Re: New coil

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

Original poster: Ed Phillips <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net> 

"There's a long and illustrious history of using properly prepared wood
in HV
devices.  Heat it to dry it, immerse it in something to keep from
soaking up
the water (like melted paraffin (wax to those of you in the rest of the
anglophone world)), etc. (Hmm, a hydrocarbon/cellulose composite
material..
conceptually, not that far from fiberglass reinforced plastic, when you
think about it)

Other popular insulating materials in "pre plastic" days: sulfur,
ebonite
(whatever that is...I'm sure one of the historical mavens on the list
will
tell us what it is)"

	The waxed wood is great stuff and I use it frequently.  One advantage
is that soft wood like pine, when waxed, can be machined with finer cuts
than in the natural state.  One word of caution though.  Melted paraffin
is dangerous stuff, both from the standpoint of fire and damage to the
human body.  One further note is that it's easy to get the stuff so hot
that it will char wood.  Best temperature seems to be a bit below that
point; leave the stuff in until it quits bubbling and then remove it and
cool it.  Bear in mind that most wood shrinks several percent as the
water is driven out, so if dimensions count do your treatment before
cutting things to size.

Ed