While the denizens of the Internet might be debating what color Poe Dameron’s lightsaber would be, a YouTube content producer Sufficiently Advanced (real name: Allen Pan) has built his own, real-life lightsaber — and it’s green, by the way.
Designed by Pan himself, his gas-powered IRL lightsaber not only lights cigarettes and blasts apart balloon versions of Stormtroopers — it decimates everyone’s least-favorite alien in theStar Wars universe, Jar-Jar Binks (in reality, a paper print-out of the character’s face).
To construct his lightsaber, Pan used a panoply of existing, ready-made components, such as a replica Skywalker lightsaber shell and a turkey marinade injector, as well as an amalgamation of 3D-printed parts to fit the hilt together.
As for the gas-powered “blade” itself? Pan used an admixture of methanol and acetone administered via injection into a canister, with butane added afterward as a propellant. To ignite or “turn on” its “plasma blade,” a simple push of a button will spark the nichrome ignition, prompting immediate weaponization.
To add a little more to the pot, Pan equipped the lightsaber with the iconic “swoosh” sound effects Star Wars fans know and love.
While there is no denying the ingenuity of Pan’s creation — recreating other superhero genre weapons like Thor’s hammer has helped him master that particular niche — Popular Science also pointed out that the gas-powered laser sword is technically, in fact, not a laser sword, due to the omission of its fictional kyber crystal — an element that is more or less integral to the authenticity of a weapon of the Galactic Empire.
[“source-techtimes”]