Re: The dowel of death

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Mddeming-at-aol-dot-com>

Hi Garry, 

        I learned about the "insulating" properties of wood at my 
grandparents' farm the first time I picked up a stick and tried to move the 
top strand of their neighbor's cattle fence with it . (it was 
ever-so-slightly damp. ZZZZTTTT) 
Matt D. 

In a message dated 9/7/01 12:54:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com 
writes: 


>
> Original poster: "Garry Freemyer by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" 
> <garry-at-ndfc-dot-com> 
>
> Well, Long time ago, I made a rod to draw off sparks from my TC using a 
> wooden dowel with a brass doorknob attached to the end, and coaxial cable to 
> ground the knob. Now with such an arrangement, you would think it would be 
> relatively safe, but nope. 
>
> I was operating the coil from a good distance and I got several good zaps 
> off the wooden dowel, even when I wasn't drawing sparks to it. 
>
> I turned on the coil and got several good zaps off the rod, before the 
> freeze from astonishment at the shocks off the wooden dowel prompted me to 
> drop the rod with a shuddering shake of the hand. 
>
> My only guess was the coaxial cable was just the right length, to act as a 
> kind of coil of it's own and instead of going down into the ground which was 
> a huge metal water pipe under ground, it decided to travel down the dowel 
> and into me, or maybe there is a carbon track inside the dowel. 
>
> This rod was used very little. 
>
> Either way, it's a case for choosing plastic over a wooden dowel for a 
> "Jesus Stick" 
>
>
>
>
>