[net.sf-lovers] light sabers

rich (12/13/82)

   What's with all this "where does he get his LS" stuff? Surely, in
a society that can produce blasters and Death Stars, making a simple
light saber can be no trick. Granted, they "are rare." Big deal. Swords
are not all that common in a society that uses M16s in battle, so why
are we debating that Darth can't have a LS if Luke has his father's?
   Note the color of the light, also. OB1's and Luke's have this really
"pure" blue-white color, while DV's is a very evil dirty red. Does this
imply that the light saber is a mirror of the soul, or simply that DV's
was made at a different time or place than the others?
                                                         Rich Amber

sjb (12/19/82)

I think the fact that Darth's saber is red and Luke's and
Ben's are blue/white is a VERY strong hint that the sabers
ARE powered by the force.  Hell, just because there's an
on button doesn't mean it's not powered by the force.  After
all, if it was powered by the force and there were no button,
it would be on ALL THE TIME!  Now, I don't know about you,
but I sure down want that thing on and bouncing up and down
while I running (or even walking)!  Nice way to amputate your
own leg.  What does this all mean?  If the light saber is
powered by the force, then Han sure has the force with him,
leading to Han as the other.

mar@MIT-BORAX.MIT.EDU (09/24/85)

From: mar@MIT-BORAX.MIT.EDU (Mark A. Rosenstein)

All of this talk about blasters and light sabers reminds me of a
design we came up with a while back for making a real lightsaber.
There a couple of problems with this design, but for the most part, it
should work . . .

Start with your ordinary household protable high-energy laser.  Now
you need about three feet of Sinclair molecule chain, and a pulley
that you can wrap it around without slicing the pulley in half.  The
other end of the chain is attached to a perfect mirror about an inch
in diameter.

The pulley is spring loaded so that with power off, the mirror covers
the end of the laser.  Turn on the laser, and the photonic energy will
push against the mirror, unrolling the chain to its length of three
feet (plus an integral number of wavelengths of the laser).  The laser
does not need to be quite as strong as you would first think, since
its being reflected back into its own chamber will reinforce the beam.
The slightest bit of parabolic curve on the edges of the mirror will
make sure that the mirror tracks the beam as you swing it around or
push it against things.

I was going to build one, but my Edmund Scientific Catalog does not
list Sinclair molecule chains.  Mr. Niven, where can I get one?

					-Mark