How a light saber works

[missioncontrol]

http://www.howstuffworks.com/lightsaber.htm

[Sephroth57]

i want to buy this http://store.yahoo.com/tisinc99/sw12307560.html

lol

[Howard_Casto]

A little bit of useless trivia (that I can't beleive the creator of that article left out). 

The primary crystal is obtained from a cave underneath a sacred jedi temple.  The crystals grow in several colors and the color of the crystal used determines the color of the beam. 

Sith obviously don't get their crystals from this cave and because of this, their blades are almost always red. 

Excuse me while I go hike up my pants, put on a pair of glasses, and snort laugh for 20 minutes.   

[walls83]

The Sith Crystals are Synthetic that's why they are red.

[JB]

Man, this article's a blast to read.

"A lightsaber can help convince an assailant that no means no."

[danny_galaga]

this doesnt really ring true:

"The crystal energy chamber is the reason why all lightsabers are built by hand, and then only in the latter stages of Jedi training. The builder must align the crystals perfectly or risk detonation of the lightsaber upon activation. Only through the use of the Force can the proper alignment be guaranteed.

With several megawatt-hours of energy on tap, detonation is of course a catastrophic event. For this reason, initial activation is normally done remotely with an inexpensive droid. "

if you were a jedi knight and youd just built it, you would KNOW it was going to work, there'd be no need to test it!

[AlanS17]

The Sith Crystals are Synthetic that's why they are red.

If it's so easy to make a synthetic crystal that can go toe-to-toe with a Jedi's lightsaber, why doesn't everyone have one? 

[JB]

this doesnt really ring true:

"The crystal energy chamber is the reason why all lightsabers are built by hand, and then only in the latter stages of Jedi training. The builder must align the crystals perfectly or risk detonation of the lightsaber upon activation. Only through the use of the Force can the proper alignment be guaranteed.

With several megawatt-hours of energy on tap, detonation is of course a catastrophic event. For this reason, initial activation is normally done remotely with an inexpensive droid. "

if you were a jedi knight and youd just built it, you would KNOW it was going to work, there'd be no need to test it!

They're still human(mon calamari, hutt-ese, whatever). They can make mistakes. Especially as they're somewhat inexperienced at this point.

[Otraotaku]

Dont forget it took Luke Many, many,many  days to construct his saber from Obi-wans teachings... ^.< either Luke wasnt as talented as his father as a Mechanic, or Obi-wans Diagrams and handwriting were Transdoshian Scratch... ^.<

 

[Apollo]

The Sith Crystals are Synthetic that's why they are red.

If it's so easy to make a synthetic crystal that can go toe-to-toe with a Jedi's lightsaber, why doesn't everyone have one?

[Generic Eric]

Nobody except a jedi or sith can use them effectively as they are so dangerous. Anyone who is not in tune with the force would just end up hurting themselves.

You mean like the jedi kid that was on that video?   He tripped over himself several times, he hurt himself trying to be a jedi huh?

[ChadTower]

The primary crystal is obtained from a cave underneath a sacred jedi temple.

[Otraotaku]

Nobody except a jedi or sith can use them effectively as they are so dangerous. Anyone who is not in tune with the force would just end up hurting themselves.

Youve never heard of that one non-Force Sensitive Human with the Obsession of crafting Lightsabers and a great Duelist?... wheres that guys name again... grrrr...

[Otraotaku]

I cant find it... but Once a Sword, is still only a sword... the beam is only dangerous if it hits you.. ^.<   lol

[xar256]

i want to buy this http://store.yahoo.com/tisinc99/sw12307560.html

lol

Why not BYO? 

http://www.jedi-academy.com/lightsabermain.html

Xar256

[Apollo]

I cant find it... but Once a Sword, is still only a sword... the beam is only dangerous if it hits you.. ^.<   lol

You can't deflect blaster fire with a normal sword silly. To be a fully effective weapon (offense & defense) you need to use the force, otherwise you would be far better off with a blaster. That's why only jedi use them.

[markrvp]

I love Star Wars, but you guys are scary 

[danny_galaga]

i want to buy this http://store.yahoo.com/tisinc99/sw12307560.html

lol

Why not BYO?

[missioncontrol]

Nobody except a jedi or sith can use them effectively as they are so dangerous. Anyone who is not in tune with the force would just end up hurting themselves.

You mean like the jedi kid that was on that video?

