Colin Furze with his DIY Wolverine claws. colinfurze/YouTube
Everyone knows Marvel's mutant superhero team X-Men, and consequently Wolverine, one of the team's most prominent members with an adamantium (a fictional metal alloy) skeleton and claws. It's very likely that every fan has dreamed of having those claws in real life at some point. While we don't have adamantium, it turns out, you can build a set of your own with stainless steel.
Popular Youtuber, inventor, and plumber Colin Furze has posted the production process of his ingenious project - fully functioning Wolverine claws on his YouTube channel. He recorded the whole process from start to finish, not leaving out any detail. At the end of the video, he shows off the end product while slicing and dicing his way through everyday objects (and even an inflatable version of the X-Men's Mystique).
In case you didn't know, in the films and the comics, Wolverine has claws that pop out from between his knuckles. But, of course, Furze hasn't gone as far as implanting actual steel claws into his hands. However, he masterfully created a system where they can automatically deploy and retract. What's more, these claws have a small profile, which means they sit on the wrists without being too bulky for the user. To activate the automation of the claws, the user, however, has to wear a pneumatic assembly preferably in a backpack.
A plumber by day and an inventor by night, Furze designed and manufactured the claws from scratch in his garage. He made them from stainless steel and set about with a few goals including the most obvious one: for them to well resemble Wolverines claws. He also wanted a smooth deploying and retracting system.
After much consideration, he ruled out an air ram, cable system, and a motor and toothed track system, and finally set on using a pneumatic assembly that uses air pressure to pop out the claws. He also wanted the blades to spread out as if they were deployed rather than remaining parallel, to completely replicate Wolverine's.
Curious? Check out the video below to see them in action in all their glory: