Barely Legal Lego: Making a Powerful Lego Coil Gun
Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=122597865
See my latest experiments and behind-the-scenes footage!
This project combines some of my favourite things - Lego, high (ish) voltage, and shooting things! What happens if we dump a large charge into a copper coil? We get a massive magnetic field that we can use to propel metal pieces.
But the problem with many electromagnetic shooters is that they rely on dangerously high voltages, large capacitor banks, and complicated electronic timing mechanisms. Does it really have to be this way though? In this video, I’m going to experiment with building a simplified but powerful coil gun using Lego, some capacitors, and a mechanical means of timing the shots. Lego is ideal here, as it allows a lot of modularity and refinement of the design.
We’ll use different combinations of capacitors, projectiles, and voltages to arrive at a powerful, but simple coil gun design. A word of caution though - please be aware that higher voltages can be dangerous to handle, and of course, anything that shoots projectiles can be potentially injurious. So please don't try this at home!
Testing out voltages like a sommelier tasting fine wines was hilarious
Full bodied 🍷
In the future PLEASE test only between two fingers at most, or event the same finger. Your method is making the shortest route from one hand to the other, go possibly straight through your heart! Preferably, you'd just never shock yourself XD (Even less than a Amp to the heart can kill you) @@JamiesBrickJams
Might have been a good idea to not test from one hand to the other across the chest. :-)
You're right of course! Especially not with higher voltages or AC. At these levels, it's largely fine (for me, my physiology, and environment), but in the interest of safety, it's best to stick to just one body part regardless
its not the amps, volts or watts that kill, its the joules.
Styropyro would want this as an actual Lego set
He's my hero 😉
@@JamiesBrickJams same
@@JamiesBrickJams our psychotic manic hero
@@JamiesBrickJams Imagine a Lego rail gun powered by his 100 car battery bank
@@JamiesBrickJamsCheck out electroboom and photoninduction
I love it when the silly Lego man makes a Lego gun that’s barely not a firearm
😁
@@JamiesBrickJams creepy
@@mikehoncho3099 lol
@@mikehoncho3099 Ah yes, the commie country of Ireland.
It's barely not a firearm in Ireland. As others have stated, in the US you get more power from hand pumped air rifles, to say nothing of things like paintball guns.
I love how you make sure to test voltages by holding one wire in each hand, making sure to pass the current through your heart each time just to maximize the danger.
Haha 😅 In this case it is relatively safe, but in retrospect I could have demonstrated better safety in case anyone gets silly ideas
And you're supposed to test with the back of your hand, so that if the electricity activates any muscles, they pull you away from the wire instead of towards it.
Generally a good practice, yes 👌
@@JamiesBrickJams If ur hands was sweated even a little bit, with 9 battery and the grabbing is ensure the never let go situation. Also i would edit out this scene and redo it with one hand. If someone try this at home, becouse you said "it's relatively safe", they can die. Rule of thumb with DC (DC is like 10 times more dangerous then AC, on AC the voltage goes down to zero 100 or 120 times per second): - Only operate with one hand - If the voltage is higher than 50V use safety bracelets, thats connected to the negative pole -and the most important! !!! ALWAYS HAVE SOMEONE WITH A SAFE DISCONNECT AROUND !!!
@@_decky4ever_ womp womp
I like how you fire that thing at targets on a glass table
Yeh at 1 joule it isn't going to do crap. No reason you cant boost this design to some fairly terrifying speeds though but i have a way in my head to fire projectiles like that to about 1k fps using nothing but a couple large drone motors and metal "wheels" spinning at very high speeds. Very pitcher machine like and it will even be able to put a spin on the projectile. Not sure how fast it could fire 1 but here in the us it would not even qualify as a firearm
@@nanaki-setosimilar to a flywheel style nerf blaster but deadly, I like it.
hey buddy, EE here. If you're going to touch voltages greater than like 60V, do it with just one hand so it doesn't go through your heart and kill you.
This! EE as well, Ive gotten a decent shock from a 60V segment. You might not have felt anything at that voltage but a small change in moisture could have a big difference!
You're of course both right, ideally I should have tested this only using one body part. In retrospect I wish I'd done that purely from an educational standpoint - will bear that in mind for future videos. For these tests I'm well aware of the difference moisture makes though - only doing this kind of thing with dried hands and an air conditioned apartment. That's been important for a number of previous projects!
