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Cheap Tesla Materials
1) Plastic cutting boards are an inexpensive source of insulating
material. Available everywhere, particularly cheaply at Walmart, etc.,
they can be easily cut with a table, or just about any other kind of
saw. Strips or slabs cut from these boards can be used as for stand-off
duty, for example. My homebuilt rotary gap uses this stuff (almost)
anywhere structural insulating material was required. Substitute a board
cut into strips for the more expensive Plexiglas or Lexan in your small,
experimental, pancake primary.
I've seen 2 different kinds: Ones made of a quasi-translucent(!)
material, others made of a plastic that is solid white. In either case,
we're probably looking at HDPE, polypropylene, or some relative; and as
such, will obviously not withstand significant heating.
2) 100', 3-wire extension cords can be had at Walmart for about
$7.00. Here is an inexpensive source of cable that can cut- up with
abandon for experimental work without feeling like your pouring money
down the drain. I simply solder together the 3 conductors at each and of
a cut length. This provides a fairly large amount of copper.
Most of my early experimental primaries used this material.
3) Finally, Walmart sells a 29 quart plastic trash can for about 2
bucks. These can be cut up to render insulating sheet, or used as a
dandy, mildly conical secondary form. I used them as the outer
container for my large salt-water cap bank. 8 of them, hundreds of lb.
of water.
[I wound a secondary on a smaller version of this can, and after
varnishing, the entire winding accidentally slipped right off the form.
Thinking the effort was ruined, I simply added some varnish to the
inside of the liberated coil---A formless secondary! Rather delicate
however. The toroid was supported with a plexi tube passing through the
coil's center.]
Nothing Earth-Shattering here, but possibly helpful.
.Dave Hartwick