Alright I'll skip all the formalities and dive right in: I've got much at my disposal but I've only ever been good at manipulating electricity (welding/machining) rather than learning about it (unless you count the incident wherein I had a nasty sensation from several turns of welder lead creating a magnetic field strong enough to attract my arm to a grounded pipe and numb it, thus making it very difficult to remove). So please have patience if I use wrong terms etc.

 

Before we begin let me just say this: I work with 600 amp gouging units on a daily basis, I know to respect rather than fear the power involved. Also, yes I am hell-bent on creating this device, so hopefully you can help me do it safely!

 

 

Okay, so basically I have a couple questions about materials I can use and a few thoughts that may sound insane so please bare with me.

 

The first being the most recent thought regarding the coils themselves...

 

Just a thought but would solid core MIG wire work? It comes in nice big 44lbs spools, is obviously conductive, and bends/conforms nicely. Using a lathe or even a drill press/milling machine, this could be an extremely easy and fast way to make a multi layer coil. It generally comes in 0.35 and 0.45 sizes but I have no idea what the AWG is for that. Also, I have no clue what the resistance etc would be. Maybe it would just melt (like it's supposed to haha) if I put over 2000J through it...

 

Could a good amount of 2.5" x 5.5" 400v 3900uF electrolytic caps work? According to a program I use that equates to 312J each...

 

 

Heck, I may even be able to salvage an old welder if anyone could tell me what's the most useful components for my needs!

 

 

So many questions that I can't even remember right now... Thanks in advance, everyone!

Should this be under Physics?