/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.164672]

Hey /diy/, I need some help identifying a piece of equipment I saw in a physics lab earlier today.

I didn't have a camera, so no pictures, but it was made out of a soldering gun and a bunch of arc welding cable. The cable was coiled around a 3 inch cardboard tube, and the ends were connected to the terminals where the soldering tip would have gone.
My first guess was a giant electromagnet, but it only had an air core. Any ideas?

Pic unrelated, it's how to make a tower out of poles and rope.