Warehouse 13 - The Tesla Gun

[RayR]

Alright, the Farnsworth thread has grown ginormous, figured this deserved its own :lol.

airhead shots:

In the box you can see a copper cable that seems to be 1/4" woven copper grounding cable (untinned) and it attaches to a Brass Binding Post. I am trying to reproduce the Tesla BOX, can ANYONE Please help me find those 2 parts? I can find the cable in expensive spools, but I only need about 6".
I cant find a decent brass color binding post. I have some in black and some in steel. I even tried Tattoo supplies, but they don't quite work.:cry I have managed to find a nearly exact meter, but the posts (I think) were added for the prop. THANKS in advance!

 

[Spookydad]

Ray

Have you looked at de-soldering wick/braid?

Neil

 

[laserpistol76]

Does anyone know of a parts list like the first page of the Farnsworth one?

 

[PeterLC]

No parts list was made for the Tesla as only the tubes were found items. It was totally fabricated. I guess the box is a bit different as the meter, binding post knurled screw, spark plug boot and braid are found items. Even the box may have been a found part. While lots of people want a Tesla, I don't think too many people are wanting to make the charging box.

All of the braided grounding straps I have found are way too thick and the widest desoldering braid I have found is 3.5mm which might do. I have several spools of that. I always have that in my box of tools. I have considered pulling the braid off some heavy shielded cable.

Does anyone know of a parts list like the first page of the Farnsworth one?

 

[laserpistol76]

Does anyone know where to buy a vacuum tube or a clear plastic tube with the dom-ish end?

 

[division 6]

The stunt tubes are just clear tubes with resin domes attached.
Several tubes have been listed in the thread already from test tubes to packaging for toys.

 

[RayR]

No parts list was made for the Tesla as only the tubes were found items. It was totally fabricated. I guess the box is a bit different as the meter, binding post knurled screw, spark plug boot and braid are found items. Even the box may have been a found part. While lots of people want a Tesla, I don't think too many people are wanting to make the charging box.

All of the braided grounding straps I have found are way too thick and the widest desoldering braid I have found is 3.5mm which might do. I have several spools of that. I always have that in my box of tools. I have considered pulling the braid off some heavy shielded cable.

The box is fairly common as antique Victorian age boxes go. I have seen that exact pattern of mother-of-pearl on eBay and Esty. I now have 2. Not sure which I'll use, then sell the other.

Lo and Behold, I may have found the right braided wire on Amazon. Just ordered a small 15 ft. spool of 1/4" wide, braided, bare (not tinned) copper wire that looks like it may be perfect =) I don't think I'll ever be able to exactly match the black knob on the meter, but several seem pretty close.

And an observation...the charging box has a VU (sound) meter, not a power meter! That meter is much newer (1950's or 60's) manufactured way after the gun would have been.

 

[PeterLC]

Another couple of pics of the meter and wire.

 

[PeterLC]

I believe it is a Victorian writing box. Have never seen one for sale here and for some strange reason people seem to want to keep antiques.

The box is fairly common as antique Victorian age boxes go.

 

[laserpistol76]

The stunt tubes are just clear tubes with resin domes attached.
Several tubes have been listed in the thread already from test tubes to packaging for toys.

I think a test tube is the best option (in my opinion). Does anyone know where to get one?

 

[laserpistol76]

Anyone?

 

[Dakarn]

In the box you can see a copper cable that seems to be 1/4" woven copper grounding cable (untinned) and it attaches to a Brass Binding Post. I am trying to reproduce the Tesla BOX, can ANYONE Please help me find those 2 parts? I can find the cable in expensive spools, but I only need about 6".
I cant find a decent brass color binding post. I have some in black and some in steel. I even tried Tattoo supplies, but they don't quite work.:cry I have managed to find a nearly exact meter, but the posts (I think) were added for the prop. THANKS in advance!

I had a copper colored hard drive cable that matched that exactly, so you may want to look there. It was a copper braided cable for IDE drives used instead of the old school flat cables.

Here's an example of one:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...e=product_info&cPath=34_180&products_id=21599

 

[PeterLC]

The box is fairly common as antique Victorian age boxes go. I have seen that exact pattern of mother-of-pearl on eBay and Esty. I now have 2. Not sure which I'll use, then sell the other.

I may have to keep that in mind if I can't find one.

Lo and Behold, I may have found the right braided wire on Amazon. Just ordered a small 15 ft. spool of 1/4" wide, braided, bare (not tinned) copper wire that looks like it may be perfect =) I don't think I'll ever be able to exactly match the black knob on the meter, but several seem pretty close.

