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I've seen lots of leyden jar instructables. My favorite is Kiteman's Be a Scientist: Bottle Electricity. I've made little film can jars for my little sister and she loves it.
But, be wary, I've seen one instructable that uses a photoflash capacitor or similar in the video to fake powerful "flying" sparks.
As the title says, this is how I make my leyden jars. These make nice, fat sparks. Once I finish my bonneti/sectorless wimshurst machine, I'm going to try out some 5-gallon bucket leyden jars. But, beware, these are DANGEROUS, like a loaded gun. They will KILL YOU if you arn't careful.
These smaller jars aren't deadly. But, they WILL be very unpleasant if you take a spark from them.
Anywhere, here's my take on the common leyden jar. Enjoy. =]
But, be wary, I've seen one instructable that uses a photoflash capacitor or similar in the video to fake powerful "flying" sparks.
As the title says, this is how I make my leyden jars. These make nice, fat sparks. Once I finish my bonneti/sectorless wimshurst machine, I'm going to try out some 5-gallon bucket leyden jars. But, beware, these are DANGEROUS, like a loaded gun. They will KILL YOU if you arn't careful.
These smaller jars aren't deadly. But, they WILL be very unpleasant if you take a spark from them.
Anywhere, here's my take on the common leyden jar. Enjoy. =]
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Signing UpStep 1Parts list
Parts:
-Plastic container. HDPE plastic seems to work best, but I've found that thicker PP containers can work too. This will be the type of plastic container I'm using for the instructable.
-Aluminum HVAC repair tape. This stuff is used to mend air ducts, and also makes nice leyden jar coatings because it is already sticky on one side.
-A round-headed bolt/nail. The larger and rounder this is, the better. Don't select one too large, or the leyden jar might not charge. If you want to try a fancier top terminal, see this site, it has lots of info on leyden jars.
-Some metal bead chain or some copper wire. Whatever works for yah, though I like the bead chain more.
Tools:
Hot glue gun
You hands
Some patience
The will to start over if you get it wrong
Oh, and some way to make a smooth hole in the lid of your container. This is very important.
Got all that? lets get started.
-Plastic container. HDPE plastic seems to work best, but I've found that thicker PP containers can work too. This will be the type of plastic container I'm using for the instructable.
-Aluminum HVAC repair tape. This stuff is used to mend air ducts, and also makes nice leyden jar coatings because it is already sticky on one side.
-A round-headed bolt/nail. The larger and rounder this is, the better. Don't select one too large, or the leyden jar might not charge. If you want to try a fancier top terminal, see this site, it has lots of info on leyden jars.
-Some metal bead chain or some copper wire. Whatever works for yah, though I like the bead chain more.
Tools:
Hot glue gun
You hands
Some patience
The will to start over if you get it wrong
Oh, and some way to make a smooth hole in the lid of your container. This is very important.
Got all that? lets get started.
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I'll have to try graphite coated ping-pong balls like here some time...
It's Leyden, by the way