DIY Altoids Tin Stun Box | Zap Your Friends!

Hi everyone and welcome back to another Ben Builds instructable!

In this Instructable, we will use a cheap stun gun module from eBay and combine it with an Altoids tin to create a device capable of making even the toughest guy wince. The idea here is to have fun exploring electronics - not hurting people.

First things first! Please watch the video to see the stun tin in action and learn how to build it. In case parts are unclear, keep reading the directions below!

For this project you will need:

1 Stun Module Link: http://goo.gl/rtxmtN

1 Reed Switch

1 Micro Momentary Switch

1 2xAA Battery Holder

2 AA Batteries

A short length of copper wire- solid, large gauge

2 Magnets

Some Aluminum Tape

I gave my altoids tin a coating of black spray paint to start a non-conductive barrier. This will help prevent the high voltage from shorting out through the Altoids tin. I did two coats of paint.

What if you want to get into the tin to change the batteries or just make sure you don't accidentally zap yourself? Well, you build a back door in of course! This backdoor uses a small magnet and reed switch. The magnet is normally left under the reed switch, keeping it in the closed position. When the case is opened, current flows through the closed switch. The backdoor works by using a magnet outside of the case to move the one inside the case. This moves it away from the reed switch and prevents the circuit from being closed when the lid on the case is opened.

Start by cutting a guide rail and gluing it in place. This is to keep the magnet going only in one direction along the shorter axis of the tin.

Place the magnet in and glue the reed switch over top, making sure that when the magnet is towards the front of the case the reed switch is closed and when it is toward the back, the reed switch is open and non-conductive.

On the right side of the case you will need to glue in place the small momentary switch. Make sure the switch is in the normally closed position. Since the case lid will be closed and pushing on the switch, we want to make sure that when the case lid opens, the switch closes.

You will also need to glue a small piece of metal (I used a bent paperclip) on the top of the case and have a piece poke down and depress the switch when the case is closed.

I used hot glue and trial and error to get the piece of metal in the right place.

Next, you should take a small nail and poke two holes.

One hole should be on the front right of the case and the other should be on the back right of the case.

These holes will eventually be for the high voltage wires from the stun module.

Then wrap two or three layers of electrical tape around the case on the front. This is the main insulation and will prevent the high voltage from the module from shorting out through the case.

You may have to use the nail to re-poke the holes once they have been covered with electrical tape.

Take the stun module and, with the high voltage leads facing the right of the case, thread them through the holes you poked.

Add hot glue to the bottom of the stun module and glue it down keeping it pushed as much as possible towards the top of the case.

Take the AA battery case and apply hot glue to the back of it.

Orient the case so that the red and black wires coming out of the case face to the left.

Push the battery case in and let it dry.

Ok, this may feel like the hardest part, but it doesn't have to be.

Follow the video and the schematic above, they will guide you in the correct placement of all of the wires.

The general process for attaching wires together is to strip the wire, slide a piece of heat shrink tubing over one end of wire, twist the wires together, solder them together, and shrink the tubing over the exposed metal of the wires.

Take a piece of aluminum tape and cut the width down so that it will fit on the front of the case (below the lid lip when the lid is closed).

Next, strip the high voltage wires and tape them down to the already taped piece of aluminum tape with another piece of aluminum tape.

Repeat for the other side of the case.

Next, take a sharp box cutter, xacto knife, or normal sharp thing and cut a gap in the aluminum tape. This makes a spark gap for the HV to jump over and also prevents one wire from being directly shorted to the other.

To cover up the bright and shiny aluminum strips, I applied another coat of paint.

This paint won't prevent you from feeling the shock, but the back color looks nice.

I also added a coat of clear lacker. Then I printed out a "Danger High Voltage" sticker and glued it to the front of the case.

This sticker is to warn people with potential heart conditions. We DO NOT want anyone permanently hurt.

Thanks everyone!

Please make sure you use this responsibly and tell people what will happen to them before you go around and shock random people.

WARNING: This device and other stun devices, while safe for use on healthy people, can kill people with preexisting heart conditions. NEVER allow a person to open the stun container unless they already know what is going to happen to them.

WARNING #2: It is a bad idea to go around stunning people with this. It hurts quite a bit, and I am not responsible if you get hurt, killed, or punched in the face for stunning the wrong guy. This Instructable is to explore the electronics of the build and not to make personal defense weaponry.

Thanks for reading!

-Ben