A fan has built an electrified Mjolnir with built in Tesla coils.
Captain American has his shield, Iron Man has his armor and Thor has his hammer. For my money, Thor has the best of the lot. Sure, Captain America can toss that shield around like nobody’s business and Iron Man’s suit can pretty much be modified to do whatever Tony Stark wants, but there’s just something about the hammer Mjorlnir that reeks of cool. Thor doesn’t need a fancy suit or a super serum, he’ll just walk into the room and beat you down like an interstellar nail in the wall.
Thanks to the success of the Marvel superhero films, tracking down a decent replica of Mjolnir isn’t too tall of an order these days. A quick Google search will find you some fairly convincing versions of the legendary mallet. That said, finding one that can replicate its less earthly properties could cause you some consternation. Walmart might have foam rubber Mjolnirs in its toy section, but it’s safe to say it probably hasn’t gotten around to stocking ones that summon lightning, just yet.
Hoping to bring fan hammers a step closer to the real deal, Caleb Kraft of Hackaday recently built a custom, electrified replica of Mjolnir. Kraft’s version includes miniature Tesla coils, hidden inside the hammer that can be activated at will to produce a small electrical discharge. Kraft made the hammer with the help Tesla coil hobbyist Staci Elaan. Elaan, who builds coils and then donates them to educational groups, built the 12V coil used in Kraft’s replica. “I had seen some videos of [Staci Elaan] showing off her battery-powered coils and I really liked her results,” said Kraft. “I figured, with her experience, she could probably do a better job than I could on getting the most bang out of a small package.”
Kraft’s Mjolnir may not be able to summon lighting bolts from the sky, but it’s nonetheless a nifty cosplay companion that’s likely to turn heads when it hits its first convention. It’s also a clever example of science being used to give life to a relic firmly rooted in fantasy.
Source: Hackaday
