Pictures of my 2KW coil and the 8x32 concrete toroid

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Original poster: "Gerry  Reynolds" <gerryreynolds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Everyone,

I finished building the 8x32 toroid using the mcmaster ducting 
material (5 mil stuff) and grout to make a smooth surface.  The 
following are my experiences:

1. Grout sands easier than bondo (that's why I switch) and the work 
time is very good.  Before curing, grout is very chalky. Full curing 
takes many days

2. Sanding to get a smooth surface worked fairly well but my results 
were not as good as D&M's work.  I attribute this partly to: grout 
sands maybe too easily.  I was able to reapply grout to fill in but 
if the depression was too shallow, it was hard to get the new grout 
to stick to the old grout thru the sanding process.

3. Adhesion to the AL duct was not perfect and sometimes cracks 
formed and small pieces flaked off requiring reapplication.  This 
problem was not major and added only a small portion to the time required.

4. There was some shrinkage with the first application of grout and 
generally required a second application and in some parts a third 
spot application.

5. After I was satisfied with the surface, I gave the toroid two 
coats of varnish.  This gave it an excellent surface for taping and 
greatly reduced the vunerability of the grout to damage.

6. Taping went very well.  I purchased 2 inch wide AL tape that I cut 
length wise into 1 inch strips.

7. After taping, the toroid seemed very dent resistance although I 
wont test this on purpose.  The final weight was 15 lbs that seemed 
acceptable to me.  I probably wont use this method for much larger 
toroids, but for this size and smaller, I think the weight is not a problem.

8. It took me two weeks to grout and a week to tape.  The grout time 
seemed higher than I expected but grout is inexpensive.

9. Total cost $85:
    a. duct = $30
    b. Al center sheet = $20
    c. Grout = $15
    d. Al tape = $20

Now for the pictures:

<http://www.hot-streamer.com/temp/GerryReynolds>http://www.hot-streamer.com/temp/GerryReynolds

Go the the directory for the 15KV_120ma coil.

There are pictures of the toroid during each stage of construction 
and the other components of my coil.  There are also pictures of the 
coil in operation both with a breakout point and ground target, and 
with no breakout point.  The longest power arc was 86 inches and the 
wall power was 2100 watts.  Exposures are 4 seconds at ISO of 400, 
800, and 1600.  The picture names make a story board sorta and are 
numbered in chronological order.  Enjoy.

Gerry R.