RE: TC discharge... safe or not

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Michael Quarles by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <mquarles-at-qusion-dot-com>


I am new to Tesla Coils.  I am trying to learn all I can by reading
pupman-dot-com and other websites.  My son and I are going to make one for a
science project.

The first time I ever saw one was at Griffith Observatory in southern Ca.
It was enclosed behind a Plexiglas window.  It was very impressive.

However, there were metal bolts around the wood frame of the window where we
could touch and get a spark about 1/2 to a 1/4 inch running to our finger.
Where did this spark come from?  Was it from the TC secondary?  We were told
it was safe because of the high voltage but low amps.  Is these the case or
was it unsafe?

Someone, earlier in the thread, mentioned if you are getting hit by a spark
and don't get burned, it's because the amps were low.  At what amp level do
you get burned?