Original poster: Davetracer@xxxxxxx
   I have a few relatively minor questions ...
(1a) Should the safety gap on top of the neon sign transformer be as 
physically _sharp_ as possible (for example, two nails pointing at one 
another), to help ionization and zapping across, or should it be a Jacob's 
ladder shape (gentle curve), or even moreso, smooth curves, something like 
doorknobs?
   The reason I ask is that it seems to me in this application you'd want 
the safety gap to fire sooner, not later, and I believe that sharp 
electrodes will do that a bit faster. On the other hand a smooth shape 
may give wanted capacitance. I don't know, so I'm asking.