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MODEL-T COIL UPDATE





 Te> From tesla-at-america-dot-com Sun Dec  8 11:54:46 1996
 Te> Date: Sun, 8 Dec 96 06:30 EST
 Te> From: Bob Schumann <tesla-at-america-dot-com>
 Te> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
 Te> Subject: Model-T coil update

 Te> Hello all,

 Te> I finished my Model-T Ford coil TC with some
 Te> surprising effects. I determined the 'buzz' of the Ford
 Te> coil to be about 500hz. I used the cap and secondary 
 Te> that used to be with the Information Unlimited kit I
 Te> had bought. I made a small 2-gap static gap and used
 Te> a brass doorknob as my torroid. I have yet to try this
 Te> coil with a 6 volt battery and am presently using a
 Te> hobby battery charger to run it. I made a helical type
 Te> primary by cutting 3 inches off the top of a plastic
 Te> cup obtained at a fast food restaraunt by purchasing
 Te> a 'large' drink. After tuning and coupling, I get 2"
 Te> of spark and when attached to a hand held metal
 Te> rod, has absolutely no shock felt at all. I then tried
 Te> something I would NEVER do with a TC of larger
 Te> size...I held my hand within strike range and let the
 Te> output run around my hand and fingers. There is a
 Te> tingle but nothing harmful. I believe Tesla did this
 Te> with higher outputs and recorded the effects.

 Te> Later,
 Te> Bob

You had a lot better results than I did with my "Model T" Teslas I
made when I was a kid. Makes me want to try it again. Getting too cold in
my garage for the polyurethane to dry on my secondary form, maybe trying
to "relive the past" would be a fun experience to do indoors with the kids.

In the latest Lindsay "Metal" book catalog is a description of how to build
a simple "Model T" coil out of a lawnmower coil, you could probably use a
standard open frame or depotted auto coil with the same results. Look at 
page 51 of the Christmas 1996 Catalog 97   
The writeup is by the great Dave Gingery, who is a man known for writing
some really interesting books on doing great projects on the cheap without
sacrificing performance. Lindsay's catalogs are available at
tel. 815 935 5353 or Lindsay Publications Inc. P.O. Box 538, Bradley,
Illinois, 60914.
They have 2 catalogs, one called "Metal", metalworking books, and one called
"Secrets" which is science stuff. Almost all are reprints of old books of the
like that you don't see any more. Some real old time books on Tesla and
Oudin coils. Get both catalogs, really interesting. 

I really don't know why I didn't think of making the "buzz box" coil described
in the writeup before I saw the article, but I am going to make one very soon!
Should be good for a small TC as Bob wrote about, with "T" coils being hard to
find (unless you want to pay a small fortune) I have been lucky finding them
for $10 or less. I've seen them for as much as $50 new.

Good coiling to you,
Brad 
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12