# I Now Have a Taser! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 27, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034 "2010-03-27T17:57:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wisthekiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wisthekiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wisthekiller)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/1 "2010-03-27T17:57:02Z")
I just finished making a taser from a camera and now im wondering what I could do with it… Didn’t plan that out… My cats, parents, and myself are definite no’s so now I can’t think of what to electrocute! ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/2 "2010-03-27T17:59:28Z")
What drove you to make a taser if you didnt know what to use it on? ---
**Author:** ![Wisthekiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wisthekiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wisthekiller)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/3 "2010-03-27T18:17:49Z")
Im a teenage boy, why WOULDN’T I make one? ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/4 "2010-03-27T18:19:36Z")
Don’t tase me bro! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/5 "2010-03-27T18:51:26Z")
Find another teenage boy. The amount of stupid trouble teenage boys can get in is enough to keep any emergency room at the full ready. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/6 "2010-03-27T19:02:04Z")
> [@Wisthekiller](#): > > Im a teenage boy, why WOULDN’T I make one? Pretty much sums it up, eh? We are going to destroy ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/7 "2010-03-27T19:03:45Z")
How the hell can you make a taser from a camera? Do you mean you built a taser in the body of a camera? Because I can’t think of anything in a camera that would even contribute to the function of a taser, except maybe the shutter switch. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/8 "2010-03-27T19:07:31Z")
> [@Wisthekiller](#): > > Im a teenage boy, why WOULDN’T I make one? That may be the most honest answer ever posted on the SDMB. Now let mean old Oak throw a wet blanket on your fun, cuz that’s what I do. You just made something that may be considered a weapon in your jurisdiction. You’re a minor, and minors may not be allowed to possess weapons in your jurisdiction. You probably should either take it apart, and not do this anymore, or talk to your parents about it. They may be willing to help you determine whether you can keep it or not legally, and within their rules, as well. Whatever the hell you do, do not, under any circumstances, take that thing to school. Don’t show it to your friends, don’t post anything else about it, including pictures of it. Talk to a responsible adult. Now. ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/9 "2010-03-27T19:09:44Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Don’t tase me bro! Ha! I understand this refrence. Oh, and I’m a teenage boy too. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/10 "2010-03-27T19:16:07Z")
You know, **Wisthekiller** , I remember a lot of things I did as a teenage boy, and if I’d heard of tasers when I was in high school, I probably would have tried to build one, too. But **Oakminster** has a point. There are a lot of places where you have to have a permit to own one, and I can pretty much guarantee you’d get suspended if you showed up with it at school. Check out the laws, and make sure it’s okay where you live. That said, how the heck _do_ you make a taser out of a camera? I’m assuming you just removed its innards entirely? ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/11 "2010-03-27T19:51:54Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > How the hell can you make a taser from a camera? Do you mean you built a taser in the body of a camera? Because I can’t think of anything in a camera that would even contribute to the function of a taser, except maybe the shutter switch. I’ve done this before. Any camera with a flash (including most disposable film cameras) contains a pretty sizable capacitor for discharging into the flash bulb. When fully charged, it’s capable of delivering a very powerful electric shock. When I was building and testing mine, I managed to zap myself several times – just one shot across the fingers would make my whole arm spasm and subsequently feel numb and tingly. It’s not really a taser, though. Tasers deliver a pulsed current with very high voltage but low amperage, usually at a frequency designed to disrupt neuromuscular impulses and produce incapacitation. Applying the ends of a capacitor to a person will just equalize the charge imbalance through them as quickly as possible. This is very painful and probably dangerous, depending on how large a capacitor you have and where the charge is applied. So do be careful and don’t actually use it on anybody. ---
**Author:** ![Wisthekiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wisthekiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wisthekiller)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/12 "2010-03-27T20:07:52Z")
> [@Stealth\_Potato](#): > > I’ve done this before. Any camera with a flash (including most disposable film cameras) contains a pretty sizable capacitor for discharging into the flash bulb. When fully charged, it’s capable of delivering a very powerful electric shock. When I was building and testing mine, I managed to zap myself several times – just one shot across the fingers would make my whole arm spasm and subsequently feel numb and tingly. > > It’s not really a taser, though. Tasers deliver a pulsed current with very high voltage but low amperage, usually at a frequency designed to disrupt neuromuscular impulses and produce incapacitation. Applying the ends of a capacitor to a person will just equalize the charge imbalance through them as quickly as possible. This is very painful and probably dangerous, depending on how large a capacitor you have and where the charge is applied. So do be careful and don’t actually use it on anybody. Thats how I did it, found it out on Instructables. I don’t plan on doing anything even close to dangerous with it, I know not to bring it to school, my parents gave me money to do it after I told them what I wanted to do. Im going to be responsible. And to make it: Get a camera with flash, take it apart(WITH A SCREWDRIVER WITH A RUBBER HANDLE. And take that battery out too.), see the black thing? Dont touch it. Touch the two pieces of metal sticking out of it with the screwdriver(theres gonna be a very tiny explosion), attach a wire to each one, put the battery in and close it all up. If someone or something gets hit with it, they get hit with 150+ volts. Dont get all legally with me either, it’s legal where I am. I’m sure there’s a few typos in here. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/13 "2010-03-27T20:10:57Z")
Camera’s can pack a bit of a punch. I’ve seen someone get electrocuted while taking a disposable one apart. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/14 "2010-03-27T21:09:53Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > That may be the most honest answer ever posted on the SDMB. When I first read his response I thought, “That is an awesome response!” > [@may\_be\_ignorant](#): > > Ha! I understand this refrence. Oh, and I’m a teenage boy too. If anyone around here would get the reference it would be the teenage boys we have here, all two of them. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/15 "2010-03-27T23:46:51Z")
**Wisthekiller** –if you did something wrong, you could hurt somebody. Dump the gizmo. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Kapowzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Super\_Kapowzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Kapowzler)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/16 "2010-03-28T00:56:47Z")
Find yourself an old IBM Selectric typewriter, the one with the “ball” covered in metal typeface. The entire system was designed around, IIRC, 2 capacitors that were grey and the size of a stick of dynamite. Utilize the electronics and you could build a “rapid-fire” instrument. In theory, I think. I would not know, personally. WTF is a typewriter? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/17 "2010-03-28T01:26:53Z")
Here’s a[YouTube video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7ax17-yE-s) showing how to make a camera taser. Just Google around for the terms camera taser ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/18 "2010-03-28T05:14:41Z")
So, in other words, you made a stun gun, not a taser. Except not really, because stun guns discharge at about 50,000V, not "150+"V. What you’ve got there is a “shocker,” as in “shocking prank pen!” ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/19 "2010-03-28T13:12:50Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > That may be the most honest answer ever posted on the SDMB. > > Now let mean old Oak throw a wet blanket on your fun, cuz that’s what I do. You just made something that may be considered a weapon in your jurisdiction. You’re a minor, and minors may not be allowed to possess weapons in your jurisdiction. You probably should either take it apart, and not do this anymore, or talk to your parents about it. They may be willing to help you determine whether you can keep it or not legally, and within their rules, as well. > > Whatever the hell you do, do not, under any circumstances, take that thing to school. Don’t show it to your friends, don’t post anything else about it, including pictures of it. > > Talk to a responsible adult. Now. **Oak** is right. I’m afraid you’ll have to tase your parents, preferably your Mother. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034/20 "2010-03-28T15:46:13Z")
Maybe the kid could get a job on Mythbusters. I am sure Adam would hire him on the spot. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-now-have-a-taser/534034.md?page=2)