This Guy Built a Real Version of Kylo Ren's Lightsaber That Burns at 3,000 Degrees

How does one appropriately celebrate May the Fourth, the Star Wars-themed quasi-holiday? You could pop on a Darth Vader mask to do your grocery shopping, sure, but for people who take the day seriously, the stakes have been raised thanks to the crew at Hacksmith Industries, who’ve just unveiled their newest creation: a Kylo Ren-styled lightsaber that glows red at 3000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Star Wars fans are probably already familiar with Hacksmith—they’re the guys who built a protosaber and a metal-slicing lightsaber. As their new video lays out, the project builds on their previous experience, including the kind of high-stakes failures that brought a fire truck to their labs. They’ve spent more than a year building their new lightsaber, and are finally ready to show it off to the world.

Replicating Kylo Ren’s lethal weapon meant nailing a couple key details. First, they had to add two more blades to the earlier, tungsten-based lightsaber to give it a cross guard. That required some 3D-printed custom parts, as well as making sure all of the electrical components could fit inside the handle.

Second, as any fan can tell you, Kylo Ren constructed his blade using a cracked Kyber crystal, giving it a crackling, unstable look. You might think that’s easy to achieve by binding some chemicals used in fireworks and road flares to the lightsaber—-but no, the Hacksmith crew tried that, and it didn’t produce colored flame. So for now at least, their blade actually looks more refined than the original. And, of course, it can cut through just about anything.

Watch the video here:

Source: Read Full Article