laser powered lightsaber???

[JdiKnhtJMH]

So, I was originally going to do a UFX Anakin conversion, but then I spotted a saber on ebay that was already converted for less than the price of an ultrasaber and a stock Anakin, and I snatched it up. I'll be getting it today or tomorrow, but I'm really curious about something in the item description: it says that the saber is lit by a class 2 blue laser, not LED, installed by uforce.... Has anyone heard of something like this? Is that even possible?

[Jedi Knight Spex]

no, i haven't heard of it, but using a class 2 laser might work pretty well.  I've been thinking a long time about making lightsabers real using cutting lasers, only niche is restricting a laser beam to a certain length, which at current is impossible.

[Darth Luran]

I've heard of it somewhere over on saberforum.com. Its possible and its done sometimes but you only ever hear of it every once in a while. Not sure if it works the same as a reglar saber but its definately real.

[Ultra]

An LED is considered a Class II laser product by IEC 60825-1, which reads:

"A laser product may consist of a single laser with or without a separate power supply or may incorporate one or more lasers in a complex optical, electrical, or mechanical system.... Throughout this part 1 light emitting diodes (LED) are included whenever the word "laser" is used."

You didn't buy a laser, it's just an LED.

[JdiKnhtJMH]

Ah ok I thought me might just be confusing laser with LED, was curious though. Thanks Ultra! I'd have been as happy with either option, but the traditional crystal works best. Not as clumsy or random as a laser.

[Jedi Knight Spex]

An LED is considered a Class II laser product by IEC 60825-1, which reads:

"A laser product may consist of a single laser with or without a separate power supply or may incorporate one or more lasers in a complex optical, electrical, or mechanical system.... Throughout this part 1 light emitting diodes (LED) are included whenever the word "laser" is used."

You didn't buy a laser, it's just an LED.

Ohhhh... I always thought class 2 lasers were the kind that were normally used in DVD players and were normally a little brighter than standard LEDs but also more dangerous.
I learned something today.

[Darth Luran]

as did I

[sjorsjo91]

add me to that list. I was wondering how the laser would not destroy itself with the reflective tip on some sabers

[Darth Luran]

I swear I've seen somewhere that someone turned a high power laser pointer into a saber.....maybe I dreamed it.....

[Ultra]

You didn't dream it, it has been done.  A laser is pretty much just an LED with a feedback cavity.  You can shine a laser into one of our blades and it will make the blade light up, but it will have to be at least a 200mw diode to make decent light.  It's far more cost effective to use a high powered LED in a saber than a high powered laser diode, however.  And of course, the safety concerns are much greater with a 100mw laser diode than a 4w LED.

[Jedi Knight Spex]

You didn't dream it, it has been done.  A laser is pretty much just an LED with a feedback cavity.  You can shine a laser into one of our blades and it will make the blade light up, but it will have to be at least a 200mw diode to make decent light.  It's far more cost effective to use a high powered LED in a saber than a high powered laser diode, however.  And of course, the safety concerns are much greater with a 100mw laser diode than a 4w LED.

From the sounds of it, if you did use high powered lasers we'd all have to revert to Lucas's first Lightsaber idea which was a huge backpack battery, lol.

[Darth Luran]

Thanks Ultra, I thought I was going crazy there for a second 

[JdiKnhtJMH]

As if I have to say it, Ultra was right. This lightsaber is powered by an LED, and one that's inferior to the ones sold by US, sadly. It saved me a lot of money on a conversion though, so that's a good thing!