Spark gap

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

Original poster: "John Richardson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jprich-at-up-dot-net>

Hi everyone,

This is only my third post, and I appreciate everyone taking the time to
answer what may seem to be trivial questions.  Here's another one:  I've
been hitting all of the sites and the archives concerning rsg's, and I was
wondering why a gap couldn't be constructed using only two stationary
electrodes and having small holes drilled in the disc to control firing
times.  Wouldn't this help to alleviate problems concerning arcs following
the electrodes on a standard rotary disc, as well as having very precise
control over quenching?  I'm sure there's a suitable material that could
handle the high heat as the arc passes thru the holes without eroding it.
Also a suggestion for those building gaps with tungsten rods-would it help
to use brass air brake fittings to hold your rods in place?  They can be had
with pipe thread on one end (easy enough to thread your stationary gap
blocks on your rsg for these), plus the compression ferrule on the other end
would allow uniform clamping force all the way around, and if not overly
tightened can be loosened and the rod slid in our out to make adjustments to
gap width or compensate for wear.  They come in sizes from 1/8" up.  Just a
thought.

Thanks,
John Richardson