I have seen 3/16", 1/4" and 3/8" copper braid on Ebay in 5' lengths for about $20. I have also seen roughly 300mm (12") grounding straps that are about 1/4" on there.

The black screw looks a lot like a black computer case thumbscrew. It even has the Philips head slot in the top. It looks like some that I have.

And an observation...the charging box has a VU (sound) meter, not a power meter! That meter is much newer (1950's or 60's) manufactured way after the gun would have been.

Yep definitely a VU meter. So are the tiny meters on the Tesla though they are fakes.

Possible the box with meter was a later addition to the Farnsworth accessories. Maybe the meter was a replacement one. Philo Farnsworth lived until 1971.

 

[PeterLC]

One thing about the braided cable that I noticed too is that in some grabs it is shown "connected" over the trigger. In other shots it is sitting on the frame in front of the trigger. I was thinking of making it hold with little rare earth magnets. One would go in the boot on the cable and the other could go in the small resin grip behind the frame or inside the trigger. I've not checked yet but it's possible that the boots I have might even fit over the trigger without anything else.

 

[laserpistol76]

Does anyone know the dimensions?

 

[PeterLC]

The dimensions of what? The Tesla? The charging box?

The Tesla has a lot of dimensions. One of the posts has the length and height taken from a Holloywood Auction site.

The box - no but you can estimate from the screengrabs.

Does anyone know the dimensions?

 

[laserpistol76]

The dimensions of what? The Tesla? The charging box?

The Tesla has a lot of dimensions. One of the posts has the length and height taken from a Holloywood Auction site.

The box - no but you can estimate from the screengrabs.

The Tesla gun itself

 

[RayR]

OK, got it, 1/4" bare copper weave grounding cable. I got this from a company that sells giant Lots to companies. I told the person on the phone about my project and he thought it was cool, so he sent me a "sample" of the size I need:

On the right side is the rubber cover from a spark plug wire. It's too modern, so I will be going to a junk yard to find a more accurate shape.

On the other end is what is called a Binding Post. I found the correct vintage ones on ebay. They look like this

A wire can be passed thru the hole or wrapped around the post. The top screws down. They use a non insulated Fork Terminal Cable Connector.

And I guess I glue it to this API 361 vu meter. The only thing wrong here is the word HAECO. But it IS the real deal:

I havent matched the other knob, and I don't know what they used to hold everything inside. Maybe foam, but it wouldn't be very period authentic.

Oh, yeah...that first pic, it is sitting on top of an antique Victorian rosewood veneer box, dimensions 10 3/4 x 7 3/4 x 4". I now have 3. Seems it was a not uncommon sewing box in UK around 1870.

 

[willstr1]

trying to figure out what tubes I should use for the back part. anyone got a good data base of physical sizes of vacuum tubes? I have looked far and wide but can't find one. or if you have recommendations for what tubes to use.

Thanks.

 

[robinhood jw]

@ robinhood jw

...... Mother Fracker!!!! I think I just got punked! Damn....... very very beautiful! Definitely not in the steampunk class. I agree with TheDoctor..... absolutely Victorian!

I hope "I got punked" is a good thing! Anyway ... thanks!

Does anyone know where to buy a vacuum tube or a clear plastic tube with the dom-ish end?

I may have posted this earlier. The vacuum tube substitute I used was an unexpanded 2-liter bottle. These are used sometimes in kids' science kits as a test tube with a screw top. Mine actually came from my local home-brew supply store and had beer yeast in it. A nice thing about these is that the wall of the tube is actually pretty thick. It's probably over 1/8". They're unlikely to break if it gets dropped. The down side of this is that it's harder to cut.

I've also seen vacuum tube sized containers that the Hex Bug toys are sold in. These run about $10. (And you get to play with the toy!)

Does anyone know the dimensions?

When I made mine, I knew that the tube was the limiting factor. I found a good side-view photo online and kept printing it off zooming up or down until I got it to match the measurements of the tube I had. Then I took the rest of the measurements off the printout of the photo. That way all the various parts were proportional to each other. I think my Victorian Tesla is a little small compared to the real props. It's maybe only 90% of the size, but unless I ever lay it side by side with another one, it's unlikely anyone would be able to tell.




BTW ... I thought I posted a link to my build thread in this thread, but reading back over the last couple of pages just now, it doesn't look like I did. Anyway, here it is:
http://www.therpf.com/f9/victorian-steampunk-tesla-pistol-170595/