The plasma method is the most ahievable with current technological and scientific knowledge. There are still some major barriers such as th epower supply and the heat bleeding out from the blade (you want to have your hand next to something at a few hundred thousand degrees C???) there is also the problem of producing an electromagntic field of the right shape. size and strength to contain the plasma. The biggest problem for using it would be interference from anything magnetic or electrical (no more using it to cut through steel doors) on the plus side modern plasa physicists have used plasma to scatter laser light (electrons absorbing and releaseing photons) which means you could also deflect all those nasty balster shots.

As every physist i know is a fan of starwars, why are we investing in other research when we could start an international collaberation to build a functioning light saber!!!!!! lol

If yo don't believe that a lightsaber can be made, e-mail me at to recieve schematics (free), and explanation for said schematics.

[edit on 15-12-2005 by asala]

good to see a lightsaber thread again! these are the best cause all you can do is debate, no deffinet awnser. + lightsabers totaly own.

realy, i think some people are missing the point, its not a LIGHTsaber. its a lightsaber. if this was made with light, it probobly wouldent function as a real lightsaber (not least because two of them would go through eachother, and reflect off of mirrors) the clossest thing to a 'real' lightsaber that we have now is a plasma torch, but if you manipulated the plasma just right, and had powersorce, its not THAT imposible. just not-at-this-moment imposible.

also, and this is a bit off topic, but EVERY lightsaber thread on this whole site mentions monofiliment blades (or whatever they called) or mention something that 'would work the same, just not look as cool' and' can be made now, its not that hard'. Can somone PLEASE enlighten me as to this whatever-it-is that works just as well? i mean, lightsabers look cool and all, but hell, if you can have something that works half as well, il take it!

Originally posted by Pisky
The problem is getting a beam focussed tightly enough to be able to cut through things. A bog standard laser designed to read bar codes (for example) won't do that. Also you'd need to be able to regulate the length of the beam itself. I don't think that is possible at this point since laser light just peters out naturally depending on the power source and the length of the beam.

Of course, we can always dream ...

The Lightsabre ain't a laser.. A Laser doesn't have the properties that
we see with a lightsabre.. it does not burn nor cauterize the way
the lightsabre does..

The blade I would say is ionised plasma compressed in a rotating
magnetic field... In that way the blade would get the mass and also
the cutting force you can see in "Phantom Menace" for instance..

Remember that plasmacutters works in a similar fashion, a highly
compressed ionised plasmabolt that cuts and burns through metal

A nanotech sword (ala Deus Ex) might be a bit more feasible. Imagine a glowing sword with a blade as thick as a nanite. You'd be able to cut through damn near anything, and the energy requirements wouldn't be as steep as the plasma sword. Still a bit far off though.

Originally posted by Kruel
A nanotech sword (ala Deus Ex) might be a bit more feasible. Imagine a glowing sword with a blade as thick as a nanite. You'd be able to cut through damn near anything, and the energy requirements wouldn't be as steep as the plasma sword. Still a bit far off though.

I believe that would be called a Monomolecular Blade or wire.

Originally posted by Faisca
Pisky, it's true. We surely can dream...

HI MY NAME IS JONATHAN MEDRANO, AND I'M 15YRS. I was wondering how can I make a lightsaber just like urs but different color. can u tell me how . pls. I really want one.

I don't know about making light sabres but you definitely can't have light sabre fights. The beams just pass right through each other. It'd be like fighting with flashlights

Besides, what if your opponent is carrying a mirror?

[edit on 4-4-2006 by Taishyou]

(Writing on my iPhone, gonna be loaded with errors )

I beleive to be possible, but there's three limiting factors:

Energy source:

Such a device would require "28th century" fuel cell technology, and will be beyond our capabilities for quite some time. Nuclear power would seem to be an immediate option, however, the space required for such a process would be rather un-portable. Maintenance would be a different matter

Containment:

Electromagnetic fields could be generated to encourage a "lightening bolt" to follow an elongated parabolic path. Hundreds/thousands of "lightening bolts" could be generated to create a visibly "solid" cylinder of energy, although getting this flailing nightmare around without coming into contact with metal could be quite a chore.

Praticality:
Yes, a lightsaber would be BOSS at CQB, but we've got to look at the bigger picture here. It would be incredibly limited to the most "close" of fighting, anything beyond 2 metres fighting distance and the user is kaput. Katana's are amazing at CQB, yet why does SAS prefer MP5's and M4's to katana's? Range. Battlefields are ever changing environents, and CQB encouters often turn Ito chasing targets down alleyways and exchanging sniper fire. Another problem with lightsaber would be maintenace. All the tiny little crystals, tubes, and buttons would be prone to failure, and field stripping would become the greatest nightmare known to man (After Britney Spears' you-know-what)

All in all, lightsabers are possible, but will never find their niche in a variable combat environent.

They come from a different galaxy and probably have different physics going on about in their realm and can play about more with light, just to make it sound it more plausable. They make force fields in the movies, maybe its a glowing forcefield as a weopon what ever substance they are using that is.

Yes, You need a very powerful power source, A Micro Nuclear Fusion Generator is best to begin with You elongate the plasma field of the reaction chamber by elongating the magnetic bottle, this is the "blade.

The only difficult part is the elongation of the magnetic bottle so that projects beyond the containment hardware without rupturing. This requires a little engineering R&D.

The magnetic field is a little bit of a problem, I would simply avoid using this baby near iron. Loose objects will fly toward you like bullets, and any iron near the "blade" could cause a field breech and immediate vaporizaiton of everything in the area but only until the powersource burns up.

You want to be careful testing the prototype! The magnetic field may be strong enough to rip all the Iron from your bloodcells.

[edit on 12-7-2008 by Cyberbian]

Yes the lightsabre is possible and can be made.

The secret to it would be some sort of magnetic field generator in the hilt set at a prescribed distance so that the plasma/laser (whatever the actual "blade" medium might be) is magnetically curved back down to the hilt. At first it may have a tapering effect where the top of the 'blade' is weaker and not as 'dense' as the bottom where it's most powerful but in due time science could probably figure that out as well. As for the 'weight problem', it is true the 'blade' itself would be weightless and thus the dynamics of operating it as compared to a sword would be much different however swinging it and such you would still feel a tad bit of weight in the form of 'resistance' and that would be air resistance because as you swing it the plasma/laser blade would presumably be slicing through alot of air molecules and thus the resistance would possibly be felt down to the hilt.

The trick would be miniaturization. Plasma inside a magnetic field bottle. That would be a light sabre.

A lightsaber is a cool weapon for the movies but unless a breakthrough in energy containment and power generation is imminent then we'll have to keep dreaming.

In reality the best weapon we could come up with would be something like an electric sword (lightning sword anyone?).

So basically a razor-sharp taser sword.
One of the protagonists in an 80s sci-fi animation cartoon wielded one (albeit brightly lit and retractable).
You'd need to insulate the grip/handle and have the best battery known to mankind fitted.
A series of + - +- that run along the edge (using nanotech?) would mean contact anywhere from the blade would deliver electric damage/shock.

I haven't seen one made but if they are making daggers and knives that use gas-injected energy to blow apart melons then why not an electric sword?