REBAR CROSSBOW FROM HALF LIFE!

TOP QUESTIONS: -Why not use an induction coil? Induction coils are not as efficient as resistance heating. You would need a power supply (+ the battery) the size of a microwave to produce 15kW of heat. Where as with resistive heating, you only need a battery pack to produce 15kW to get that much heat. -Why isn't the tip red hot? If the tip was red hot, it wouldn't penetrate at all. It would deform on impact. We can do it (just use a shorter bolt). -What's the music at the beginning? It's the Valve intro music in many games. -Why didn't you use real rebar? It's not very conductive because it is rusty and bumpy. Hard to make a good connection. That's why we used smooth steel rods. This is shown in the video. -You should test this against the shield! The shield would win ;-)

NEXT PROJECT: GRAVITY GUN

I suspect loading the bolts and drawing the bow would be easier if you had an HEV suit. Not only to protect your hands from the metal and the string, but also to help with the pull strength.

The concept of such an old medieval weapon like a crossboww being turned into a scrappy home-made sniper rifle that shoots rebars heated up by a battery is just something that I find super cool.

So the crossbow implies at some point, alyx and maybe some of the vorts all gathered round a workbench at some coast base, came up with this concept, built several working models (enough to supply most resistance supply posts with rebar ammunition for it) and during none of this did eli or kleiner or anyone else say “this is stupid and dangerous”.

Like many weapons from games, the whole concept is seriously flawed - but you actually managed to get it working as intended. That is a major accomplishment and I salute you! Good job. Of course the crossbow could be improved by a built-in winch - then you could also increase the draw weight further. Rebar isn't a very good arrow material anyway as it isn't front heavy, so the "arrows" won't fly straight over a longer distance. They will start to tumble pretty soon. Plus, as you clearly demonstrated, it is a stupid idea to heat up your arrows as they will get butter soft. Much easier to make burning arrows with a bit of steel wool and sulfur, or make them ignite on impact.

13:32 Stop stealing my job James. Nobody eats burnt food better than me.

12:38 love how that resembles when you run out of ammo and it just sparks like in the game

NEXT PROJECT: TAU CANNON FROM HALF-LIFE 1

This has to be one of the most dangerous but absolutely worth it creations ever

I appreciate the fact that when the resistance created this crossbow they decided that simply firing a piece of rebar at the combine with enough force to pin corpses to walls just wasn't enough, nope. They needed to heat the thing red hot first and then launch said rebar at the combine with enough force to pin the body into the wall.

I love the process of "so we bought this completely functional regular crossbow, which we could have modified, but instead what if we used this piece of somewhat flexible metal instead?" I love the commitment to working with what you have to build a makeshift weapon.

At the start I though "he's probably gonna make just a decorative model", oh boy I was completly wrong and now I'm happy for the best 20 minutes of custom built projects that I have ever watched.

When the Combine said "Cauterize", they probably didn't expect the Resistance to take it literally.

The guy who's talking in the video honestly looks like Gordon, the resemblance is uncanny

16:30reminds me of the introduction of father grigori

Gotta love burning styrofoam and breathing in those sweet, succulent, toxic gases.

What did you guys think!? It's our LONGEST Make it Real yet, but I think it kinda felt like a proper TV show episode! Also if I do say so myself, I think this weapon is a Colin Furze caliber creation! We also didn't do any design on the computer! PS: For those wondering, we did not win the Art Prize =(

Behold, as the Hacksmith fashions a crossbow out of only some scrap metal, string, and a crossbow.

14:52 casually deflects blender lid