Re: Toroid construction (fwd)

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

Original poster: Tesla List Moderator <mod1-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2002 07:52:31 -0700
From: Ed Phillips <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>
To: Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Subject: Re: Toroid construction

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "Marry Krutsch by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <u236-at-earthlink-dot-net>
> 
> Hi Ed,
> 
>         Personally, I do cover my toroids with Al tape.  I file/sand/hammer
> ;-)) the joint down to the point of flushness with the rest of the
> ducting.  Once covered with tape, the joint isn't visible.  I've heard
> of people filling the ridges in with light weight spackling compound
> before covering the toroid with tape, but I haven't tried it.  Maybe I
> will next time.  Supossedly the result looks REALLY nice.
> 
>         Some people don't cover their toroids with tape, so it's just a matter
> of preference.  I suppose a good tape job increases the breakdown
> voltage a bit, and definitely makes it look better IMO.  I use a light
> bulb to rub the seams of the tape down, a method I first saw on Greg
> Hunter's site (I think).
> 
> Have fun,
> Winston K.

	I've gotten very good results by first wrapping the duct with several
layers of masking tape.  If applied neatly it works as well as Spackle
would, but is a lot simpler and less work.  When the thing looks smooth
enough I apply the aluminum tape and burnish the resuls with the bowl of
a spoon.  My nephew's high school science class built a number of
toroids which looked about as smooth as some of the spun toroids I see
pictured.  (He made them take more care than I do!)  Instead of using
pie pans I cut a couple of round pieces of fiber board of such a
diameter that they fit within the toroid and are about 1" apart.  They
are then covered with aluminum tape and bolted together, making quite a
sturdy structure; the plates tend to flatten a slightly out-of-shape
job.

	Of course, if you drop one of these you still get unhappy looking dents
which don't seem to affect the performance any!

Ed

Ed