You may jest, but when I was at school I made a Wimshurst machine using a pair of contra-rotating 78s You should have seen the sparks fly from that baby.
When I was at *primary* school (say, 1970, 71) there was a 'childrens' book in the school library with just this project. I was entranced... it was just around the time I was getting into making crystal set radios and other electronic stuff (others will remember, I'm sure, those Philips electronics kits, and the superior 'Radionics' kits of the time).
I would *love* to track down the book that had the Wimshurst machine project in it. I know there are other designs available, especially in these days of t'interweb, and one day I *ill* make my own Wimshurst machine - but that particular book has a strong nostalgic value to me. If you, or anyone else, could give me any pointers to help me find it I'd be well chuffed.
From memory it was roughly 'quarto' size (around 8" by 5"), was mostly orange or red on the front cover, probably with a drawing of one or two of the projects, and was of UK origin. It might have been called something like 'static electricity projects ...' or something. It was a long time ago... Around the same time I was also borrowing an American book from the school library which included projects like 'how to make a foxhole radio', using lead from a pencil and a blue razor blade as a detector.
Ah, electronics was always a better hobby than a profession...
I certainly made a pencil lead and razor blade radio, I may have originally got the idea from the same book, but I am pretty sure it was something I wanted to try from a remembered idea, rather than following something I had in print at the time.
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