Login | Register
The Engineer's Place for News and Discussion®


Engineering News

Latest news of interest to engineers. Sourced from GlobalSpec's Engineering News
Previous in Blog: Microsoft Research's MirageTable Brings Some Augmented Reality to Your Tabletop   Next in Blog: Wallpaper that Protects You From Identity Theft
Close

Comments Format:






Change Mode
Close

Subscribe to Discussion:

CR4 allows you to "subscribe" to a discussion
so that you can be notified of new comments to
the discussion via email.

Close

Rating Vote:







Add Vote
10 comments
Subscribe Rate this Comments: Nested

Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

Posted May 12, 2012 2:36 PM

From Engadget:

Inspired by the graphic novel "Five Fists of Science" -- and perhaps encouraged by the plucky MIT student who made his own Tesla coil hat and survived -- a DIYer named Rob designed a Tesla coil gun, which he says is fully functional. Rob used a Nerf gun cast in aluminum for the housing and created a high voltage switch with a 3D powder printer. The gun is powered by an 18V ion drill battery and a flyback transformer housed inside a PVC plumbing end cap. Though Rob has yet to fire the gun, photos show what he says are sparks from the setup, and a demo clip is on the way. While video proof is always nice, so is preserving your life. We wish Rob the best with both.

Read the whole article

Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.
70AARCuda
Power-User

Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 229
Good Answers: 2
#1

Re: Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

05/12/2012 4:39 PM

...a "Darwin Award" candidate?

__________________
...and the Devil said: "...yes, but it's a DRY heat..!"
Reply
yamdankee
Power-User
CR4 Admins - CR4 Admin - CR4 Admin

Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 293
Good Answers: 16
#2
In reply to #1

Re: Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

05/12/2012 4:46 PM

We'll find out soon enough!
Reply
Anonymous Hero
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 7428
Good Answers: 565
#4
In reply to #1

Re: Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

05/12/2012 8:03 PM

A drill battery? This guy is a amateur. My friend built one that was casting 12 foot arcs.
Reply
SolarEagle
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: at the beach in Florida
Posts: 5433
Good Answers: 266
#5
In reply to #4

Re: Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

05/12/2012 11:19 PM

video link??

__________________
The relentless pursuit of pacification....
Reply
Anonymous Hero
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 7428
Good Answers: 565
#6
In reply to #5

Re: Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

05/13/2012 6:55 AM

That was probably 15 years ago and I did not shoot video. Somewhere in my archives I may have still pictures, but we could not get very close for fear of the EMP destroying the digital cameras.

He brought this huge machine into work as a fun demo and we used the company's empty stock room as it was surrounded by a wire cage and made an excellent target for the arcs.

I do remember that the owner stated that the machine was a work in progress and it was not operating at full potential. Nevertheless, it was a great show.

The largest private Tesla coil I know about (at the time) was in Auckland, New Zealand, called the Electrum. The coil sits on a 40' tower and produces up to 50' arcs.
Reply
SolarEagle
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: at the beach in Florida
Posts: 5433
Good Answers: 266
#8
In reply to #6

Re: Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

05/13/2012 9:23 AM

Interesting, I wonder how large you could go with a tesla, before strange things started to occur....

__________________
The relentless pursuit of pacification....
Reply
Anonymous Hero
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 7428
Good Answers: 565
#9
In reply to #8

Re: Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

05/13/2012 10:52 AM

Perhaps something like our Sun?
Reply
Tornado
Guru
Technical Fields - Technical Writing - New Member Engineering Fields - Piping Design Engineering - New Member

Join Date: May 2009
Location: Ketchikan, AK, USA
Posts: 12918
Good Answers: 463
#3

Re: Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

05/12/2012 5:18 PM

This is the journalistic version of premature ejaculation.

__________________
In vino veritas; in cervisia carmen; in aqua E. coli.
Reply
Usbport
Guru
Engineering Fields - Optical Engineering - Member Engineering Fields - Engineering Physics - Member Engineering Fields - Systems Engineering - Member

Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Trantor
Posts: 2942
Good Answers: 296
#7

Re: Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

05/13/2012 8:37 AM

It is goes into mass production (or even limited production) and looks like a Pomson 6000, I'll buy one.

