet?

 

Edited December 8, 2017 by StrandedonEarth

[DDE]

4 hours ago, NSEP said:

I always thought lightsabers where lasers, but the fact that the light stops at one point made it seem unlikely. Hot metal is also unlikely since you can put one in your pocket and activate one at any moment. And hot gas/plasma peobably needs some magnetic frame to hold it together and that would prevent you from cutting.

Canonically they're plasma bottles with enough internal cycling to produce the inertia of a metal sword trough gyroscopic effects.

[kerbiloid]

Becoming a Sith

Spoiler

 

[magnemoe]

3 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

While incredible energy density and future space flight go hand-in-hand, being able to melt a blast door fairly quickly requires a stupendous amount of energy to be packed into that lightsaber handle. Oh wait, (waves hand) “the crystal is channeling the Force to up the power output. Also, these are not droids you’re looking for”

Also, the relevant xkcd hasn’t been posted here yet?

 

You would want an dial to select length, always feature creep
From indoor fighting or as an tool up to using it as an ranged weapon like an machine gun. 
 

[DAL59]

11 hours ago, DDE said:

Ep VII

VIII.  Unless your ignoring one of the prequels, which is fine.  

[StrandedonEarth]

4 hours ago, magnemoe said:

You would want an dial to select length, always feature creep
From indoor fighting or as an tool up to using it as an ranged weapon like an machine gun. 
 

In the first Star Wars novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, Luke was able to adjust his lightsaber down to short and thin, good for jimmying doors. He was also able to charge it from a blaster power pack.

[Mayer]

12 hours ago, Scotius said:

Oh well - nobody watches Star Wars movies for their realism and faithful depiction of laws of physics

I watched  Star Wars when it had a interesting story and state-of-the-art special effects to heighten the tension, but nowadays i am sick of it.

Ep.V was the pinnacle of the series.

[XLjedi]

Pffft... lightsabers...

This is KSP!!!  ...we have jets and rockets!

Now just stow that lightsaber talk!!

[0111narwhalz]

3 hours ago, XLjedi said:

Pffft... lightsabers...

This is KSP!!!  ...we have jets and rockets!

Now just stow that lightsaber talk!!

He says, his avatar wielding a lightsaber.

[XLjedi]

 

<---  that BTW, is a picture of Jeb installing fluorescent blue-glow ground effects on his latest SSTO!

Pffft...  lighsabers...

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by XLjedi
my humor is totally lost on this forum

[cfds]

23 hours ago, magnemoe said:

An force shield would be better anyway, kind of the rolling robots at the start of episode 4.

The is a funny rant somewhere on youtube that the only ones using force shields are

- the trade federation in one single droid model
- the bloddy Gungans...

[DDE]

1 hour ago, cfds said:

The is a funny rant somewhere on youtube that the only ones using force shields are

- the trade federation in one single droid model
- the bloddy Gungans...

That's because the prequels could afford the special effects. Normally they're supposed to be less overt or downright unnoticeable. That's how the Falcon survives ship-to-ship turbolaser hits without external damage.

11 hours ago, XLjedi said:

Now just stow that lightsaber talk!!

Yes, Xenos.

[YNM]

How to use your lightsaber

 

Forging your lightsaber

 

(yt won't bloody show a fag, dammit.)

Edited December 9, 2017 by YNM

[PB666]

1 hour ago, YNM said:

How to use your lightsaber

 

Forging your lightsaber

 

(yt won't bloody show a fag, dammit.)

[Face palm] Star wars people.

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by PB666

[Green Baron]

21 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Becoming a Smith

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Correction mine. And now we have a faintly glowing connection to (medieval) science

Edited December 9, 2017 by Green Baron

[Scotius]

Well, at least he is hammering his would-be sword on an anvil. And not pouring it molten into the mould - like Hollywood loves to depict swordmaking *shudders*