[xar256]

Why not BYO?

[missioncontrol]

Try this one:
Big Yellow Box

Hit "Choose a Sabre to build" from the lower lefft hand box.

[jbox]

if you were a jedi knight and youd just built it, you would KNOW it was going to work, there'd be no need to test it!

Which is a great way to lose an arm during LS practice...   On the plus side, she then went on to become Queen of an entire empire, so I guess there is a bright side to everything!

And the crystal requirement tends to vary depending upon which source you are quoting. Thus it seems most likely to me that the main requirement is that the gem be really, really perfect in quality. Since perfect symmetry is generally rare, this no doubt led to all kinds of stories about where the best gems could be found. As for only a Jedi being able to create them, I doubt anyone except perhaps Kuat would have the technology to align a crystal against an energy beam down to the micron level in a clean room environment. Hence the requirement for a Jedi to be able to enter an advanced level of meditation in order to be able to align the crystal so cleanly and perfectly.

Just to muddy the waters even further, some Jedi also constructed their LS to have the activation switch *inside*, essentially restricting its use to Jedi only in a rather irritating fashion. But for non-Jedi a vibro-blade is a far more effective weapon anyway.

[JB]

Just to muddy the waters even further, some Jedi also constructed their LS to have the activation switch *inside*, essentially restricting its use to Jedi only in a rather irritating fashion. But for non-Jedi a vibro-blade is a far more effective weapon anyway.

But if you include a switch to cut off the blade effect...
It's a surprise handcannon.
That's ALWAYS useful.

[dphirschler]

Which is a great way to lose an arm during LS practice...

Jedi (and Sith) are always losing arms.  Half of them have robotic arms by now anyways.


Darryl

[jbox]

Jedi (and Sith) are always losing arms.  Half of them have robotic arms by now anyways.

Then why did the Emperor Panic so much if Luke was Mostly Armless? 

(Thank you, don't forget to try the fish!)

[knuttz]

i want to buy this http://store.yahoo.com/tisinc99/sw12307560.html

lol

Why not BYO? 

http://www.jedi-academy.com/lightsabermain.html

Xar256

what a crap sight. it doesnt tell you how to build your own at all. even where theres a hint it just says 'take these plans to a machinist'. thats not building your own!!

Actually I thought that site was very helpful.  Check out Vader's section.  It told me that Darth Vader's saber was really a MPP Microflash Tube (whatever that is).  A quick search on ebay turned up this....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=37887&item=6533135722&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW#ebayphotohosting

and this...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=154&item=5199311795&rd=1

So if you want to make a true to life lightsaber and don't mind spending major coin then that site is useful.

P.S. somebody show me how to shorten URL's

[ChadTower]

I don't get it, what exactly is a microflash tube?

[TOK]

Hokey religions and and ancient weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side!

[knuttz]

I don't get it, what exactly is a microflash tube?

According to the first site xar256 posted, it was what the real Star Wars  propmakers used for Darth Vader's light saber.  I was hoping someone would tell me what they really are used for.

[ChadTower]

Hokey religions and and ancient weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side!

How do they work with virtua cop?  Is it responsive?

[ChadTower]

According to the first site xar256 posted, it was what the real Star Wars

[xar256]

I don't get it, what exactly is a microflash tube?

It's just one of those old handheld flash units for cameras...You'll see larger units similar to it<usually on tripods> at most professional photography shops.

[ChadTower]

so, uh, why would you need one of those to build a light saber?  I'm missing something here, unless it's just a coincidentally similar looking object.

[xar256]

so, uh, why would you need one of those to build a light saber?

[ChadTower]

So I'm not missing anything, it has nothing at all to do with the fact that it produces light, just that it looks like a light saber handle.

[TOK]

Hokey religions and and ancient weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side!

How do they work with virtua cop?  Is it responsive?

Yes, its quite amazing. Unfortuantely it only works once.

Not only that, about 15 minutes after you try it, the REAL cops show up.

[JB]

So I'm not missing anything, it has nothing at all to do with the fact that it produces light, just that it looks like a light saber handle.

Right.
In reality, it IS a lightsaber handle. They attached mailing tubes with reflective tape to the end, and shined a spotlight on the mailing tubes to generate the "blades".

In Return of the Jedi they airbrushed the blades after filming to add more color to them.

[daywane]

Hokey religions and and ancient weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side!

How do they work with virtua cop?