Im going to touch all the the voltages and you cant stop me!
Nothin' like calling a grown man "buddy" to piss 'em off, champ.
@@thomasdickson35True, another "EE" here. And ive always found the best way to get people to listen to me is by being rude and condescending
Ah yes, William Tell, who shot an apple off a child's head, the arrow immediately knocked over both the child and the wall behind him and then the pierced apple then fell on the kid's face. Classic Germanic slapstick.
I'm no fairy tale expert but that sounds about right 👌
Possible improvements: 1) have the firing slider move forward instead of rearward when the trigger is pulled. This allows adding a cocking lever to one side. Pull to cock. 2) move the charging contacts to the back of the same slider as the firing contacts. These contacts close when in the cocked position. You may have to spring load one side of the charging contacts to ensure good connection. This fixes your design flaw, since the charging contacts open before the firing contacts close. 3) design a magazine with multiple projectiles stacked on top of each other. Cocking the trigger mechanism drops the next projectile into firing position. No idea how to accomplish this. Might be fun to figure out. BTW, if you think 100VDC hurts, try 300VDC. I latched onto that while troubleshooting a fire detection system on a gas turbine generator package. My boss latched onto 15000VDC. Fortunately, the only ground was through the leather soles of his shoes on dry concrete. He was still picking carbon splinters out of his fingers months later. He stayed away from our workbench after that. As always, fascinating seeing what you get up to with Lego. I am always impressed with your creativity.
Hot damn I like your suggestions, cheers. Moving the charging handle to the firing contacts would be a good move. Really this does need an automatic way of making sure the firing pin is reset before charging. I only made that mistake once, but it melted some of my Lego. That is really the only risk to this 'safe' coil gun. I considered a magazine, but loading is actually quite challenging. Though not impossible if I cut out some of the straw. Can certainly try that on a V2. My condolences to your buddy 😂 DC is a lot more forgiving than AC, but even just 300vdc sounds nasty!
im no expert on this stuff but i have a few other suggestions that might be useful: better reloading mechanism: have a built in rod thing to push the nail into the barrel, which is easy to slide in or out (maybe with a rubber band so you only need to pull it out to push in the nail and then it goes backwards again) scope: doesnt need to be a big sniper scope obviously but some small things near the front of the gun would make aiming easier as you’d have a better idea of where its shooting extra ammo holder: could be some sort of magazine (probably gravity fed on top) or just some sort of thing which you can simply use to hold onto other nails so you can reload grip: probably would be mounted under the barrel at the front, could possibly make it easier to hold and aim idk. this and the main grip at the back could maybe be combined with curved lego parts like slopes to make it more comfortable to hold as well this thing is really awesome though, i cant wait to see what you do with it next! 😊
@@JamiesBrickJamshave you seen electroboom? He took 2000v AC and also tried to lick 50V DC thinking it would be painless
@@Zyghqwyvsure, but Mehdi is actually an electrical engineer and almost always has safety in mind and knows how to look stupid without ending up on LiveLeak.
Yes credit where it's due - Mehdi does a great job educating around high voltage and safety. There's almost nothing shown that isn't highly controlled and done in a manner to reduce risk
As we all know, the safest way to test out different voltages is up one arm, directly across your heart and back down the other arm
Ha don't worry, I'm well aware 😅 Though in retrospect I should have demonstrated it via one hand only to make sure folks don't get any silly ideas. I'm just hoping folks will take heed of the cautionary note in the video and not attempt it themselves! This should at least give an idea of the DC voltage range to bear in mind in a safe, controlled environment
Hi @@JamiesBrickJams, I'm not an expert in electronics but still, be carefull with coils. This shit can be very dangerous, because voltage can increase by a lot when you use it like that. In fact, if I'm not wrong, coils doesn't like when there are big spike of curent in very short time. When it append the voltage increase by a lot. (sorry if i'm not clear, I'm from France and English is not easy with me ). Same thing, capacitor are more dangerous than batteries because they have higher output curent because the maxiaml power is highter to for the same voltage. still very good video, thank you
Uncle Iroh always says, the current can never go through the heart
I think it’s funny that you make borderline illegal weapons out of a kid’s toy
Jamie's got a gun His dog day's just begun Now everybody is on the run Because Jamie's got a gun
What delightful poetry Lukey!
