Building An Iron Man Laser Gauntlet That Can Melt Steel

Because what good are superhero gadgets if we can’t make them in real life, the team at Hacksmith Industries built a 1.5-kilowatt Iron Man laser gauntlet capable of melting through a 1/4″ steel plate. It’s not exactly as impressive as Iron Man’s, but I’ll take what we can get, and I want this one.

In the video, they use the gauntlet to cut through increasingly thicker rope before moving to chains and, eventually, a 1/8″ steel door, then a 1/4″ steel plate. Sure, it doesn’t burn through them like a hot knife through butter, but it does get the job done – unlike me, in case you were wondering why I’m looking for work right now.

The laser they used in the gauntlet retailed for $100,000 when it came out but was picked up for just $6,000 because, apparently, these lasers depreciate before you even drive them off the lot. Thank goodness I didn’t invest in a bunch of these $100,000 lasers hoping to sell them on eBay for a profit, although I almost did.

[via TechEBlog]