My second coil attempt, advice?

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Original poster: "Jared Dwarshuis" <jdwarshuis@xxxxxxxxx>

Hi Scott:

A single 'open air' gap is not going to quench very well, thus 
limiting your power output to a small fraction of what is possible. 
If you have a supply of compressed air; shoot 90psi across your 
single gap ( Don't short the gap with the air nozzle!). Your coil 
should come alive. Not a good long term solution. But it will 
demonstrate the benefits of improved quenching.

Gap adjustments, (severe ones!) often require coupling adjustments. 
You are most likely way over coupled. Hence the racing sparks.

Soap box time...... (not aimed at you Scott)

You can build an over coupled coil and get it to work (I have done 
this, many times!). But they ring better,  tune easier, have less 
voltage stress, run smoother and quench easier with a low k.

k is not a figure that simply represents power transfer. It is a 
tuning parameter closely associated with impedance.  A large value of 
k does not indicate a good power transfer. It instead indicates 
unacceptable bandwidth, low loaded Q, and severe decremental decay.

(End soap box!)