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I had to rummage through Archive.Org to find this, but in any case : Lightsabres : How Does it Work? (Look up Model Six)

Durandal wrote:These are blades that can vaporize heat with mechanisms that have such fine control over the massive thermal excesses that they can melt steel on touch without the wielder so much as getting a tan. And we're surprised that they work under water?

I thought that incident had to do with Obi wan using the force to shield himself from the heat coming from the already molten blast door.

His Divine Shadow wrote:

Durandal wrote:These are blades that can vaporize heat with mechanisms that have such fine control over the massive thermal excesses that they can melt steel on touch without the wielder so much as getting a tan. And we're surprised that they work under water?

I thought that incident had to do with Obi wan using the force to shield himself from the heat coming from the already molten blast door.

Care to explain how han shielded himself from the release of 120 MW into the hoth atmosphere then?

Its a mechansm of the sabre

Cyborg Stan wrote:I had to rummage through Archive.Org to find this, but in any case : Lightsabres : How Does it Work? (Look up Model Six)

OUTSTANDING! And here I thought we had lost all his work!

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Lightsabre blades actually don't produce any heat at all. They cut by stripping electrons from the objects they are cutting. Any heat produced is caused by the atomic/molecular (one of those two) vibration of the material itself as it's being cut.

And where does the energy to strip these electrons come from?

The power cell.

zombie84 wrote:It contains the Kaibor Crystal (not sure on the spelling, its spelt different everytime it surfaces), a crystal which has the ability to enhance ones force abilities. Luke and Leia crash on a planet and find it and then Vader returns to seek out the crystal, ending with Leia battling Vader in a lightsaber duel ( :shock: ). I'm not sure how its treated in the EU but its doesnt really contradict things too badly other than the presence of the crystal itself, which was one of Lucas' ideas for the original films from draft one.

Draft two, actually. The Force didn't exist in the first draft. Jedi (known as Jedi Bendu in the early drafts, and as Dai Noga in the revised version of the first draft) were just very skilled and highly trained warriors.

Or simply that was built for a water-based Jedi.

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:The power cell.

And the power cell doesn't produce heat? Why not?

The conclusion is: Not all lightsabres function underwater, but they can be modified to do so.

JME2 wrote:Or simply that was built for a water-based Jedi.

They would certainly be useful for Mon Calamari Jedis.

Ender wrote:Care to explain how han shielded himself from the release of 120 MW into the hoth atmosphere then?

Not really, since thats an absurd notion.
I doubt 120MW was released into the atmosphere, didn't take anywhere near those energies to slice the taun-taun open either.

IIRC it has been said the saber functions like a loop, the saber hardly wastes any energy beyond what we see as glow unless it passes through a liquid or solid object, gasses seems to have no effects on it.
Han didn't need to shield himself from any 120MW release into the atmosphere, or the taun-taun

Qui-Gon however was standing next to a metallic door that was glowing from having had hundreds of megajoules pumped into it, the manner of energy deliverance is utterly irrelevant at this point as the wall is glowing red/white and is starting to melt and that will emitt energy.

See my point here? The saber isn't what I am talking about, I am talking about the wall itself, some force-power must have been required to shield qui-gon from the heating effect the molten metal of the wall will give out.

It always seemed to me from Qui Gon's stern expression of concentration in that scene that he was somehow channelling the force through his saber in order to magnify its power, hence being able to liquify steel. Perhaps he was concentrating to shield him from the heat? I always assumed that jedi had high tolerance to the elements already.

Vympel wrote:

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:The power cell.

And the power cell doesn't produce heat? Why not?

All I fucking know is that it is official that a lightsabre blade does not produce any heat. I suppose that the power cell does have to produce heat since if it didn't, that would violate physics.

Microwave cords don't melt from their own heat (not all that often anyway) either.

Wild Karrde wrote:The Star Wars What's What book for Ep.I states "Many lightsabers from this era lack flashback waterseals and can be shorted out if submerged while the blade is ignited."

Which makes sense really. A lot of the Jedi have probably gone a long time with out a serious fight and treat the lightsaber as a more or less ceremonial badge of office. Similar to the creation of "swords of state" that never would survive actual use.

When it came down to a major war, they probably spent more time on making sure they have a tough, durable weapon.

Stormbringer wrote:Which makes sense really. A lot of the Jedi have probably gone a long time with out a serious fight and treat the lightsaber as a more or less ceremonial badge of office. Similar to the creation of "swords of state" that never would survive actual use.

When it came down to a major war, they probably spent more time on making sure they have a tough, durable weapon.

very true. The Prequel era sabers are much more decorative, with their intricate designs and flashy, sleek looks. The OT sabers are rough looking and made in a time of war--their purpose is to do the job as efficiently as possible, as opposed to being fashionable.

zombie84 wrote:It always seemed to me from Qui Gon's stern expression of concentration in that scene that he was somehow channelling the force through his saber in order to magnify its power, hence being able to liquify steel. Perhaps he was concentrating to shield him from the heat? I always assumed that jedi had high tolerance to the elements already.

Sounds like a load of bollocks to me.

zombie84 wrote:It always seemed to me from Qui Gon's stern expression of concentration in that scene that he was somehow channelling the force through his saber in order to magnify its power, hence being able to liquify steel. Perhaps he was concentrating to shield him from the heat? I always assumed that jedi had high tolerance to the elements already.

Occam's Razor.

I believe George Lucas has stated so in an interview or something. I always assumed its an accepted explaination.

Anyway, trying to justify and explain how lightsabers and movie physics work is useless. Trying to come up with real life answers will never solve anything because Star Wars is fantasy. There is no explaination how things work, they just work. Sometimes they try to appease curiosity by giving us vaguely scientific answers but in the end its still just fantasy-science, and trying to place it in the context of real-life science isnt going to give anymore answers when you are dealing with The Force and such.

If a light saber worked off of heat to cut stuff then....

then i dont know but... If you touched the damned blade to some ice * BOOOOM! * cause ... well just cause... anyways ya.

His Divine Shadow wrote:

zombie84 wrote:It always seemed to me from Qui Gon's stern expression of concentration in that scene that he was somehow channelling the force through his saber in order to magnify its power, hence being able to liquify steel. Perhaps he was concentrating to shield him from the heat? I always assumed that jedi had high tolerance to the elements already.

Sounds like a load of bollocks to me.

It's possible Qui Gon did have to sheild himself from the heat of that liquified metal after all. That thing's got to be radiating heat like a bitch and I doubt the sabre itself would protect Qui Gon from the heat of the door itself.

evilcat4000 wrote:

JME2 wrote:Or simply that was built for a water-based Jedi.

They would certainly be useful for Mon Calamari Jedis.

Too bad we can't ask Cighael.

Stormbringer wrote:It's possible Qui Gon did have to sheild himself from the heat of that liquified metal after all. That thing's got to be radiating heat like a bitch and I doubt the sabre itself would protect Qui Gon from the heat of the door itself.

Qui-Gon had to shield himself from the heat coming from the door, there's no indication, hint or anything that Qui-gon somehow increased the sabers power through the force.
As already explained, Occams Razor.

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
All I fucking know is that it is official that a lightsabre blade does not produce any heat. I suppose that the power cell does have to produce heat since if it didn't, that would violate physics.

What official source says they don't produce heat again?