
Simon writes "This is how I used a neon sign transformer to create my own classic sci-fi prop the Jacobs Ladder. A Jacobs Ladder is nothing more than two vertical wires attached to a very high voltage. The wires which form the ladder are close together at the base but diverge as they go up. When switched on an electric arc forms at the base of the wires. The arc heats the air above it and in doing so forms an easier path for the electricity to take. The arc moves upwards continually heating the air above itself and rising to take the easier path until eventually the arc reaches the end of the wires and leaps into the air. " - Link.
Homemade Jacobs Ladder
Recent Entries
- Tiny solar-powered brass engine in a wineglass
- Maker Shed kiosks at Fry's
- New hackerspace in Chicagoland: Workshop 88
- Mint tin electronics dev kit packs the essentials
- Olympus BioScapes competition winners
- Mac mailbox
- LHC tweets its first circulating beam of 2009
- Building a shop presence notification system
- Vacuum tube prototyping board
- Free LED Cookbook from TI
Leave a comment
Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!
Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.
$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)



































