Sluggo said:

Sojourn said:

article: "A lightsaber blade was a massless form that neither radiated heat nor expended energy until it came into contact with something solid." This would explain the molten blast door, but also fit in with the Shadows of the Empire explanation.

We are way off topic with all this, but that doesn't make any sense. How could a lightsaber deflect another lightsaber when they are both massless?

According to the article: "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."

In simpler terms (which still fit in with the above): I had always thought of it as: lightsabers are made of pure energy. This energy can cut through anything other than something else made of pure energy (another lightsaber, blaster bolts, etc.). The energy is also massless (like electricity), which is why lightsaber blades have no weight, and all the weight of a saber is in the handle/emitter.

FYI, this all started by being on-topic, because we were talking about the scene where Luke cuts himself free from the Wampa cave, and whether cutting through the ice should create steam or not. ;-)

Take care,

Sojourn