I’m a Chartered Engineer Working on a Real Extendable/Retractable Lightsaber
So I’m a lurker in this sub but just wanted to share that I’ve been quietly working on something I’ve wanted to build since I was a kid - an actual extendable/retractable lightsaber design.
Not just a cosplay prop with removable blades, but a mechanically extending and retracting illuminated blade system built into the hilt itself. It looks like the blades may also be used to duel as well if made out of polycarbonate or something similar.
I’m a Chartered Engineer by profession, and over the past couple of years I’ve been developing concepts and doing engineering work on the extending mechanism. Surprisingly, the design work is starting to look genuinely promising. Next steps is to get an actual prototype design together to enter testing.
Obviously this isn’t something that really exists commercially in a proper way yet, and there are a LOT of engineering challenges involved, but I’m at the stage where it’s starting to feel achievable rather than just a fantasy.
This has just been for me so far but wondered if someone actually managed to make a high quality extendable/retractable lightsaber that looked good, extended smoothly, illuminated properly, and was durable for duelling - would people here want one?
And realistically, what sort of price range do you think people would pay for something like that?
I’d love to hear honest thoughts from this group, and would love to update with some more info once I’ve made some more progress.