The Hacksmith: Plasma Cutter Iron Man Gauntlet

2020-05-21 | By The Hacksmith

License: See Original Project

This project was created by Engineering Superheroes of Hackmith Industries.

DO NOT ATTEMPT to Re-Create

Nearly every Marvel movie with Iron Man in it includes a scene where he cuts something made of metal with a laser coming from his gauntlet. Whether Tony Stark is fixing a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, breaking into one of Thanos’ ships, or just causing some collateral damage in a fight, the lasers from Iron Man’s gloves are an iconic part of his suit.

A while back, Hacksmith Industries made a full metal Iron Man glove as part of the becoming Iron Man series. But it isn’t really an Iron Man glove until it has some technology in it. What better way to turn a plain gauntlet into part of a functioning Iron Man suit than to give it a laser beam? In this Hacksmith project, it’s more of a plasma beam, but it cuts through steel like butter just like in the movies. See how it’s made in the video below!

How Does it Work?

Since lasers don’t work in real life as they do in the movies, the gauntlet uses a plasma cutter instead. Plasma is superheated gas, and a plasma cutter works by combining compressed air and a high energy power source to direct plasma at whatever the user wants to cut. The plasma from a cutter is over 20,000°C — hotter than the surface of the sun.

The plasma cutter in the gauntlet is composed of parts from a normal plasma cutter. This plasma cutter is large and had to be plugged into a wall, so it needed some modifications to make it portable. After disassembling the unit, The Hacksmith team stripped it down to only the components needed to produce plasma.

Much of the circuitry in the unit is used to convert power from AC to DC since the device had to be plugged in. The Hacksmith team bypassed the AC to DC conversions by using 288V DC from the power source to the plasma cutter, which allowed for circuitry small enough to fit in an enclosure that the user can carry. The new power source is 12 LiPo batteries in series, which produces the 288V DC and makes the plasma cutter portable. The batteries are still slightly too big to fit in the gauntlet, so like the lightsaber projects, the power source is housed in a backpack.

Just like in the movies, the plate on the top of the gauntlet lifts to expose the plasma cutter head. By engaging the control switch, the plasma cutter slides out through a pneumatic cylinder to prepare for cutting.

Finally, a second glove is needed to ground the circuit. The user can place their second hand on the metal to cut it.

More Iron Man and MCU Projects on Maker.io

Hacksmith Industries has been working on a fully functional Iron Man suit for a few years now — you can view the whole series on their Youtube channel. Many of these projects can also be found on Maker.io!

Iron Man Projects

• Iron Man Helmet HUD
• Making an Arc Reactor With Arduino
• Interfacing a Jet Thruster on Iron Man's Suit

More MCU Projects

• Swinging Like Spiderman
• Climb Like Spider-Man with Electromagnetic Climbing Clamps
• 300V Capacitor Hammer of Thor
• Electromagnetic Hammer of Thor
• Spinning Helicopter Mount for Thanos' Sword