Electromagnetic Boots

X-Men: Days of Future Past is making its way to theaters around the world, and [Mr. Furze] has released his second X-Men related hack 

In case you missed it, [Colin Furze] has made three projects to celebrate geekdom and a mastery of fabrication for all the comic book fans out there. He started with the fully functional pneumatic Wolverine Claws, and now he’s tackling Magneto’s powers. The third project isn’t out quite yet, but we can’t wait to see the final installment!

Now the problem with Magneto is his powers are a wee bit too… magical? Without special effects, you can’t really replicate his mutant abilities (please prove us wrong if you can!), so [Colin] decided to do the next best thing. Magnetize himself — well, his shoes.


Not wanting to spend too much money on this project, he needed electromagnets — but where do you get cheap electromagnets? The answer? Microwave ovens. By salvaging the transformers out of microwave ovens, you can easily cut them in half, remove the secondary coils, and bam, you’ve got a bunch of giant electromagnets.

 

 

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Pneumatic Wolverine Claws Are Quite Possibly The Best Thing Ever

With the new X-Men movie coming out soon, [Colin Furze] decided to make some real working props from the movies — starting with some bloody brilliant fully functional and retractable Wolverine claws.

We’ve seen Wolverine claws before, even electrified Wolverine claws, but never have we seen anyone take them to the level [Colin] has. He didn’t just want realistic Wolverine claws. He didn’t just want claws that could deploy. He wanted realistic claws that could both deploy, and retract — fast! And he wanted them to branch out just like the real deal.

He started brainstorming different ways of doing this. Motors, springs, geared racks, cables, pneumatic cylinders… nothing really fit the bill. Pneumatic power seemed the best option for performance, but the problem is he’d need a 12″ cylinder to sit behind his claws — it’d completely ruin the look — one of his main criteria for the project.


That was when he had a stroke of brilliance. What if he used o-ring seals, and turned the blades into pneumatic projectiles on a guide rail? Using a slew of awesome toys in his workshop including a TIG welder, desktop mill, grinders and more, he fabricated an awesome double-acting piston-less pneumatic cylinder which can blast his triple-bladed claws back and forth at high speeds on demand!
The only downside is he needs to carry a backpack complete with valve banks and an air tank — but as soon as you see the followin

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