The Hacksmith

James Hobson (born February 10, 1990), known for his YouTube channel Hacksmith Industries (formerly the Hacksmith), is an engineer and YouTuber.^[3][4]

Hacksmith Industries (The Hacksmith)
Personal information
Born	James Hobson (1990-02-10) February 10, 1990 (age 34) Kitchener, Ontario, Canada [1]
Occupation(s)	Engineer, YouTuber, Entrepreneur
YouTube information
Channel	Hacksmith Industries
Presented by	James Hobson
Years active	April 21, 2006-present
Subscribers	15.1 million[2]
Total views	2.71 billion[2]
Website	hacksmith.com
Creator Awards 100,000 subscribers 2015 1,000,000 subscribers 2019 10,000,000 subscribers 2020
Last updated: 20 October 2024

Hobson is the presenter and prominent figure on the channel and has done a TEDx talk on his aspirations as an engineer.^[5] In December 2020, Hobson was awarded a Guinness World Record for his 'lightsaber'.^[6][7] In July 2021, he was awarded another world record for the world's brightest flashlight.^[8][9]

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.^[10][11] Its gas-fueled steampunk-style plasma lightsaber that could reach 4,000 °F (2,200 °C) and cut through metal was awarded a Guinness World Record for the world's first retractable protosaber.^{[12][7][4][6]} The channel also collaborated on projects with companies like Smarter Alloys in 2021.^[13] However, the channel's projects are not specifically limited to existing media, such as when it created the previously mentioned flashlight.^[8][9]

In 2019, Hacksmith Industries created a replica of a half-scale Tesla Cybertruck that had the same specifications as the full scale.^[14][15] 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.^[16]

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

Main channels' statistics (May 14, 2023)

Channel	Subscribers, millions	Views, billions	YouTube Creator Awards
			0.1	1	10
Hacksmith Industries	13.6	1.66			2020
Hacksmith VLOGS	0.4	0.024
Best Hacksmith Clips	0.048	0.00019

References

1. "Kitchener's Hacksmith Industries creates the pinnacle of sci-fi tech". CityNews Kitchener. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
2. "About Hacksmith Industries". YouTube.
3. "Internet Famous: How James Hobson (a.k.a. The Hacksmith) brings in six figures a year building superhero props on YouTube". Toronto Life. 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
4. Ellis, Philip (2020-10-10). "This Engineer Built a Real 'Star Wars' Lightsaber That Burns at 4,000 Degrees". Men's Health. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
5. "James Hobson". TEDxKC. 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
6. Hicks, Jesse (2020-12-04). "This Man Earned an Actual Guinness World Record for Building a Working Lightsaber". Men's Health. Archived from the original on 2020-12-05. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
7. Guinness, World Records (2020-12-03). "World's First Lightsaber! - Guinness World Records". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2020-12-05. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
8. "Canadian inventor Hacksmith creates the world's brightest flashlight". Guinness World Records. 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
9. Goodyear, Sheena (27 July 2021). "Canadian YouTubers build the world's brightest flashlight". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
10. Sparks, Hannah (2020-10-13). "YouTuber creates real-life 'Star Wars' lightsaber that slices steel". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
11. Bueckert, Kate; Anglelis, Robin De (April 25, 2019). "A Kitchener company is recreating all the cool superhero things | CBC News". CBC. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
12. Hale, Jacob (2020-10-16). "Hacksmith creates real Star Wars lightsaber that cuts through anything". Dexerto. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
13. "Smarter Alloys Showcases the Healing Properties of Shape Memory Alloys in a Collaboration with The Hacksmith for Their Latest Viral Video". Financial Post. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
14. Tangermann, Victor. "Watch a half-scale Cybertruck beat a Ford F-150 in a tug of war". Futurism. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
15. Traugott, Jay (2019-12-19). "People Aren't Waiting For Tesla To Build The Cybertruck". CarBuzz. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
16. Darling, Mike (2021-03-25). "An Engineer Made a Full Metal Replica of the 'Mandalorian' Helmet in His Garage". Men's Health. Retrieved 2021-11-12.

External links

• James Hobson at IMDb