Re: is it safe to touch???

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: Tesla729-at-cs-dot-com 

In a message dated 12/9/00 1:27:30 PM Pacific Standard Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com 
writes:

<< Personally, I never touch the arcs off ANY coils.  I used to all the time.
 However, the more I learn about Tesla coils, the further away I stand...>>

Hi Terry, all,

Amen!! I wish all coilers out there would follow this advice. It's just not 
worth
the risk of your life to impress some friends with such silly stunts. Also, I 
fear if many individuals start getting injured or killed by their lightning 
bolt ma-
chines, then the government will decide that it's time to protect us poor 
coil-
ers from ourselves. I know that the US government would be inclined to do 
this!
So please everyone, be careful.
 
<< Also, beware that the coils we build today are typically far more powerful
 than coils built years ago.  They are very good at delivering power to arcs
 and they are equally good at delivering lethal shocks.  MMCs can be made
 with just a few caps (like 8) now that have all the killing power of many
 big oil caps of years back.  As we get better at making even small coils at
 high power, the risks only increase. >>
  
Yes, our coils are getting increasingly compact and lethal; and just a few
pounds of capacitor today can deliver hundreds of joules of energy.

David Rieben