🥶@@JamiesBrickJams
@@JamiesBrickJams lukey's referring to a song kzhead.info/sun/hdWKnpZ5e4x7ZHk/bejne.html
That makes sense, I've known Luke for years and he's never read any poetry for me 😢@@SympBizkit
This can only end well…
😅
what can i make with legos? google: make a giraffe! bing:
I only saw "Barely Legal" at first and thought I was on the wrong website for a minute
😂
Bro me too
🫢
3:05 Even tough it's not really that big of a deal in this situation, never touch two poles of a high voltage power source with your both hands. If the voltage is high enough you the current flows trough your heart and lungs, which is - as you might imagine - not a good thing! Also if you have to touch exposed wires, do it with the back of your and, this way if the electricity makes your muscles contract, it won't force you to keep holding the wire
Very good advice for higher voltages for sure! And don't worry, there's no way I would have done this with AC, or much higher voltages 😉 This is just some light-hearted experimentation for folks curious about how DC batteries affect you at higher voltages
Still use two fingers on the same hand. There is a wide range of currents which can either stop a heart or cause irregular rhythms and you don't want to find out what those are. This is serious stuff man
That's true, and good advice 👌
Or just dont go near high voltage unless you absolutely must and take safety precautions
@@JamiesBrickJams sorry for being another party pooper but dc WILL clamp your muscles if you hold too long, and you won't be able to let go. I've done this with 100 ish volts dc and had to stomp on the wire to get it out of my hand. Use back of your hand if you don't want burns. Loved the video though, you got some pretty great results with some cool mechanisms!
Never realized how easily 9Vs could be chained...they just snap together! Brilliant
And brilliantly dangerous. Even if you dont work like a Bozo it can be dangerous if the batteries age or if you shortcircuit them accidentally. They can start to burn.
Image making a lego gun so powerful you need to register it as a firearm😂
For comparison, a good medieval warbow might get up to 100 joules.
Sooooo.... What I'm getting from this is that politicians suck
@@yeetiminguspro3438 Shocking right?
@@yeetiminguspro3438 gun control will never work, its no different from the prohibition because people will get them anyway. there is no point in trying.
I'm not sure if you've already made this, but a working LEGO railgun would be cool to see!
I've never actually built a rail gun, but I quite like the idea. Quite a challenge to overcome the welding problem though...
@@JamiesBrickJams If you make that into a video, expect to see me somewhere in the comments section.
i'm looking forward to version two - featuring a single mechanism to reset the firing pin, charge the capacitors and load a new projectile from a magazine in a single action.
I'm pretty sure that's all doable - will likely revisit this in a future project!
Its amazing to have a law defining how strong you can throw an object before they prosecute you, isn'it?
the legal maximum of muzzle energy for an air rifle in the UK is 12 foot pounds, one Joule is 0.74 Foot pounds
@@gordongate can't beat down a wild buffalo with a rubber band and a paper clip! 😂
They try to outlaw memorizing big numbers (encryption). Fear and greed is a hell of a drug,
Some thing i find funny is a literal gun doesn’t legally count as a gun in America as long as it’s a black powder antique, but in Ireland it anything that chucks something over a Joule in energy
Which is pretty ridiculous when you consider i can chuck a rock with a hundred times more energy in it...
@@numbdigger9552 considering the fastest baseball pitch ever had around 140 joules of energy,i highly doubt you can throw a rock with 100 joules of energy in it
@@lefront4674 well to be fair you have no idea how good i am at throwing rocks.
@lefront4674 that man was a lot of guns
You know what happens when something becomes a metric.
Lego: We wont do war sets or guns! This madlad : functional gun it is!
KZhead: "lets put up safety measures so we don't have adults teaching children how to create a potential lethal contraption, like a gun..." This guy: "hold my beer."
Hands off this beer too kids
Its not travelling through your fingertips, its traveling through your heart my dude.
Usual definition of "low voltage" is below 60V. Even those PP3 batteries can put enough current out to stop your heart once the voltage is high enough, so there's no intrinsic safety in using them. So they need respecting as being hazardous and potentially deadly. Fortunately you'd have to touch both ends at once to get a zap, unlike the mains. Putting the current across both arms and therefore your chest is a dangerous idea. Using wires and pressing the back of one hand or a leg would be a better way. You don't want to wake up in hospital thinking "Hm, 9V less next time". Although it's preferable to not waking up.
