Re: Whoo-hoo! (and some questions)

["Mark Fergerson" <mfergerson1-at-home-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

"Michael Novak (by way of Terry Fritz )" wrote:

 <snip stuff I can't help with>

>     A.)I got my plans from "Fantasic Inventions of Nikola Tesla" by
Tesla,  and
> he says the wire is 24 and 12 gauge, brown and sharp gauge... would
> it be alright for me to use 24 and 12 gauge awg?

  Yup. Same numbers. Names changed in the late 40's.

<snip>

>     E.)Do you need specially insulated wire or was Tesla just being
precise by
> saying the primary was cotton coated wire and the secondary wire was
> gutta-percha covered?

  He was specifying what he used; that was what he had to work with.
Single- and double-cotton-covered wire was state of the art for
electrical work. Scc and dcc were de rigeur for low voltage/high
current work, and gutta-percha was for high voltages. All three are
very obsolete.

>     F.)What the heck is gutta-percha anyway?!

  A kind of semi-synthetic rubber no longer in use. It was very hard
and stiff unless heated. Modern silicone rubber insulation is much
superior. For that matter, modern enamel is better.

  If you want to build it exactly as he did, you'll have to hunt up
the ancient stuff. Good luck...

  Mark L. Fergerson