Re: Mini VDG? (fwd)

[Steven Roys <sroys@xxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 08:26:45 -0700
From: robert & june heidlebaugh <rheidlebaugh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: High Voltage list <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Mini VDG?

Dave: Thankyou for your memories of your VDG kit. My father gave me a tube
radio kit. I still rember when I built it it didn't work and how embarased I
was when my father pointed out that the tubes had to go in spesific places
in the circuit. I love the memories and I still play with my toy. Bigger,
newer, but still the same in type just 60 years later.
      Robert   H
-- 


> From: "High Voltage list" <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 20:41:57 -0700 (MST)
> To: <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Mini VDG? (fwd)
> Resent-From: hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx
> Resent-Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 20:30:58 -0700
>
> Original poster: Steven Roys <sroys@xxxxxxxx>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 09:39:45 -0500
> From: David Speck <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: High Voltage list <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Mini VDG? (fwd)
>
> Antonio,
> That is a cute VDG, but not the one that I had.  Mine had a 3" round
> plastic terminal with heavy nickel or chrome plating on it, a dark blue
> cylindrical column with "corona rings" molded into it, and a maroon -
> brown base which held the crank assembly.  I still remember getting
> airplane cement on my fingers in the process of winding coarse wool yarn
> around one of the pulleys.  The collector electrode was a simple strip
> of brass that sat very close to the belt.
>
> The weakness of the design was the 1:20 step up arrangement of the crank
> action.  The crank knob was mounted on a flat 3" cylindrical disc with
> gear teeth on the inside circumference.  IIRC, the plastic shaft on the
> 1/2" driven pinion gear wore through and broke fairly quickly, but not
> before I was able to do some nice demonstrations for my grade school
> classmates.  Aaaah, the good old days!
> Dave
>
> I have this VDG from a kit (from 30+ years ago):
>
>> http://www.coe.ufrj.br/~acmq/vdgkit.jpg
>> The belt (rubber band) and the charge collectors are missing.
>> The crank was difficult to turn, and the sparks produced were small,
>> but it worked. I still remember the shock that it gave me when I tried
>> to charge an improvised Leyden jar with it.
>>
>>
>
>