Friday, January 25, 2013

So You Want to Build a Coil/Rail Gun....

Mehdi Sadaghdar shows you how (not) to make a rail gun. Aww man, this is funny as all get out....

from youtube via Boing boing

14 comments:

Unknown said...

That's hilariously educational!

kallamis said...

Well, even I can't mess up an experiment that many times in a row. And I have been working on a concept for my own anyway, but mine is wrist mounted.
Hey, I did tell you all I was slightly strange.
And believe me, I don't care what this guy might know, I wouldn't let him any where near any of my experiments.
I am quite capable of blowing myself up all by myself.

Beam Me Up said...

Hey Russ, yep, if it feels like you are learning you aren't, only when you enjoy the subject. Now I am not saying we learned a great deal about coil guns, but we did learn that you need isolated wires that are heavy enough for the current and dont hold the barrel facing things you would rather keep.....but yeah funny funny stuff.

Beam Me Up said...

my god Kall who in their right mind wants a rail gun on their wrist?!!!!

kallamis said...

Not that powerful of a one. Well, if I could figure it out, yeah. But this is just more of a toy concept.
Actually, it is based on the stinger style system of Marvel's Black Widow.
I like to do weird things. It's fun. Nothing so powerful as a real rail gun.
After the trial run, I also decided a rocket gun didn't belong arm mounted either.
What can I say, I like my hands free, LOL.
Arm mounted is just fun.

Beam Me Up said...

I first read about this in the 70s in a novel where they..(oh hey, Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress) used a rail launcher to send mining minerals from the moon to Earth orbit. They were fighting for independence so they started dropping them on military targets on earth...

After that I wanted to build one, but the timing circuitry was a bit rich for me. Went to school for electronics, so I can see what he is doing, but it ISN't just an opti-coupler...there were some discrete components there....hmm you got to figure even under the best of situations these things as as dangerous as a snake. That little bolt he was firing was an easy 22 in size and will enough current well I will let you fill in the blanks. The US' prototype could put a 1 inch of aluminum in a sheath through inches of steel and at a distance we still dont know.

kallamis said...

I have a question. Especially since you studied electronics, and i just sort of try and blow myself up.
Mom just bought a pellet pistol for target practice. Regular gun shells are freaking expensive anymore.
Here's my question. Would the grip on a standard gun like this, (basically looks like a 9mmm) be large enough to hold a power source for a small pistol type rail gun.
And would you be able to use the pellets that it uses regularly. Not bb's, pellets.
See, I at least try and get info before blowing myself up.

kallamis said...

Or electrocuting myself, as may be the case in this scenario.

Beam Me Up said...

Kall
yes and yes...it would be better if it were dropped forged but the beauty of the gun is it has almost no kick and you do not have to strengthened for the explosive gases of course the coils, batteries and the electronics will take up substantial room based on your ability to prototype.

Beam Me Up said...

kall
you know many use high voltage instead of high current. The whole idea is to build a well behaved electromagnet that can be turned on and of fast enough. To save space and everything else, they will use many smaller coils instead of one huge one. We saw the reasoning in the video here for that! lol

henryii said...

romney should hire him to explain why the airplane windows don't roll down.....using mitt himself in the demonstration

Beam Me Up said...

henrii, I never would have brought the two together. But you are dead on! I have the article of Romney's statement about the windows. And I am sorry but NO he was not joking! He was dead serious wondering why they didn't crank down...

I fear the world is doomed!

kallamis said...

LOL. I think this guy may be a bit smarter. I mean really. Rolling down the windows of a jet just takes the cake for me.
I'm still beyond dumgfounded thathe even said that.
And these are the people in office.
Yep, I have to agree, we're doomed. And again we see why some of us need a way off this rock, before they do manage to do something really stupid.
Windows in a plane rolling down. About as intelligent trying to stay dry while peeing into a hurricane.
And someone tell me how to turn my spell check back on. The bloody thing quit, and I don't know why.
I use google chrome by the way if that means anything at all. I used to be a great speller, but 6 years overseas and foreign languages killed that. Forever I think.

kallamis said...

Never mind. I got spell check fixed. Loony computer.