Shrunken Quarters

Bert Hickman of Tesla Mania uses a technique known as high velocity electromagnetic metal forming, or Magneforming, to shrink quarters, which he sells for $15 a pop.
This technique was originally developed by the aerospace industry in conjunction with NASA, and has been popularized by Aerovox, Grumman, and Maxwell. It involves quickly discharging a high energy capacitor bank through a work coil to generate a very powerful and rapidly changing electromagnetic field which then “forms” the metal to be fabricated.
Hickman also produces Lichtenberg figures in acrylic–also for sale on his site. Lichtenberg figures are branching, tree or fern-like patterns that form as the result of high voltage discharges on, or within, insulating materials. They occasionally occur on the skin of lightning strike victims (for more on that topic, see this Slate article), and have even been found in the ground after a lightning strike.


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