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'Avengers' fanboy makes laser Iron Man glove that can do some damage

Watch laser enthusiast Patrick Priebe show off the blasting abilities of his slick Iron Man glove in a new YouTube video.

Michael Franco
Freelancer Michael Franco writes about the serious and silly sides of science and technology for CNET and other pixel and paper pubs. He's kept his fingers on the keyboard while owning a B&B in Amish country, managing an eco-resort in the Caribbean, sweating in Singapore, and rehydrating (with beer, of course) in Prague. E-mail Michael.
Michael Franco
2 min read

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It might not take down Ultron, but I'd hate to get caught in this high-powered laser beam. Patrick Priebe

He might not work at Stark Industries, but that hasn't stopped real-life inventor and YouTuber Patrick Priebe from creating a piece of gear that looks like it could have come from the Marvel-lous company's R&D department.

It's a working Iron Man glove that fires an aluminum slug and shoots a high-powered laser from its palm (to the accompaniment of a great sound effect), and another, slightly lower-powered laser from its knuckles. Priebe, who I first came across when he made a superbad laser-firing James Bond watch, says he made the glove in anticipation of the new " Avengers: Age of Ultron" movie.

Priebe told me that the outside of the glove is made from aluminum, spray-painted with primer, metallic red and candy red on top. The inside firing mechanism is made from brass.

"When you make a slide with moving parts, you want it to be as smooth as possible and brass is awesome for that," Priebe said.

Most impressively though, Priebe's Iron Man gauntlet has two lasers that can actually do some serious damage. From the palm, a blue, 700mW laser blasts out. You can see Priebe demonstrating how it can blast balloons into oblivion and sear patterns into wood in the video below. The red laser that comes from the top of the glove is a cooler 300mW version, but it can still make quick work of balloons (I'm not sure how it would stand up to Ultron).

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The palm-based laser is activated when Priebe flexes his hand, and the other weapons deploy through an attached controller.

Priebe says the entire project took him three weeks to complete, which is pretty quick considering how complex the gizmo is. Best of all, you might even be able to get Priebe to sell you one -- or any number of other laser-equipped gadgets he's made -- by contacting him through his website.

Hey Stark Industries, I've got a resume you might be interested in. What's your finder's fee these days?

Correction, 3.20 p.m. UK: A previous version of this story mixed up the milliwatt ratings of the glove's two laser beams.