Warning, don't assume from this that you can touch other 100V sources with impunity. Those 9V batteries can't supply lot of current. Without measuring it, you don't know whether the voltage across your hands was actually 100V when you were touching the terminals, or whether it dropped to something lower due to the internal resistance of the batteries.
Its the the volts thats gonna kill you its the amps
@@nateblack1379is you illeterate 💀
@@nateblack1379No, it's a combination of a bunch of different factors that can't just be boiled down to voltage or amperage.
Its new to me to see people just stabbing contact points through a wire rather than fusing them with soldering iron and tin. I like it
Yea, it would be a lot more efficient that way (more joules per volt), but we are talking about a 9v powered lego coilgun. 🤷
@@SuperBrainAK wasnt it 120 volts?
as someone who has messed with high voltage capacitors and electronics in general, your method of connecting them by just shoving them through a hole in some wires gives me anxiety the likes of which has never been seen before.
Why are you shooting stuff on a GLASS TABLE???????😭😭😭😭
It’s purely aesthetic, but why don’t you consider putting something spinning around the coil ? It has no use and is a hollywood fantasy but it’s still cool
I enjoy over-engineered and pointless things so long as they look cool - cheers for the idea 😉
@@JamiesBrickJams Yeah ! Like a charge rifle from a video game where there is magnets spinning around the coil until the shot is released
I've a vague recollection of the tau cannon from Half Life 1 having something like that
@@JamiesBrickJams Or like apex legends charge rifle, where there is a part spinning around the cannon
The balls on this guy to use a glass table to shoot at is insane
measuring voltage by how far you feel it up your finger lmao
Should be careful with that voltage, according to my wiring rules 120V DC is the point where Extra Low Voltage (fairly safe to handle) becomes Low Voltage (Usually lethal)
you really need a multimeter pleaseee be careful with those batts, and be aware that they have low capacity, I recommend having a BMS and a buncha lithium cells instead, at least they are both dangerous and rechargeable instead of dangerous and u gotta replace the whole battery
I actually considered lithium batteries to simplify it even further by removing the capacitors - might even try that in the future! But these batteries provide an absolute ton of shots. I've shot this thing many hundreds of times now and they're showing no signs of running out of juice
@@JamiesBrickJams ooh, i just know they are really bad for arduino things, even simple blinking leds can only last 50 minutes and since yours are in series, capacitance is still the same. I'm guessing for your design the batteries are still powering the caps even when they drop below 5v thus you can still squeeze the last bit of juice outta them while for an arduino it stop after the input is under 5v
Keep up the quality content man! Always enjoy seeing a vid drop from you :)
Thanks a lot, appreciate it! 🙏
Awesome video, as always. Really didn't expect 1J to be this strong😂 If you're planning to do a follow-up video, you could make it automatically charge up after you reset the contacts. Just make another screw to the other side and make it basically a 2 path switch, so when you pull the trigger, it connects the capacitors to the coil and when you reset it, it connects the capacitors to the battery. It would also solve the problem with the ark you had.
That's not a bad idea, cheers for the suggestion - you're right, the main thing this needs (at least to make it truly safe) is an automatic opening of the firing contact just before the charging handle is activated. Relatively straightforward for a V2!
@@JamiesBrickJams Looking forwards to the follow-up video!
7:28 the capacitors were in parallel, not in series
yess
I think you just make "self defense" become "counterattack"
Nice. Create a rotating magnetic field along the coil gun's tube to induce a spiral spin in the projectile. Maintain the field just beyond the projectile's reach to allow it to be propelled forward without fully stabilizing. Instead of a single burst, use the field as a continuous wave to provide sustained propulsion. Additionally, consider using opposing magnetic fields to temporarily immobilize the projectile until launch, allowing pressure to build up. Then, deactivate the counter field to release the projectile, essentially allowing it to 'ride the wave' and slide off the coil gun like a conveyor belt. Great video and impressive magnetic launcher!
you should make a 2.O so that when you pull the charging handle back it resets the triger
That's definitely on the menu 👌
1J energy limit? A true nanny state when throwing a stone with my arm can break the limit like 50 times.
