The Hacksmith

James Hobson (born February 10, 1990), known for his YouTube channel Hacksmith Industries (formerly the Hacksmith), is a Canadian engineer, Entrepreneur and YouTuber.

Hobson is the presenter and prominent figure on the channel and has done a TEDx talk on his aspirations as an engineer. In December 2020, Hobson was awarded a Guinness World Record for his 'lightsaber'. In July 2021, he was awarded another world record for the world's brightest flashlight.

Hacksmith Industries Hacksmith Industries is known for its "Make It Real" series, where Hobson and his team take fictional items and create real-life replicas, such as an exosuit or lightsaber. Its gas-fueled steampunk-style plasma lightsaber that could reach and cut through metal was awarded a Guinness World Record for the world's first retractable protosaber. However, the channel's projects are not specifically limited to existing media, such as when it created the previously mentioned flashlight. Around the same year, it moved to a different facility with more equipment for its projects.

From 2020 through 2021, the channel made its first complete set of armor, which was based on Din Djarin's arsenal from the Disney+ streaming series The Mandalorian.

In late 2022, the channel moved to another facility with more open space for testing its projects. The crew later constructed a new series of clean rooms to safely work with liquid oxygen to work on a self-contained version of their lightsaber.

YouTube career