Re: Tesla Coil Kits

To: tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Tesla Coil Kits
From: Tesla List <tesla-at-stic-dot-net>
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 1997 02:03:23 -0600
Approved: tesla-at-stic-dot-net

Subject: 
        Re: Tesla Coil Kits
  Date: 
        Fri, 14 Mar 1997 15:56:30 -0500 (EST)
  From: 
        cfbrush-at-interport-dot-net
    To: 
        Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>

>From: Phil_Bidwell-at-3mail.3com-dot-com
>
>I have notices several Tesla Coil kits ( on the internet ) available in
>America, from about 200 dollar - upwards.
>
>1)-  Has anyone from this list built any of these kits.
>
>2)-  Can anyone recommend any of these kits.
>
>I am considering building my first coil, so would a kit be considered
>cheating ?
>
>Phil.

Hi Phil,

Cheating?  Who cares as long as you start building!   Chances are you'd
end
up heavily modifying a kit to the point that it was mostly custom
anyway.
However.....

One thing to bear in mind is that much of the cost of the kit will be
the
HV transformer and the cap.  You may blow either, or both, of these in
short order anyway.  My guess is that for that much money you could
build a
coil from scratch that would blow away anything made from a kit.  Tesla
coils really are pretty simple to build, and if it were me, I'd save
some
of that $200+ and spend it on a high voltage cap or variac or something.
All the plans you need can be found online, and this group will give you
much better information than you'll get from a kit.  Building one from
scratch will take a little more motivation and thought however, and it
can
seem a little  daunting if you're just starting.  The main thing is to
just
get your hands on some basic parts (neon transformer, magnet wire, PVC,
stuff for a cap & gap), and start winding and asking questions.

Whichever way you decide to go, good luck on your first coil!

Charles Brush
http://www.foundrygroup-dot-com/cbrush