Dollar Store Arc Reactor

Hey everyone, as you can see I am new here. This is my first official build of any kind. Up until yesterday, I hadn't even picked up glue or scissors since elementary school.

I originally found RPF while searching for an Iron Man chest piece to make for Halloween. Instead of jumping right in to it, I decided it would be better to build one to put on display on my workbench. After researching the forums and Google, I found the dollar store build idea to be perfect to get my hands wet.

All items were purchased yesterday from the dollar tree, with the exception of the hose nozzle that I bought from Big Lots for $2.50, copper wire and medal ring from home depot for $1. Total cost of the build was around just under $10 with tax.

There are some things I would do differently next time. I ran out of copper and would have preferred to have each wrapped section be more full. I plan to build a proper stand for it to be placed on. If anyone is interested, I am happy to list the materials and how-to instructions.

That is beautiful, I am trying to mix and match parts for my dollar store arc build, and your design is great!

Very cool, pure genius design. Can't beat that for $10!

runnothide said:

That is beautiful, I am trying to mix and match parts for my dollar store arc build, and your design is great!

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Thanks guys. I had to wander outside of the dollar star for just a few things. Made sure that everything stayed inexpensive though. I am very happy with how it turned out.

Trying to figure out what my next build might be. This looks so good in my garage that I would like more props to go with it.

Iron Fan said:

If anyone is interested, I am happy to list the materials and how-to instructions.

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Interested! Please post!

Interested as well.

I would love to build this

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Materials organized by store and price:

Home Depot
5 Feet Smallest Gauge Copper Wire - 16 Cents per foot. ( I Should have gotten more )
Circular Metal Ring - $1 ( Need to find out exact name. It was in the electrical section and had to do with fans )

Dollar Store
Metal Can for office desk - $1 ( Usually used for things like holding paper clips )
LED Nightlight - $1 ( Will get name of exact one. It came inside a soft white bulb shaped item )
Sink Strainer - $1
Mini Binder Clips - $1
Strainer Set - $1

Big Lots
Hose Nozzle - $2.50

What I had At Home
Clear Plastic Cups - Not the standard size, these were about an 8oz Cup.
AAA Batteries

Tools
Hot Glue Gun W/ Glue
Drill with bits
Hand Saw


Instructions to follow. Thanks again for all the replies. Very encouraging.

If there is enough interest in it, I might make another one and do a video on it.

Step 1: I borrowed the idea from Xrobots to use the clear plastic dixie cups for the inner rings.I cut two in half and used the tops by placing one inside the other. Then place the small binder clips ( 8 total ) over the top edges of the cups and clamp down. Once they are all on, I cut the copper into about 1.5 foot sections and split the strands. I used 3 strands per clip. You can tie them in to the clips and wrap around the edges. When you are done it should look something like the first picture. It fits perfect inside the metal basket. Note: This is the most time consuming step.

Step 2: Flip the metal basket over and place a dime directly in the center. Trace the dime and drill out a hole that size. This is where the LED light will sit. Flip the basket back over and place the bottom part of the hose bib, over the hole on the inside. This should line up perfectly in the center. You may hot glue this in place but I chose to use super glue. Allow to dry. See Pictures 2, 3, and 4.

Step 3: Take the top part of the hose bib and saw off the bottom piece with the nut in it. You will now have a whole in the bottom. Measure the diameter of the whole and cut the sink strainer and mesh from the strainer tools to the exact circumference. Super glue these two to the bottom of your hose nozzle. Flip this over and super glue to the metal ring. See photos 5, 6.

Step 4: When the top piece is done drying, it should fit perfectly on top. I chose again to super glue the top to the rest of the reactor. I mostly did drops of glue on top of the copper coils. The top will look like picture 7.

Step 5: Take apart the LED light and you should be left with the light, some wire, and the battery pack. It comes with a miniature button to turn the unit on and off. I flipped the reactor over and hot glued the light to the bottom hole. Picture 8.

And there you have it. I know my instructions may not be the best. Please let me know if you have questions. I would be happy to help.

Nice work. I like the binder clips, that's thrifty.

That looks great. Now you've caught the bug....soon your garage will be taken over by awesome props.

tauriice said:

That looks great. Now you've caught the bug....soon your garage will be taken over by awesome props.

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Looking forward to that! Think while I work on my skills I might stick to budget builds for a while. Searching through some movies right now for the next idea.

Ha I tried reading through and got soooo confused but it is a very cool project

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thanks for the parts list and instructions i'll def. be building one myself now :thumbsup

In the second picture what is that metal ring from. Pm me if you can

McFly88 said:

thanks for the parts list and instructions i'll def. be building one myself now :thumbsup

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Let me know how it works out ! I am considering buying another set of parts to do a video tutorial with.

Iron Fan said:

Let me know how it works out ! I am considering buying another set of parts to do a video tutorial with.

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:thumbsup will do!

In case anyone was interested, here's the light source used in the movie. It's quite a bit more expensive.

Rosco 3" Circle LitePad HO+ (Daylight) 290400030120 B&H

Here's Adam Savage using it in his Iron Man suit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hYBDDZjgiw

Your $ store Arc Reactor is very impressive. I would like to see your vid when and if you make another

Thanks, I think I might do a video for the reactor I will wear for Halloween. I am going hunting today for parts for my budget Flux Capacitor. That will be my next build.