X-Ray, call me simple "Death"-Ray

So.. you sit there spaced out, bored.. what to do.. what to do.. oh, i know, how about building an X-Ray machine!! That should be fun, fun, fun!! Now before you read any further.. get it in to your brain, it is dangerous, it brings lots of problems to you, your neighbours, pets and surrounding bacteria.. it involves parts and subatomic particles which guess what? Can kill you! One of them slow, some of them can fry you pretty fast.. So if you are yearning for a healthy dose of radiation better sign up for a regular check up at your nearest dentist office..

But, nevertheless.. nevertheless.. you might be somewhat surprised, as I initially was, that you can build a pretty solid X-Ray emitting device right there, in the convenience of your house. All parts can be fabricated or readily acquired from various suppliers and even more, the actual "how to" has been available to us, mere mortals, for some 40 years or so. First published in The Scientific American Book of Projects for The Amateur Scientist circa 1960, its been widely disseminated all over the Internet. The question remains though, has anybody out there was brave enough to reconstruct the device and test it? So what do you need to build this monster? You need a high voltage source, we are talking 35-65 kilo volts. In the article the voltage is generated by a vibrator (don't get me started..) a capacitor and a charged-discharge coil.. i say we are step up from 1960, these days you can get high voltage in a bit more efficient way.. no, your microwave transformer in its almighty power will not cut it, it only produces 2-5kv.. you need 10 times as much, what will do is a fly back transformer together with its glue logic. It's normally found inside CRT TVs or computer monitors. Expect those available in large numbers all over the country at the dump near you, as soon as we switch to digital over the air transmissions. Or you can get one already made and mailed to you from, say Information Unlimited or United Nuclear HV power supply. By the way if you happened to be short of an X-ray emitting vacuum tube United Nuclear X-Ray Tube has one of those together with the blocks of lead. Which you have to amass in big numbers to surround yourselves and your loved ones with should you decide to seat out a "nuclear winter".

Having said that, I once again, would like to remind you that having your portable x-ray machine is dangerous. Don't run to me crying saying that you got a bo-bo growing inside your head the size of a tennis ball. I have nothing to do with it, you have been warn. Also if you stick your fingers in to a power point it is equally bad, just to make sure you know this one as well.