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Re: Arcs off the fingers and getting killed in the process...

on 2/1/2000 9:59 PM, Tesla List at tesla-at-pupman-dot-com wrote:

> Original Poster: Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> With the recent TV show about Dean Ortner shooting sparks off his fingers
> and the other stunts pros like Brent turner and Robert Krampf perform,
> there is the question of how we should handle this whole matter...

I personally don't think much needs to be said, besides "don't do it".  I
think the Henry Transtrom death points this out best; he knew what he was
doing, and the electrons still got the better of him.

In the end, no matter what you say, someone is going to try it again.  The
best you can do is discourage them as much as possible.  Remind them that
even non-lethal and non-painful currents passed through the body can have
lasting damaging effects.  This is enough to keep me from using myself as a
ground rod.
 
> There are ways to perform such stunts in "relative" safety.

Exactly.  But performing them will never be as safe as not performing them.
It's like any other special effects "stunt" in that respect. The very word
"stunt" implies the risk of death or injury.

> Cabbott Sanders started out "big" and many of us feared (I
> did) that he was going to hurt himself in his all out high power ball
> lightning quest.  He ended up losing a finger and being one of the most
> safety aware people around.

It's certainly possible to be ultra safety-concious before losing body
parts.  One need not learn the hard way.  IIRC, Cabbott's accident was with
a circular saw, and this could have happened building any size coil.

Although there is still something to be learned here... many people are
using plexiglas and lexan in tesla projects these days.  This stuff is not
like wood!  There are definitely safety risks in cutting and drilling this
stuff, and use of wood tools is rarely safe.  I had a few near-accidents
when trying to drill the holes in my plexi primary form, using multi-purpose
bits and a drill press.  When the drill bit exits the workpiece, it grabs
and chips a big "exit wound", and if you've not restrained the workpiece
properly it can become a propellor, which gets sucked rapidly upwards
towards the drill chuck.  Very bad.  I was wearing googles, and heavy duty
leather work gloves, and had all body parts accounted for at the end of the
day, but I fear for the person that does not take all possible precautions--
even the ones that don't seem necessary, are!

I would not repeat these drillings, and I have had all plexi panels
professinally cut since, at the plastics shop.  They have the right tools,
and the cuts are *perfect*, a far cry from the rough, burnt edges I would
have gotten with a table saw.  I do all plexi drilling with a hand drill
now, and I usually stand on the workpiece to keep in in place.  I also got
suitable drill bits at the plastics store where I get the plexi.


-Adam
adamsmith-at-mediaone-dot-net