I knew a guy in high school who had one. The biggest problem with it, IIRC, is that the connectors were all aluminum and had a tendancy to corrode. This meant that it was kind of random chance that it would fire when one pulled the trigger. Still, when it worked, it was rather impressive to watch.
Re-Alternate Power Sources
To me nothing will ever top the uniqueness of Dr Norton Nimnull’s Death Ray. It was powered entirely by the static electricity generated by petting 30 or so cats. The cats were then placed in special chambers and one heck of a ray was generated.
Sadly, Nimnull eventually succumbed to madness. Several years of disastrously failed experiments broke what small grip on sanity he had. He began insisting that his work was sound and had been sabotaged. This, in itself, was not farfetched. However, Nimnull insisted that the saboteurs were a group of rodents who wore human clothing.
Ok, I knew my hair was a bit shaggy, but calling me a rodent is just mean.
Rodents, you say?
Hamsters, perhaps?
I’ve created a monster!
You been hittin’ the ketchup bottle too hard, Tuck.
Aluminum doesn’t corrode. Not without exposure to acids. Like, say…ketchup…?
Does anyone have any information on the possibility that the Avro Arrow was designed to have a 1950’s-style death ray as a weapon?
Au contraire, mon frere, aluminum does corrode. It does not however rust. When used in electrical connections, aluminum can, and does corrode quite readily. Just ask anyone who owned a Chrysler built product in the early 1970s.
You say that like its a bad thing.
Be proud! You’re well on your way to having the record for longest thread from someone with under 5 posts.
I toured a casting facility today.
Do you folks prefer your 1920’s style death ray fins cast, spun, or welded?
Welded, in order to get the various parts together.
Re Fins-
I prefer mine cast. It’s the best way to ensure the proper shape and internal crystaline structure.
Yes, but welded how? Oxy-Aceteline makes a pretty bead but the base metal gets heated more. TIG works great but isn’t period correct so can’t be used for restorations under the rules of the SNTDRE*. Oh hell, you can’t use arc welding at all because the fin joints are in a straight line.
*Society of Nineteen-Twenties Death Ray Engineers
It depends upon the type of casting method used. Lost wax casting produces a better finish than green sand casting. Really, however, it depends upon the effect one is trying to create as to which method is ultimately better.
You mind sharing the details of the casting facility you toured, Wikkit? I recently started working for one myself, and I’d be interested in hearing the details of the place you visited.
It was http://www.max-cast.com/]Max Cast, a “fine arts foundry”. We were there mostly to get tips on finishing, especially patination. However, the ceramic mold process really interested me, and I’ll be pushing for us to get a similar (if smaller) setup.
They could make a very nice bust of Dr. Hobbes.
Thanks for the link, Wikkit. Place looks almost identical to ours, but we don’t use some of the processes that they do (we’re strictly lost wax), and we tend to pour at hotter temps.
What metals do you pour? The group I work with just does pewter, aluminum, and bronze. Our furnace is small and in an air conditioned building… it’s a new student group, expectations are a bit low.
Currently we do lost wax in plaster, pewter in rubber, and an oil-based sand cope and drag setup. The oil binder sand is good for beginners because it’s very reusable, but doesn’t give anything near the detail of the resin bonded sand that they were using.
We pour steel, aluminum, bronze, and have done copper and titanium in the past. Basically, if a customer wants us to pour it, we’ll pour it.
So, could either of you produce replicas of Dr Mantle’s gynecological instruments for operating on mutant women?
Heh, we already make things that look like gynocological instruments (they’re for automated chicken gutting machines).