To become a true Jedi you have to construct your own lightsaber... and that's exactly what 23-year-old YouTuber Drake Anthony (a.k.a. styropyro) did.
Inspired by Allen Pan's flamethrower lightsaber, Anthony decided to put his own spin on the Jedi weapon using a 7-watt blue laser in place of fire. The result is a lightsaber that's powerful enough to cut through objects and light them on fire.
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In the video, Anthony uses his homemade laser lightsaber to set fire to tape, burn a cup, ignite plasma, cut soldering wire in half, engrave wood, and more.
"This beam is so awesome...it totally reminds of the scene where Gandalf says, 'Use the Force, Harry,'" jokes Anthony. (In case you didn't get the reference, the pop-culture mashup only exists on the Internet.)
Want to build your own? Though Anthony doesn't detail in depth how he built his lightsaber, he does provide a look at the inner workings:
My device uses a Nichia GaN laser diode, which was overdriven to 7W of output by running it at 4.6A with a couple high efficiency buck drivers in parallel. An anti-reflective coated glass lens focuses the beam, and the whole device is powered by two unprotected 18650 batteries in series.
The lightsaber may be impressive, but Anthony assures us he's working on even bigger and more badass laser projects. He says he's working on a "laser bazooka" and another "ruby laser" that projects a beam through a ruby crystal and is powered by explosives. Stay safe, guy.