Mad Scientist Knife Switch Extension Cord

There’s a running joke amongst my friends that I’m an actual time-travelling mad scientist – mostly because it’s more true than false. So I figured, why not run with it a little and have some fun with it. So that’s what I’ve done here – I’ve restored this old Mad Scientist’s Knife Switch into perfect working order!

A 2x DPDT knife switch, rated for 500V 60A, with arc suppressors

Just cleaning it & replacing the springs was the easy part. Safety is important – especially when you’re going to have “exposed” bare copper like I have here. For this knife switch the exposed bare copper is only ever running at 5 Volts, and those +5V connections are used to open/close some relays, with additional protection if the exposed areas ever go too high in voltage or current. You could lick the bare copper if you wanted without feeling so much as a tingle. But I don’t recommend licking copper; it tastes bad.

(YouTube link in case the above video doesn’t work for you)

“Pull the Lever, Kronk!”

Fully restored/repaired/running, this knife switch is now sitting around my house as a random extension cord you can use to turn on/off any appliance it’s paired with. Because why not make turning on a lamp a little bit more Mad Sciencey.