Star Wars has become a formidable empire, a franchise that has built a cult following for itself, full of loyal and enthusiastic fans. One of the things the saga is most well-known for is the sheer size of its expanded material that contains everything from bonus readings, books, comics, toys, and cartoons. But if there is one thing that we can say for certain has become a trademark for everything that Star Wars has to offer, that’s the lightsaber. And, all this time, one of the fans’ biggest desires has been the ability to create a real life lightsaber.
So, why haven’t we? We seem to be on our merry way to bring the hoverboard into real life, what’s keeping the lightsaber from becoming a proper reality? For starters, the fact that it’s incredibly dangerous might have something to do with it. A real life lightsaber would essentially mean a long beam of light with laser properties that is sturdy enough to be able to clash against other lightsabers.
Practically speaking, this isn’t something easy to achieve. The biggest issue that those who have attempted to build a real life lightsaber had encountered was the lack of control to the length of the beam, as well as the solidifying of the light particle. Some people, however, found a groundbreaking formula and they’ve managed to give us some prototypes that are the closest thing to a real life lightsaber we will ever get to.
#1 SufficientlyAdvanced
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-xHso660tA]
If you go to his YouTube channel description, you will notice that his premise is “I make pretend things into real things.” A man by the name Allen managed to make the incredible discovery that a real life lightsaber might not be, after all, such a far-fetched dream.
Using nichrome ignition to bring out the light beam, he ignited a methanol and acetone mixture in order to give us a thin, seemingly well-kept under control blue string of light. It’s definitely not thick enough to be called a proper sword and it can’t really hold its ground in a battle, but it can cause some proper damage, as demonstrated by the slashed balloons and burned Jar Jar Binks photo in the video.
#2 Yoda
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7ImIzJJGEA]
No, it’s not the real Yoda, but it’s all a little bit poetic when you think about it. This is the nickname assumed by Michael Murphy, a Star Wars enthusiast who has made it his life’s biggest goal to build the perfect real life lightsaber replica.
To create his version, Murphy didn’t just work on the functionality of the saber alone, detailing the exterior to the smallest of aspects. The most impressive thing is that he managed to pick up on one fundamental part of Star Wars lore – the fact that the lightsabers are powered by tiny crystals inside of them. Murphy’s gorgeous real life lightsaber is up on eBay for a price ranging somewhere in a few ten thousands of dollars.
#3 styropyro
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c__TcJAge6Y]
The styropyro YouTube channel is all about lasers and powerful beams. Given how he’s already incorporated them in some other kinds of weapons, guns included, it was almost expected for him to tackle down the possibility of making a real life lightsaber.
Inspired by the aforementioned Allen (SufficientlyAdvanced), our inventor added his own twist to the lightsaber by focusing more on the use of laser as opposed to setting substances on fire. There are several downsides, however, such as the fact that you can’t look at the beam directly and that the length can’t be controlled (yet).
#4 BeatTheBush
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE1Rwmg6EEM]
It’s strange that a DIY channel that mostly focuses on travel and cooking would come forth with an idea for a real life lightsaber, but it seems like it truly happened. This is one of the best uses of the word “prototype” we could come up with. It does look really cool, but it has a way to go before it can shape up into a final project.
Resembling a lightdagger rather than a lightsaber, the potential of this beam sword is, however, undeniable. It has a practical and easy to use handle, it looks like it has the possibility to flesh out the most believable ray of light, and all that it needs is a little bit more extra length to it.
#5 sethioz
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQuJrvL3hlo]
At the bottom of the list we have the lightsaber that has the most way to go until we can call it a success. Unlike the other entries on this list, the laser beam isn’t even visible to the naked eye, though it is able to burn through a paper.
Needless to say, it’s something that we haven’t managed to turn into a reality for the past several decades. It’s certainly not a project can materialize over the night, so it’s important that we look at the small steps and appreciate all of the achievements so far. We wish sethioz good luck and to continue development!