Re: Best Material for Primary Coil Supports

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

Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "Lau, Gary by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<Gary.Lau-at-hp-dot-com>
> 
> I think the electrical properties are largely irrelevant for a primary
> support - the turn-to-turn voltage is just not that great.  I would choose
> Lexan or Delrin if available, based on their ease to work with, but
> anything better than damp wood would be fine.
> 
> Gary Lau
> MA, USA

	Over the years I've had very good results from using dry wood saturated
with paraffin.  If wood is put in the molten paraffin a lot of bubbles
(probably steam with a little bit of trapped air) are released, and when
they stop I pull the stuff out and let cool.  It's important to do this
BEFORE cutting to final size, as the wood shrinks in this process.  The
final product feels somewhat denser than wood and machines very easily. 
I've used this for primary supports, tops for liquid battery jars, etc. 
I've always used clear-grain white pine, but it's getting much harder to
get.  

	Those other materials look a lot neater, to be sure, but whether
they're worth the bother is a matter of personal preference.

Ed