How to build a Five Foot Tall Jacob's ladder

Step 2 Build a base

Build a base from the something nonconductive and nonflammable. I chose wood, which doesn?t quite meet the nonflammable criteria. Drill two holes approximately 0.5 inches apart and shove two dowels in the holes. Use thick wire to make electrical connections between the output of the transformer and the dowels. Attach the base to the transformer to make the whole thing stable.

Comments

[DiscoB]

Prometheus, could you add an image or drawing of the PVC construction?

[Prometheus]

More ideally a base for the electrodes can be built from salvaged PVC pipe, such as using 2" PVC bolted to such a wooden base and then with holes drilled into it to accomodate the copper pipes at close to a suitable angle (which can be adjusted manually later). Wood is partially conductive and will draw continuous current from the transfiormer, acting like a resistor across your output. Alternately using heavy wire (such as bedspring wire salvaged from discarded furniture) can be used instead. Remember the spark will generate a magnetic pull that will cause electrosdes to sway.