RE: Silver tape question

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Lau, Gary" <gary.lau@xxxxxx>

It was probably me who posted about using newspaper and dilute white
glue.  It worked quite well, but compared with a spun toroid, still
resulted in a less than smooth surface.  See
http://users.rcn.com/laushaus/tesla/minicoil_files/minicoilModelB.jpg.
The nice thing about the paper/glue is that after it dries, one can file
down ridges with a wood file.  It ultimately took several apply/dry
iterations before I was satisfied.

When applying Al tape, the width of the strips must be appropriate for
the minor diameter of the toroid.  You can't wrap a 2" wide strip around
a 4" toroid without having it wrinkle and look like heck.
You must cut it down to twice as many 1" strips :-( and burnish each
strip with fingernails or a wooden tool to get it perfectly flat.

A smooth toroid will permit a single, longer streamer to result, rather
than several smaller ones originating from the numerous ridges and
imperfections on a non-smooth toroid.

I doubt the thinner plastic tape would be useful for covering a top
load.  Think how hot a streamer is, and think what that would do to the
plastic.  It's also not clear that you could achieve electrical contact
to or between strips.

Regards, Gary Lau
MA, USA



> Original poster: "Paul B. Brodie" <pbbrodie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Robert,
> Excuse me, what are "the now defunct economical toroids" you refer
to??
> Also, I noticed at Lowe's the other day that they have two different
types
> of aluminum "duct tape." One is the traditional type I'm familiar with
that
> is fairly thick aluminum, much thicker than aluminum foil, and the
other is
> something new to me, which is much, much thinner and similar to
reflective
> Mylar. I'm wondering if this thin tape is enough of a conductor to be
of
> use. It looks like it will be a lot easier to apply without wrinkles.
>
> I read where someone used old newspaper and diluted white glue as
paper
> mache to smooth out their dryer duct toroid before applying tape. Has
> anyone had any experience trying this or something similar? Is there
any
> real advantage, other than looks, to creating a really smooth toroid?
I
> realize that bumps and such create jumping off points for streamers. I
mean
> other than this one obvious difference. Is the difference in
performance
> worth all the trouble involved? Other than the ugly joint, I actually
like
> the appearance of a regular dryer duct toroid.
> Paul
> Think Positive
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tesla list" <<mailto:tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <<mailto:tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 2:31 AM
> Subject: Silver tape question
>
>  > Original poster: "Robert Hanford"
> <<mailto:pomnept@xxxxxxxxxxx>pomnept@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>  >
>  > I am in the process of coating one of my dryer duct toroids with a
>  > fiberglass automotive product. I will be covering it with metallic
tape and
>  > would like to know if anyone on the list has tips on the tidiest
ways to
>  > apply the tape (avoiding wrinkles, etc.) This question stems from a
post
>  > where a comment was made about how well the tape was applied on the
now
>  > defunct "economical toroids."
>  >
>  >
>  >
>