__________________
"...any library is a good library that does not contain a volume by Jane Austen. Even if it contains no other book." - Mark Twain
Reply
Usbport
Guru
Engineering Fields - Optical Engineering - Member Engineering Fields - Engineering Physics - Member Engineering Fields - Systems Engineering - Member

Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Trantor
Posts: 2942
Good Answers: 296
#10
In reply to #7

Re: Tesla Coil Gun Exists, May Shoot Lightning

05/13/2012 8:58 PM

It is goes...?

Meant to write If it goes...

Guess I was still mostly asleep at 8:37 this morning.

__________________
"...any library is a good library that does not contain a volume by Jane Austen. Even if it contains no other book." - Mark Twain
Reply
Reply to Blog Entry 10 comments
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

70AARCuda (1); Anonymous Hero (3); SolarEagle (2); Tornado (1); Usbport (2); yamdankee (1)

Previous in Blog: Microsoft Research's MirageTable Brings Some Augmented Reality to Your Tabletop   Next in Blog: Wallpaper that Protects You From Identity Theft


"To follow, without halt, one aim: there's the secret of success" -- Anna Pavlova

All times are displayed in US/Eastern (EDT) (Register to change time zone)

Got Something to Say?
Ask a Question
Start a Discussion

Search this Section
General:
Go

Search this Blog
Engineering News:
Go

Search all of CR4
Go

Recent Blog Entries

Blog Tags
2 Time Dimentions 2B R B1 3d printer 9 2 5 B4 1N7 aircraft wings alien Android animal control April 16 April 17 April 18 April 19 April 20 April 23 April 24 April 25 April 27 atlet fork lift trucks atomic structures August 1 August 10 August 15 August 2 August 23 August 27 August 28 August 3 August 7 barzohar batteries Ben Franklin Boomerang BPO Brazil orange picking competition building plans drawing burglary business process outsourcing capital investment op. car CCFL cement details chernobyl civil engineering new material civil engineering tips CO2 compact fluorescent light bulbs Computer Virus Concept construction work deep explain surveying DIGITAL hoarders E El Sayed Sabry Energy energy source February 28 fences without wire or posts Florida citrus picking losses fly in dense atmosphere frames mini clips trailers Free energy frequency Fruit picking invention fuel cells games codes tools gadgets gear golf clubs gps fences grand canyon H Hadron Collider Howward hurricanes I AM B 4U I CU 4U UC2 Internet access IT January 8 July 11 July 13 July 16 July 18 July 20 July 23 July 26 July 30 July 31 July 5 June 1 June 11 June 12 June 13 June 14 June 15 June 18 June 21 June 22 June 25 June 26 June 27 June 28 June 29 June 4 June 5 June 6 June 7 Kelly labor omnia lasers LEGO Light Polluion effort material management Math: E=Mc2 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 2 May 21 May 22 May 23 May 24 May 25 May 29 May 30 May 31 May 7 May 8 mini club car overhead loader N navy new building technology new technology development October 17 October 19 October 5 October 9 old flame OLPC Olympics 2012 ONE O' N ONE OneWebDay2008 orange picker panasonic pasma pigeon code Please send my Boss too Plugs Post-It potato plastic ppp railgun robot evolution robots SaaS Sally Ride sensors September 13 September 14 September 17 September 18 September 3 September 7 Sock Vendor software as a service solar energy spain's solar plant SRB SS Stonehenge ancient ruins Sulphur Hexafluoride sunset T-50 Tapped In Trike Trills r affairs loans a bust. Tunguska Event U Units USER virtual fences wave hub Weather Models WIG wikipedia wind energy is energy of south to north sliding of wireless cattle fences X-47B zombie

CR4 Sections
Aerospace
BioMech & BioMed
Chemical & Material Science
Civil Engineering
Communications & Electronics
Education and Engineering Careers
Electrical Engineering
General
Instrumentation
Manufacturing
Mechanical Engineering
New Technologies & Research
Software & Programming
Sustainable Engineering
Transportation

Site Directories
Forum Directory
Blog Directory
User Group Directory
RSS Feeds
CR4 Store

CR4 Rules of Conduct
CR4 FAQ
Site Glossary

Who's Online (79 right now)
Show Members