Synchronous Spark Gap Module Part 1

Not done much on the Tesla for a few weeks due to the summer hols. First task is the synchronous spark gap.  The base is a piece of 8mm thick clear acrylic measuring 320mm by 160mm. I wrapped it in masking tape again to protect it when drilling and also so you can mark it up for drilling.

The motor was mounted to a small block of 15mm perspex by 2 8-32 bolts kindly supplied by Alan from Teslastuff. In turn this block was mounted to the base and supported by another block of 15mm perspex directly behind it.

Here you can see the motor attached to the perspex mounting block. The disc on the mandrel is a piece of 5mm black acrylic perspex and holds the 4 1/4" diameter tungsten rods which are held in situ with collars on the front and rear.

The tungsten rods were sourced from Teslastuff.com and the collars came from a power tool dealer on ebay, think they are something to do with router tooling.

The collars have 2 small grub screws at 90 degrees to each other and clamp the rods up very securely.