Comments on: 900,000 volts at your fingertips

By: Zachary M. ( Nickademuss

Zachary M. ( Nickademuss — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:38:50 +0000

Thanks for the great comments on my little creation, Im gonna post a leyden jar next made from a 5 gallon bucket, its a super way to store a little power but very dangerous. When I get the money I think Ill build a 1,000,000 volt VDG. I want a 20″ sphere on it thats the pricey item….

Be well and be safe, well mostly safe?

Zac

By: george

george — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:49:12 +0000

“Here in the U.S. we play it like real men…”

‘mercans are such assholes.

By: J

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:43:35 +0000

pedro – you might have had a go on one, but it probably wasnt “legally”.

j – sorry.

j :)

By: meowsqueak

meowsqueak — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:55:21 +0000

I built one of these with my father back around 1995 – we used a washing machine motor and a big rubber belt made from rubber-band stock tube cut length-wise. Two aluminium lamp-shades for the dome. A major factor is actually the materials used for the rollers – polycarbonate and polythene I think IIRC. Also, mill the rollers to be slightly convex (no, not concave, yes it’s counter-intuitive!) to keep the belt centred on the rollers. Use finer steel wool for your brushes for more effective electron transfer. We got arcs of up to 1 metre in length and blew up several electronic devices in the vicinity, including the home computer motherboard.

We tried a high-tension electron ‘injector’ at the base but it didn’t really make much difference. The original design was plenty good enough.

By: Basic

Basic — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:45:10 +0000

This is awesome, adds a whole new aspects of shocky fun to my house… right above my front door, Im tellin ya.

By: dan

dan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:36:10 +0000

@radon222 – yeah, I saw the one in Boston this summer. it is incredibly loud! awesome.

and yeah we had one at our uk school back when i was doing physics gcse 6-7 years ago, i’d be surprised if they got rid of it! school science is all about doing dangerous unauthorised experiments. my favourite was the biology lesson involving ether…

By: Tronic

Tronic — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:28:50 +0000

That is one of the best home-maid van de graffs I have seen with an excellent guide to it. Looks pretty close in dimensions and power to one I built, just much sturdier and better built.

By: radon222

radon222 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:24:34 +0000

The van de graaff generator at the museum of science in boston is very impressive – one of the biggest in the world. I went there when I was 13 and I still remember it. My high school teachers and 1st year physics prof had small ones like this and it was a really good teaching tool.

By: tunderttbrunei

tunderttbrunei — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:16:54 +0000

They still show them in UK Private Schools but an awesome project idea!

By: J

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:07:40 +0000

You sick son of a bitch, you stole my letter.

Here in the U.S. we play it like real men and chain the whole auditorium together, walk out into the hall like a giant people-tentacle, and laugh each the time last person slaps passers-by with a huge shock randomly.

By: Pedro

Pedro — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:42:29 +0000

j, since when?

We had a go on one in Y11, so 2006ish.

By: J

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:23:06 +0000

Van de graaffs are no longer shown in UK schools for health and safety fears apparently, shame really – no wonder kids dont find science as interesting any more – they’re taking fun things like this out of the scene!

By: happypinguin

happypinguin — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:18:50 +0000

/* Holly crap! */
Project_to_do_in_future ++;