DIY project questions

[Cryosec]

So, I have this DIY project for my final high school exam (in June) where I'll build a working tesla coil. Thing is, I don't have cash to waste on expensive transformers and other stuff, so almost nothing will be pre-made. Condensers (or capacitors, however you call them) and the transformer will be home-made, so I'd like to know if a home-made transformer would be safe with a 220V wall-socket. Also, other safety stuff I should be aware of?

[Hackentosher]

Microwave transformer?

 

also, @iamdarkyoshi usually deals with things that can burn your house down with just a sneeze 

[Cryosec]

5 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

Microwave transformer?

sadly, I have no microwave to scavenge. I hoped I could make my own transformer with just copper wire and some metal stuff

[Doramius]

Sometimes you can find old oil furnace transformers for pretty cheap.  Making a large enough transformer sometimes is more in the cost of copper wiring and core than buying a functioning old one.  New ones are generally $70-$100 with rating up to 10KV output.

[Cryosec]

1 minute ago, Doramius said:

$70-$100 with rating up to 10KV output.

That's why I wanted to make my own ahah I can get 12m of copper for less than 6€, then I'll need the ferrite core, and I'll look in stores for that

[Doramius]

Just be safe.  I created a flyback transformer to step up a generator in a test project 20+ years ago.  I have a pretty decent burn scar on my leg now.

[bob345]

You should go check out some local thrift stores. You can easily find a microwave for dirt cheap. Even a broken one should suffice as the transformer and capacitors are almost never what fail.

[Cryosec]

12 hours ago, Doramius said:

I have a pretty decent burn scar on my leg now.

ouch, I'll try not to kill myself getting out of high school ahah

 

12 hours ago, bob345 said:

You should go check out some local thrift stores.

thrift stores aren't that common in Italy, at least where I live. However, I'll se what I can find

[DragonTamer1]

This guy made a tesla coil that needs only very small supply voltages but still works as a tesla coil would. You won't get arcs out of the torus like you would with extremely high voltage but you can make it so that you can get arcs out of it.

 

http://www.electroboom.com/?m=201505