Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

Here is a useful question:

How much does a lightsaber weigh? Not the hilt, which would weigh the same as whatever you made it out of. The blade.
Think about this.

If you are swinging an actual sword, the momentum of the blade has to be changed in order to change the direction of a swing. Does a lightsaber weigh like that? they use them as swords, and they swing as hard as they can, to get momentum behind each blow. why would they do this if the blade weighed little or nothing? it would be a useless effort as all one would have to do is stick his lightsaber in front of it. the lack of weight would destroy the effect of the speed of the swing. It must weigh roughly the same as a well-balanced sword to be used in combat.

On the flip-side, why would the blade weigh anything? If it is some sort of laser, or made out of light, or a powerful heat, and it must be some combination of these things, because it is not a solid object or it would not ignite and have an off switch (the word ignite should be a clue to the nature of the saber)
Now if you are on this website, chances are, at some time in your life you have held a metal object that resembled to you the hilt of a lightsaber, and you have swung it about in the air. If there was no metal on the end, you (envisioning a glowing blade) could instantly change the direction of the blade to be pointing in any direction, simply by twisting your wrist. This could be the effect of a lightsaber that allows a Jedi to be able to move his blade fast enough to block blaster bolts.

So which is it? I'll add a poll for good measure, but post your opinions as well, i'm not sure if this is covered in any Star Wars documentation we've gotten from Lucas so far, so have at it.

Both. It's science fiction.

THere are some excellent sites about that, ask Ush.

Originally posted by DeVi| D0do
Both. It's science fiction.

true, but this forum NEVER treats star wars like it is science fiction.
I could answer, "because its a movie," to almost any question anyone has ever asked, but where would be the fun in that?

Actually that IS how we answer rather a lot of things.

Originally posted by truejedi
true, but this forum NEVER treats star wars like it is science fiction.
I could answer, "because its a movie," to almost any question anyone has ever asked, but where would be the fun in that?

you must be thinking of another forum. i ask you "what fun is asking/answering an unanswerable question?"

fine. 3.5 pounds. thats how much it weighs

You guys are no fun!! LOL, just go along with it.

I believe it is weightless, since it is light. That's why it takes a skilled Jedi to wield one and not just any schmoe who happens upon one.

impossible. when vader throws his lightsaber the spinning blade pivots around the center. if the blade was weightless, it would pivot at the center of the hilt. so the blade does have weight. that is all we can tell though

The beam is probably weightless for all intents and purposes.

I just wonder how it knows how long to "extend" before it stops.

Kinda like the Death Star beams that "wait" until all the other beams from the dish come together like some intergalactic teepee, then fire away.

Making a beam of light stop by itself is truely amazing!

The in universe answer is that only the hilt of a lightsaber has any weight, thats why lightsabers are so difficult to handle and why only usually force users can wield them properly because regular people wont have as good a perception of where the blade actually is, where Jedi (and Sith) are more aware of everything around them and can better judge the position of the weightless blade.

I thought this was common knowledge?

i thought at least some here would have a basic understanding of physics...especially people who are so anal as to participate in a debate on the weight or lack of in a saber hilt. i guess i was wrong.

:edit: i made an error in my last post. the saber spins piviting close to the hilt, not the center of the blade+hilt. its clearly not weightless in the blade. although this is due to the weight of the prop blade, none the less its on screen and physics dictates that the saber blade has weight. also, in the OT, mark hammil was instructed to behave as if the blade was heavy, when swinging.

In the OT, Lucas made a big point of treating lightsabes as heavy and unwieldly...we dont see a one handed grab unitll ESB... Rarely is the saber held in one hand.

In the PT though, lightsabers spin around much more easily....if we have sounds or explosions in space....why cant light have weight?

Or....you could simply state that the one end of the saber is more eavily weighted...due to the powercell or something.

or perhaps its not just light, but rather a beam of such intense energy/plasma that it has mass...who the hell knows or really care... whatever the case, its clear that the blade has some weight, simply because the props used have weight in the rod which is rotoscoped and this shows on film.

Anakin wields two in AOTC.... doesn't seem too heavy. And it was Marquand that cliamed light sabres were too heavy for one hand.

I thought Hamil said in an interview around the time of ROTS that it was George?

I remember reading once that they were 10 Pounds.

as we understand energy, it is weightless. But, your right, in order to fully get proper inertia on your sword, you would need that, otherwise you would see the sabers moving alot faster. Remember, this is star wars, a weight-like generator is probably installed in the hilt

or it could be that the rod on the lightsaber prop has a bit of weight...and thats that, and as far as anyone important to the film, -including the bearded fat one- ever thought about it. so i guess think what you want. its weightless, its 10 poubds....whatever. everyone wins the thread

Originally posted by Jedi Priestess
I thought Hamil said in an interview around the time of ROTS that it was George?

Why did he approve the one-handed fight in ESb then?

I have an interview with MArquand saying that.