RE: New coil and Wood

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

Original poster: "Mccauley, Daniel H" <daniel.h.mccauley-at-lmco-dot-com> 



I've actually seen a number of MIL-type high voltage assemblies (mostly
in airborne radar systems) built around 1970's - 1980's that use a
considerable amount of wood in them.  When I inquired about this, I was
even told there is a MIL-SPEC
regarding wood and general / high voltage use.

Dan


 > "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
 >
 >
 >