Even if you’re like me and never win them, you’ve got to love the huge contests on Instructables. I spent at least 3 hours last weekend Googling for ‘DIY plasma cutter’ and could only come up with cocktail-napkin drawings. This week, there’s a well-done homemade plasma cutter entry in the $20,000 Sears gift card contest. Even better, you can build this usually-$1000+ metal melter mostly out of garbage.

Whether you build one or not, I highly recommend (safely) playing with a plasma cutter: it’s like writing with a pen, but instead of ink on paper you’re melting metal like butter:)