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Sm0ky2's modified Voss Machine

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sm0ky2:
it has been requested that I provide plans to build your own
Electrostatic Generator
This particular machine Is known as a Voss machine
Named after its' inventor.
This also resembles a combo machine know as
A Toepler-Holtz machine.


These machines operate with only 1 spinning disk with collectors
The inductors are located on a stationary disk.
My machine has been modified several times from the original
After several experiments with different plate sizes
And arrangements I have come up with this machine
Which I call my Ion Generator
Featured on my YouTube channel
https://m.youtube.com/user/Sm0ky2
And presented here in the following hand-drawn plans
The disks can be arranged vertically or horizontally
I chose horizontal to make it easier for me to see everything
that's going on when I change brush locations
But that's just a personal preference it works either way

sm0ky2:
These are the plans for the modified Voss Machine
If anything in my drawing is not clear or needs further
explaination just ask and I'll do my best.

sm0ky2:
Not sure why it loaded them sideways
But you can d/l the pics and have them for your projects
if you need help figuring out how the brushes go just ask
I can walk you through any problems you encounter

TinselKoala:
As you can see, uploading huge images wastes bandwidth and also screws up the forum page so that it is way too wide. You have to scroll all the way to the right to see the "reply" button, etc.

Except in the most unusual cases, an image width of 800 pixels is sufficient. If you need to show greater detail in higher resolution, you can crop the section you need to emphasize and show it enlarged to 800 pixels wide.

For your present images, I have rotated them, cropped out unnecessary white space and sized them, in this case, to 1200 pixels wide. There are _many_ different image editing programs that you can use to make images easier to up/download and display on the forum page. I prefer using gimp, which is almost "photoshop" in its capability, is available for all popular operating systems and is free. It takes about 6 mouseclicks to rotate, edit, crop and resize images for easy display.

TinselKoala:
As far as the design of the machine itself is concerned, the Voss machine was basically redesigned by A.D. Moore into the "Dirod" configuration which avoids some of the deficiencies of the original Voss design. Instead of a disc with sharp-edged sectors which limit charge buildup because of the field concentrations at the edges (also a problem with traditional Wimshurst designs), the Dirod uses a drum with "sectors" made of smooth round rods with polished smooth hemispherical ends. This allows higher voltages (more charge) to build up on the rods before it sprays away uselessly. Also the fixed inductors and output plates are made very smooth with rounded and polished edges. Otherwise the Dirod works by the same principle as the Voss machine. 

In my own Dirod version I use carbon fiber rovings (available from local model-airplane hobby shops) to make the contact brushes for output and neutral structures. These are flexible, durable and do not cause wear against the rotating parts of the machine. And for connection to external loads, capacitors, experiments, etc. I have found that ball chain (aka bead chain) makes excellent "wires" that will not leak as badly as ordinary small-diameter flexible wire.

Anyone experimenting with electrostatic machines should be aware of two excellent books on the construction and use of the machines: "Electrostatics: The Dirod Manual" by AD Moore, and "Homemade Lightning" by RA Ford. For more advanced reading, Oleg Jefimenko's book "Electrostatic Motors" is full of theory and experiments and designs.

(Why is this post so wide? It is because of the superwide photos posted up above. This width problem will continue until a new page begins, or until the superwide photos are edited to make them 1200 pixels wide or less.)

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