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Posted by: Andrew Clouther

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Rob Flickenger is a modern day mad scientist.  While I don’t think he plans on destroying the world (anytime soon), your average Joe doesn’t go around and make scientific weaponry out of children’s toys.  Inspired by the novel The Five Fists of Science about a reality where Nikola Tesla fights crime with hand held Tesla coils, Flickenger questioned how he could make a similar weapon.

To make it look cool, he used an aluminum version of a plastic Nerf gun.  With aid from the HazardFactory industrial arts studio, this concept became a reality.  By just melting down cans and scrap metal, he cast the Nerf toy in aluminum. 

I’m no scientist, but you add some copper wire, some technical wiring, and an 18-volt lithium-ion drill battery… and you have the recipe for a homemade Tesla gun.  It cost him only $800 to make from scratch.  Safety has been the real challenge throughout this process, “I’d switch it on, and nothing would happen, so I’d switch it off. Then I’d switch it on again and set something on fire.”

Upon finishing the prototype, he was quick to show it off at a friend’s wedding reception.  Apparently corona which comes from the front is beautiful.   This made me realize I’ve been doing weddings all wrong.   Check out the video below and yay for mad science!

Nerf or nothing!

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Tags: Tesla coil, Nerf, mad science, homemade, science, HazardFactory, Rob Flickenger