When I was a kid, there was a “young adult” science project book in the grade/middle school library. The projects were absolutely, seriously dangerous. Some of them I remember (or DID), for example:
1. Make a “salt-water rheostat” using direct line current for other experiments (!)
2. Using (1), make a carbon-arc lamp using the carbon rods from old-fashioned carbon-zinc batteries (!!)
I seriously wonder if that book still exists in there...the library and school do.
When I was in high school, I made a rather high-powered carbon-dioxide infrared laser, that was so dangerous I took it apart in 1/2 hour and would not let my friends rebuild it. It was based on a Scientific American article (back when Scientific American was scientific, and The Amateur Scientist was a scientist). That thing wouldn’t just take your eye out, it would catch the back of your head on fire. And it was invisible!
...that is, the BEAM was invisible. But it could crack glass.
I also saw how you could build an arc welder by using nichrome wire coiled up as a wire wound resistor in series with the welding rods. I didn't have any nichrome. I did have some shiny wire. Why not. I wound some up and fabbed a rod holder and ground clamp. Didn't weld worth a damn. Blew the breaker over and over. So I gave up on that project. Gave up on electricity and started on Chemistry. Began buying up jar after jar of Salt Peter and sulfur from the drug store.
high-powered carbon-dioxide infrared laser>> got me looking at these amazing