I think making the charging handle and the trigger bolts connected would remove that possibility of having both latches closed and you would only need to charge/latch the trigger bolt.
Firing at obstacles on a glass table is excellent planning
Having your pneumatic gun and sync it perfectly with this gun even better
The pneumatic gun speeds up the projectile, and the coil speeds it up, probably over the legal limit.
@xanderplayz3446 treat it like the Torchwood from PVZ, the pneumatic gun fires a round that enters a stationary coil gun barrel (held up with a tripod or something) to accelerate past the legal limit, without the actual firearm being illegal
Nobody's mentioning the fact that hes testing the volts with Both hands, which connects the circuit and goes through the heart. This could possibly have gone bad if he had a heart problem
i noticed that but im such a safety third kind of guy that i would have felt like a hypocrite for bringing it up.
literally everyone is mentioning it actually
Testing its power on a Glas table is very brave.
Amazing video as usual, lad! Glad to see the channel growing
Aw thanks a lot! 🙏
Gotta love that the nail gun from ultrakill is getting a real life version
*There's nothing barely legal about this.*
Random person: "what'd you do today?" This guy: "I built a Lego coilgun"
This video is so well-produced and informative. I can tell you put a lot of time and effort into it.
Aw appreciate it, thanks for the kind words!
Love how hes firing big metal rods at objects on two different glass tables.
"exactly 1 joule" translates to "this was slightly higher than 1 joule but i legally cant say that"
😂
Neat. As a simple safety mechanism, you could position the reloading bolts on the opposite side of the shooting bolts, so you use the trigger reset to reload the caps, and thus never leave the trigger connected.
Improvements i can suggest is a safety switch to avoid the thing setting on fire and making the charging system a bit more similar to the trigger, being more built into the gun rather than on the side
I think you could mitigate the security risk by having the recharge on the same slider as the fire, just the other end: to recharge, slide forwards, and firing backwards. Makes it so that only one can be engaged at a time.
By far the bravest and most insane part of this video was at the end where you tested shooting sharp pointy metal things at an unknown velocity with your leather living room couch situated behind the targets, which were on your glass living room table. This was epic. The order of Lego meets the chaos of mad scientist youtube.
'Controlled chaos' 😅
I'd suggest a pump handle that both resets the discharge bolts and connects/disconnects the charging bolts. It'd solve the issue of ever forgetting to reset the firing mechanism before charging capacitors. With some additional tinkering you could also get it to load a new nail
For sure, that is definitely needed for a V2! I like the idea of automatic reloading too
Copper wire wrapping for electro-magnetic is expensive for us to try so thank yoi!!
The best qay you could improve this is by linking multiple coils and having software or other jerry rig solution to time them correctly, this will allow even better acceleration and velocity for the projectile
Railguns use a similar concept, the use of electromagnets to fire a solid steel or tungsten projectile.
waw this is such a beautiful project to build xoxo great video. cant wait to see more.
Looks awesome, I dig the bull-pup aesthetic, very PS90
I think you should add something like a wing at the end if the needle so that the needle will fly straight, not hitting the target without the tip facing toward the target.
Did you think, perhaps, to collapse the magnetic field, having a mechanism where the flying projectile activates something that cuts off the power to the coil right when it's in a certain position? You could do it optically with a photodiode and transistor in a pretty simple circuit. Using a MOSFET and the like doesn't have to be too complicated, it's still on the order of what you're doing. You could even being an Arduino in for endless tweaking, again not too complicated.
a way you could improve it would be to add a mechanism that automatically resets the trigger mechanism so you dont have to pull that knob every time, and something that automatically charges the capacitors also a magazine wouldnt go amiss
Do a design with boltaction anda magazine. Like a "HIgh voltage" Sniper ;) I love this!!!!
Also, you can use electro coated plastic bbs to lighten the load but keep some strength.
Shooting nails at targets on a glass table is a bold move. You could probably link or interlock the trigger reset and charging handle. The trigger reset has a very nice "bolt action" feel to it.
