The first real.

[phalanx]

Retractable lightsaber. It’s a small step in the right direction, but it doesn’t last very long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSSAhmmiZjM

[oldandslow]

Looks like a blowtorch on steroids for a few seconds.

[phalanx]

Looks like a blowtorch on steroids for a few seconds.

Plasma cutters do what this thing does. But only up close. I used one once and it went right through a one inch thick metal plate.

[Ranger99]

JMHO- I would imagine that the
military has had a "ray gun" for some
time now.
When I was much younger, the laser
was the big thing, and one would
cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Now anybody can buy a laser pointer
for a dollar at any dollar store and
every small kid has a " communicator "
like Captain Kirk had in the 60's

[oldandslow]

I have used a plasma cutter and more than once. This thing is a mickey mouse torch that can reach 2800 degrees for a short time. Real, genuine, plasma cutters reach 40,000 degrees and can sustain it. Even an A/O rig puts this thing to shame with 6000 degree capability.

[phalanx]

I have used a plasma cutter and more than once. This thing is a mickey mouse torch that can reach 2800 degrees for a short time. Real, genuine, plasma cutters reach 40,000 degrees and can sustain it. Even an A/O rig puts this thing to shame with 6000 degree capability.

Even at that i wouldn’t want to be touched by it.

[phalanx]

JMHO- I would imagine that the
military has had a "ray gun" for some
time now.
When I was much younger, the laser
was the big thing, and one would
cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Now anybody can buy a laser pointer
for a dollar at any dollar store and
every small kid has a " communicator "
like Captain Kirk had in the 60's

They were messing around with rail guns for a couple of years. I don’t know what ever came of it, don't hear about them very much anymore.

[oldandslow]

I have used a plasma cutter and more than once. This thing is a mickey mouse torch that can reach 2800 degrees for a short time. Real, genuine, plasma cutters reach 40,000 degrees and can sustain it. Even an A/O rig puts this thing to shame with 6000 degree capability.

Even at that i wouldn’t want to be touched by it.

Well, neither would I. I have been touched slightly by a/o a couple of times over the years. It smarts.

[phalanx]

I have used a plasma cutter and more than once. This thing is a mickey mouse torch that can reach 2800 degrees for a short time. Real, genuine, plasma cutters reach 40,000 degrees and can sustain it. Even an A/O rig puts this thing to shame with 6000 degree capability.

Even at that i wouldn’t want to be touched by it.

Well, neither would I. I have been touched slightly by a/o a couple of times over the years. It smarts.

I bet it did and took awhile to stop smarting. I was in construction and got hit from behind by something a few times.
It hurt for awhile and was sore for a few days.

[oldandslow]

The worst burn I ever got was a small ball of slag. I was on a stepladder welding overhead with LH70 rod and a blob dropped landing in my front left jeans pocket and burning right thru the bottom an going into my slip on Red Wing boot where it stopped on the top of my foot. I still have the scar and that was at least 45 years ago. Funny thing is it never touched skin until it landed on my foot.

[phalanx]

The worst burn I ever got was a small ball of slag. I was on a stepladder welding overhead with LH70 rod and a blob dropped landing in my front left jeans pocket and burning right thru the bottom an going into my slip on Red Wing boot where it stopped on the top of my foot. I still have the scar and that was at least 45 years ago. Funny thing is it never touched skin until it landed on my foot.

Ouch!! So you were a welder? I’ve worked with some of them on the job sites. Putting up prefab buildings like aircraft hangers, and new shops. I was always the site project Forman watching over things. And a lot of new homes in subdivisions. Mostly in Lubbock and Hobbs NM. A lot of new apartment buildings.

[oldandslow]

Yep, ASME Code 9-G6 certified for years. It was oilfield and everything from 25# lines to waterflood at 5000#psi OP and gas production equipment hydro tested at 10,000# psi. Lots of repairs on pumpjacks, waterflood leaks, etc. plus some structual stuff. I even built some office furniture including bookends. I spent 2 years in underground maintenance in a potash mine putting equipment back together to start with but the need for fresh air and sunshine plus crappy work conditions (people in charge) sent me out of that place.

[phalanx]

Did you have your own truck, and welder? 

[oldandslow]

Yes, for about 10 years and I was offered a job as code welder with a major oil company which I took.