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Re: Searching for Electode Material



Hi all

I have a couple of old tesla book and on one of these they use zinc it's
suppose to be the best material for electrodes (?) I'll try to find the
reference.

Luc Benard(Montreal)

Tesla List wrote:

> Original Poster: "Lau, Gary" <Gary.Lau-at-compaq-dot-com>
>
> Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.  It shouldn't be difficult to find
> 3/8" brass bolts in a good hardware store, but it probably has to be better
> than your corner hardware store.  The important thing is to buy it or make
> it such that the arcing surface of the electrodes has a large, smooth
> radius, like carriage bolts, though I've never seen those in brass.  If you
> use hex head bolts, you should put the threads in a lathe or drill and file
> the sharp corners off of the hex head.
>
> I would avoid zinc and aluminum as electrode materials.  Zinc has a low
> melting point and both oxidizes readily, which will result in rapid
> electrode wear.
>
> Regards, Gary Lau
> Waltham, MA USA
>
> >Original Poster: "Ryan Ries" <spud-at-wf-dot-net>
> >
> >       Hello, I'm looking for some better conductor for my air-blast gap
> than
> >what I'm currently using.  I have 1/4" steel bolts for electrodes right
> >now, and I realize that steel is not good, but I can't find any copper or
> >brass or aluminum bolts.  (Isn't brass just copper with a sodium hydroxide
> >shell?)  Also, does anyone have any info on the conductivity/heat
> >dissipation of zinc?
> >
> >       Thanks,
> >              Ryan Ries
> >                   http://spud.pureinsanity-dot-net