I
have always wanted one of these. Ever since I was about 10 years old
and I got a book from the library called "The Boy Electrician". This
was first printed in about 1913 and re-printed in the 1940s. It has
been re-printed again and can be obtained in paperback. Lots of good
electrical projects for "boys" and no Health And Safety!
In
about 2003, I visited a town in the Netherlands called Hengelo. There
is a fascinating Technical Museum with a working Wimshurst Machine.
Finally
got this one on ebay at a fairly resonable price. Slightly dodgy seller
though, and it arrived with bits missing and in poor condition.
Luckily, the workshop at work were not too busy and they made me some new bits. |
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The
picture above shows the rear view showing the new horizontal insulator
bar that was broken when it arrived. The long screwdriver is used
the discharge the machine after use. I leave it there when it's not in
use - just in case.
The Leyen jars are new. One of the
original glass ones broke down under voltage stress. It sparked through
and cracked the glass! See below. |
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| The
new ones are made from polypropylene bottles, covered in aluminium
adhesive duct tape. The workshop made me the nylon top caps and the
aluminium bases. |
| 50mm sparks are possible on a dry day (low humidity). |
| What do you think? Contact me. |