K'nex Solar Death Ray

I think I can safely say that this is BY FAR the most powerful K'nex "gun" ever constructed, even if the main component is not technically a K'nex piece. Rather than blasting its target with a white rod shot shot from rubber bands, the "death ray" hits its target with 9.6 Kilowatts of solar energy, enough to reduce pennies to puddles in seconds.

My friend Paul and I bought a 4 foot by 3 foot Fresnel lens this morning. The obvious thing to do with it, of course, is turn it into giant solar magnifier, so we constructed a 1,500 piece K'nex frame for it. By the time we were finished it was 7 in the evening so the sun was fairly low in the sky, but it still got hot enough to vaporize pennies with ease.

I plan to post a video soon when we get a chance to try it mid-day.

Paul holding the death ray, attempting to melt a railroad spike.
The welding mask is necessary to look at the spot, it would blind you otherwise.

Close-up of the death ray vaporizing pennies.

Penny: before and after.

Small summer projects

Here's a couple of small projects I built over the summer.