Questions from a new coiler (all conceivable questions?)

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Bill Vanyo by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <vanyo-at-echoes-dot-net>

I'm new to this, so let me just run down my plan in case there any big
problems I'm not seeing, and to ask what questions I currently have.

First, the power supply: Two NST's in parallel - a Franceformer 15/60
and Transco 15/30.  I checked the phasing - it looks good.  I could get
a tiny twinkle of a spark between like (same phase) terminals of the two
NST's - about what you'd see if you shorted a 9v battery.  

I plan on depottinng the NST's.  Would it be worthwhile to immerse them
in transformer or some such oil, or just run them dry?  What solvent
(for depotting) would be safest in terms of not eating away the coil
wire insulation?  I'm not in a hurry, so after melting off what I can at
low heat, I was planning on letting them just soak for as long as it
takes, with perhaps an occasional light brushing.  Are there any
solvents that are known to be bad for the insulation?

I'll be building an NST protection circuit, following Terry Fritz's
plans.  Any suggestion for how to build the safety spark gap?  Does
anybody know where to get tapped brass balls?  (I found one place that
only sells large quantities)

Is there a plan for an easy-to-build line protection circuit somewhere? 
Do I need it if I have the NST protection circuit?

I'm planning on using a larger-than-resonant cap (2nF ?) to further
protect my NST's, an MMC with the Panasonic caps Terry is
buying/selling.  I still haven't decided on the string length.  I'd like
to build this once and not have to be repairing it.

The spark gap will be a static gap - a box design.  Not sure if I saw
this somewhere, but more or less like a box with one open end where
copper pipes are mounted in parallel, and a fan in the other end.  I'm
thinking of a design where the air passes between the pipes, and then
back around through them.  How many individual gaps, and what size,
given everything else?

I'd like to leave the option of running with just the 15/30 NST, just
the 15/60, or both, but both being most likely and most important.  I
figure the MMC will be adjustable (just connect/disconnect strings), as
well as the spark gap (just connect to different pipes).  I doubt I'll
ever run it indoors - if so, probably only with the 15/30 NST.

The coils - here is where I am least certain.  Primary will be a flat
"pancake" of 3/8 inch copper tubing, with 3/8 or 1/2 inch space between,
and perhaps 12 to 15 turns, on polyethylene supports (kitchen cutting
board material).  Older recipes seem to say that's way too much, but it
seems consistent with newer plans.  Secondary?  Coil diameter, coil
length, number of turns - which do I pick first, and how?  I can use one
of the programs to estimate some parameters from others, but don't have
a good sense of where to start.

Oh, and a question about the secondary construction: Is it really so bad
to have the wire pass through a small hole to the inside of the coil
form?  I've got this weird fear of the end of the wire on my nicely
wound and sealed coil being pulled loose through the sealant
(polyurethane, I geuss).  I'd like to have it fixed tight.  How do you
do that?

The toroid will probably be the aluminum clothes dryer duct type.

Well, I know these are the most basic questions and must have been asked
before.  It'll be months before I get this thing together at the rate
I'm going, but I'm beyond the just-thinking-about-it stage now.  I've
read a lot on the net and played with a lot of the calculating programs
and spreadsheets, but I need feedback from actual people before I do
something stupid.

	Thanks,
	Bill Vanyo