Engineer creates world's first retractable 'Star Wars' lightsaber

A Canadian engineer has created what every Star Wars fan has wished they could have for themselves since the franchise was introduced more than four decades ago — made a real, working lightsaber.

Qualified mechanical engineer and YouTuber James Hobson, known for his online platform "The Hacksmith", released a video on Thursday that reveals how a team of people built the world's first retractable lightsaber akin to the ones used in the fictional Star Wars universe.

The video has been viewed more than 9 million times.

The replica weapon is powered by a portable backpack connected to a hilt that has been crafted to appear similar to the ones in the films.

READ MORE: Ultra-rare Pokemon card sells for $305,000

The hilt produces a steady stream of propane gas from the pack, mixed with oxygen, to create a plasma "beam" of flame that looks like the light from sabers and burns at 2204C, meaning it can easily slice through thick pieces of metal.

Hobson also demonstrates how different salts, such as Boric Acid, can be placed into the plasma stream to change the colour of the beam to appear similar to the lightsabers used by fans' favourite characters.

The recreation is not the first time Hobson has made real version of a lightsaber. He's also built sabers designed with metal tubing that could allow for actual Star Wars-esque conflicts and a three-tiered lightsaber.

"What we've made so far are some of the closest representations of lightsabers using real life technologies," Hobson says in the video.

"They look like a lightsaber, they sound like a lightsaber and at temperatures of over 3000F, they actually cut stuff like a lightsaber."