Yeah the tactile feedback is only ok - I like your idea of integrating the two. I'm sure some stronger elastic bands would make it feel better as there's very little recoil, making the gun feel a bit weak, even though the output is reasonable. My (weaker) air guns FEEL much more satisfying. Cheers for the suggestion
already know I will love this video as i like lego and electronics as well! :)
Awesome, hope it scratches that itch 😉
"I probably should'nt go any further than this" Intrusive Thoughts:"do it, i know that you want to do it" 6:56
😅
Would love to see this build with multiple coils...in a different country of course 😅 Love the build as always! Keep up the great content!
Thanks a lot! I might try a multi stage version next time 😁
Hmmm. Perhaps you could make some sights for the gun? With actual optics. That would be cool. Also some safety and magazine would be good for the gun too.
if that dude didn't have a helmet, he'd be dead for sure, the orange fell right on his head! Safety first, kids!
I always look out for my technic dudes!
The way you connected the wires to the capacitors hurts my soul.
I’m sure you could dramatically increase your accuracy if you reduce the tolerance in the barrel and add rifling. Even if you have sites, it’s still a smooth barrel.
This reminds me of a guy who 3D prints actually IRL munition types and tests them on cardboard, would be sick to see maybe you two collab to further progress the Coil Gun and make it fire plastic APFSDS.
Using a sabot is a really cool idea I'd like to explore at some point - cheers for the suggestion!
Congratulations you gave earned yourself a new subscriber
People so worried about 3d printing guns, when lego has existed for years 😂
I think, if you sharpen the nail a little bit more and use some piercing material, you could actually use it as a self-defense gun.
you can make the charging handle reset firing pin so you never forgot to reset it, or just make the firing pin powered by trigger
i was shocked when a Lego building guy actually talked instead of asmr
automatic reloading, and combining the trigger reset and charge into one sort of "cocking" mechanism so that you can avoid the issue with forgetting to reset
I like the idea of automatic reloading - would make better use of the very fast charging time. And definitely making the firing pin reset automatically before charging is needed for a V2!
Testing a projectile weapon in front of a leather couch (especially when you're in relations)? You're a hardcore risk-taker!
I'll let my relations know someone thinks I'm hardcore 😂
Testing woltages with your fingers when your heart is in the middle of the circuit is very wise thing to do!
no to dissimilar to that of Sabots or APDS (a armor piercing round for tanks). add some fins on the end and a discarding case to the nails. the funny thing is i look at the mechanisms and think that would be fairly easy to automate it. to make a coil machine gun.
You definitely need an assembly that disengages the trigger contact to engage the charging contact.
when you said: without going over it, you lost me. Thanks though for your video.
"That is quite a kick, that is not pleasant" *does it again* ..literally me
all it needs is a boltaction mag on top and an automatic recharge when chambering the nail
I, as an American, will gladly continue this chain of coils to make a probably-very-dangerous-coil-gun
good man.
Quick tip, don't test the voltage across your two hands, AKA across your chest/heart. You only need 90 - 130 mA of DC for a second or so to cause ventricular fibrillation.
man i thought it was like lego illegal building techiniques but this is another level 😭
There is a reason voltages below 120V DC and 50V AC are considered "safe" low voltage. These Voltages are the "let-go threshold", above you may not be able to release your muscles when current flows through you. And testing voltages between both of your hands, with current flowing across your heart muscle might lead to heart problems/failure in the future!
You're right, in general these are not voltages to be doing this with. They happened to be somewhat safe for my specific environment and physiology, but I wouldn't want anyone else to try to replicate this
this is just for aesthetic, but imagine a version with one of the contacts on a hammer and the other in place of a firing pin
would love to see this as an rc tank. Works super well, just too heavy to hold
That's actually a really cool idea. Especially with an automatic reloader
One thing I'd suggest for better accuracy would be to measure the voltage you're getting from the batteries for use on your graph's horizontal axis. Your 45 volts from 5 batteries may be quite a bit lower than nominal from the battery voltages dropping from use.
if you do more lego ballistics in the future (like this or your air one(s)), it would be nice to see things slowed down a bit more. it is a bit hard to see impact on some shots.
That's good feedback, thanks! I've been considering a slow motion camera, but currently that's not in my budget. But would love to invest in something like that in time 😉
@@JamiesBrickJamscool to hear! I wish you luck towards that goal, and can't wait to see what you post next :)
In Germany we have protective low voltage which is rated at 120V DC or 50C AC