A lightsaber is easier to repair than an iPhone 6, a Nikon DSLR, or an Amazon Kindle Fire. That's what the team at iFixit found when they tore apart an elegant weapon to celebrate May the Fourth, or Star Wars Day.

Using the same tweezers and meticulous step-by-step descriptions that they use to take apart Apple Watches and iPhones, the iFixit team dissembled a lightsaber made by Obi-Wan Kenobi (aka Bradley Lewis, lead visual-effects artist at Bioware, who lent his hand-made lightsaber to iFixit for the special occasion). The weapon, manufactured in 22 BBY, has a blue Adegan crystal—which, iFixit notes, must be precisely positioned to prevent an explosion when the sword is turned on.

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Old Ben's light sword gets 10 out of 10 on iFixit's repairability score thanks to its durable and easily removed parts, plus a power cell that lasts as long as the lightsaber itself. Yet somehow 10 out of 10 doesn't mean perfect. The crystal would be hard to replace, iFixit notes, requiring "a trip to remote star systems, or paying a hefty fee to an enterprising smuggler." And there's no user manual, which would also probably remind you not to do this when you're seeing whether your repairs were successful:

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Source: iFixit

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Rachel Z. Arndt

Rachel Z. Arndt is the author of the essay collection Beyond Measure. Her writing has appeared in Quartz, The Believer, Fast Company, and elsewhere. She lives in Chicago.