pgtruspace's blog
about things that interest me.
aluminum skin
finished shell with aluminum skin
The shell shape is complete and is covered with aluminum foil. Three layers of polyester resin is applied and cured over the fall before sanding and filling the surface smooth.
pgtruspace's blog 
The FRP shell shape is complete and gilded with aluminum foil. this will be covered with several layers of polyester resin and sanded smooth to prevent electron leaks from the foil. Em… wonder if I should use tint, A nice blue maybe?pg
God, please don’t electrocute yourself. Play it safe! (And use Hot Pink, it’ll be unforgettable!)
@maxsmoke; I don’t do PINK!
Actually I have the Blue tint on hand. Don’t know how to make “Hot Pink”. Tint is optional, I could just leave it silver or lightly tinted. pg.
@P.G. How much voltage and wattage will it reach?
@Adolfo;Power supply is 600 watts not sure of the net to the disk. I calculated 180 watts net for effects, the rest lost to resistance heat.
The disk capacitance is driven at about 100,000 volts to the plates and overall the disk to the world about 100,000 volts pg
@P.G. 600 watts is less than an HP? (725 watts). How much work do you do with less than a HP?
I hope enough to detect. The construct can be driven harder, I would need to create a stronger driver. As much as 4,000 watts. pg
Or perhaps using “enhanced propellant techniques” as resonance to increase output.
@Adolfo; the entire object of Teslas’ work was towards resonance. This shell condenser is designed to contain the resonance from the drive system, no sparks to bleed off energy. There should be about 180 watts that build up the total field. The main leakage will be from the pincushion and forcing cone. pg
Waiting for your first run.
The disk is now a nice golden hue from 3 coats of cured resin and needs to be finish sanded. I am tempted to finish up with a blue tinted layer of resin. pg
pg – there have been no updates for a while. Have you just been assembling (it’s a long job) or have you actually run any smoke tests?
Golden hue. (:
Sorry about the seeming lack of progress. I have been working on the garden, the farming and creating a building to house the test as well as a needed work and storage area. Might even be useful for a winery or brewery as the upper area to be built is 16 x 32 feet, with very heavy deck, and the nearly finished lower part is 12 x 30 feet dug into the hillside, about 6 feet below grade, with 8 foot clear head room and masonry / concrete walls. All mortise and tendon timber work for the frame. I generally work alone so progress is slow. From the start of digging the hole to now has been 3 years. Now the masonry work is done, the lower 12″ x 12″ oak frames are done and the thick pine plank deck is started.
As to The disk, it is assembled and ready for the first smoke test, as soon as I am ready to hook up the driver and switch it on. I need to install the safety gap / switch and get up nerve to power the thing. I am hoping to move it outside the hanger area for testing. It is ether that or remove the hanger roof frames. Have to give thought to that as the hanger is supposed to be temporary and the disk is FRP covered now. The thing could be a yard ornament out in the weather now! Naw, at least cover it with a tarp in the rain and snow. 😎 pg
pg – when we were rebuilding this place Heinz (my father-in-law) didn’t want to get a mechanical digger in (he thought it was too expensive) so we dug all the foundations out by hand. When it came time to dig out the filter-bed for the sewage system, we needed a 6X5X1 metre hole, and the ground there was such solid clay that I was getting about 2 barrows full for a day of hard pickaxing. I hired a man with a digger, and he did a lovely job in around 4 hours, and it cost me 200 euros. Money very well spent, and the guy was a real artist in how he used the machine so I learnt some techniques if I ever get one. My hat is off to you – pretty please some photos of the woodwork?
Running the disk is probably better some distance from buildings, since the stray capacitances may unbalance it. If you use an electronic video camera to film the test, maybe mount it in an earthed coffee-tin or similar, with a hole for the lens to see through. It will be great to see it running, but I know things take more time when you’re working alone.