What is the light sabre power source?

[Feathers]

From the outset, I'd like to point out that I know I'm over thinking this and it's only a glum but...

Thinking about episode 1 I always reach the point where the Jedi are using their light sabres to burn their way through the centre of the blast door and so into the bridge of the ship and I hit a stumbling block over whatever yet must be usig to power the things.

Given the construction, I assume the power source lies in the handle in which case we're asking about something that's limited in terms of both size and weight. Yet it can generate enough power not only to sever pretty much anything at a single stroke but to allow the blade to be sunk directly into a solid door without shorting out or blowing up.

Whatever it is, it's got to be one heck of a power source!

Surely a blaster powered off one of those would be next to impossible to defend against or, more effectively, mounting much larger ones externally on a ship would allow you to slice an enemy to ribbons if you could get close enough.

[Geekyfanboy]

In the original Clone Wars cartoon they had a whole storyline about the light saber power source. It's some sort of power crystal.. Here is what I found on Wookiepedia

The weapon consisted of a blade of pure plasma energy emitted from the hilt and suspended in a force containment field. The field contained the immense heat of the plasma, protecting the wielder, and allowed the blade to keep its shape. The hilt was almost always self-fabricated by the wielder to match his or her specific needs, preferences and style.

The lightsaber mechanisms were contained within the hilt. High levels of energy generated by a high-output Diatium power cell was unleashed through a series of focusing lenses and energizers that converted the energy into plasma.[18] The plasma was projected through a set of focusing crystals that lent the blade its properties and allowed for the adjustment of blade length and power output. The ideal number of crystals was three, though only one was required.[2]

Once focused by the crystals, the plasma was sent through a series of field energizers and modulation circuitry within the emitter matrix that further focused it, making it into a coherent beam of energy that was projected from the emitter.[19] The blade typically extended about a meter before being arced by the blade containment field back to a negatively charged fissure ringing the emitter, where it was channeled back to the power cell by a superconductor, completing the circuit. Below is a list of the primary parts almost all lightsabers needed to use to function properly:

A lightsaber blade was a mass-less form that neither radiated heat nor expended energy until it came into contact with something solid. The power of the energy blade was so great that it could cut through almost anything, although the speed through which it cut depended on the density of the subject. One important note about lightsaber wounds is that they rarely bleed profusely, even when a limb had been severed. This is because the energy blade cauterized the wound as it passed, and thus even a severe wound did not tend to bleed heavily.

When cutting through dense material, the immense electromagnetic field generated by the arc causes resistance rather than letting solid matter enter and interrupt the arc. This gives the blade a feeling of being solid when immersed in dense material. Rarely, some solid materials can actually pass through the electromagnetic field and short out the arc. Other electromagnetic energy fields and coherent energy are also repelled by lightsabers' arcs. These include most force fields, blaster bolts, and other lightsaber blades.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lightsaber

[Feathers]

That's nice.

There's still a lot of power tucked away in there that may be hard to understand but the fact that someone's thought through an explanation always makes this sort of thing more enjoyable for me. Even if it uses a load of meaningless terms (by today's scientific standards) such an explanation always diverts the attention away from the inevitable alternative of 'it works because the story needs it to'.

[Blackride]

Power Crystals I believe first showed up with the release of Star Wars Galaxies. They needed a way to have you build your own sabre. Depending on the color in the game is what dictates it attributes.

[Blackride]

I forgot to say...

This was also discussed on theforce.net if you are interested.

[QuadShot]

Kenny, what you quoted is incorrect. Light Sabers are powered by one of the most awesome, terrifying and potent power sources known to man or alien. Starbucks quad-shot lattes! :)

[X]

Lightsabers are powered by a power cell that the person that owns the lightsaber can recharge when they meditate. However, the power cell is supposed to last for so long that they rarely need recharging.

Back in the day before the power cells got smaller, they had to be connected to battery packs they they wore on their hips and was connected by a cable.

The crystals in the lightsabers are used to focus the beam that the emitter generates. It's the crystal that can give the saber unique properties and the type of crystal is what defines the color of the blade.

Jedi use a variety of crystals that give their different colors.

Sith and Imperials knights use a process to create synthetic crystals. The sith process makes the red blades and the Imperial Knights create white blades with their synthetic crystals.

The stuff Kenny posted was pretty spot on.

[Blackride]

Blade emitter shroud
Magnetic stabalizing ring
Ring tuning flange
Blade arc tip
Blade length adjustment
Blade power adjustment
Energy modulation circuits
Blade energy channel
Cycling field energizers
Focusing crystals
Focusing crystal activator
Crystal energy chamber
Primary crystal
Energy gate
Primary crystal mount
Power vortex ring
Diatium power cell
Power field conductor
Inert power insulator
Handgrip attachment
Belt ring

[Blackride]

http://www.howstuffworks.com/lightsaber.htm

[Rico]

I think you guys are really missing the obvious answer.  Lightsabers have always and only been powered by George Lucas.  ;)

[QuadShot]

X, I was joking. You know that...right?

[X]

X, I was joking. You know that...right?

Yeah! I was just giving some additional info not correcting you.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

X, I was joking. You know that...right?

I thought you were dead serious.  wtf?! 

;) 

Ok maybe not.  :P

King

[Feathers]

I think you guys are really missing the obvious answer.  Lightsabers have always and only been powered by George Lucas.  ;)

I think that's the Star Wars equivalent of my 'because the story needs it to' :)

[Rico]

I think you guys are really missing the obvious answer.  Lightsabers have always and only been powered by George Lucas.  ;)

I think that's the Star Wars equivalent of my 'because the story needs it to' :)

Yep.  Same as for Trek about: warp drive, transporters, phasers, etc.