Thanks WYSIWYG, that was nearly as thoughtfully described as old Phobes, my 4th form Physics Master would have made it. :rolleyes:

Even now I can still recall making an “Electric Shock Machine” from some instructions in a 1950’s vintage library book called “101 things for a boy to make”, when I was about 10 years of age. My dad was the one who really wanted to do it, and I believe he still has it in the shed. We had to make our own coil and fill the core full of metal rods (about the thickness of welding rods). With some other extra bits of copper and wire, the whole thing was mounted on a wooden base, and a cover put on it. All you were given to hold were two 6″ long lengths of copper pipe, one in each hand, which were soldered to wires leading into the box. You couldn’t tell that completing the circuit inside (thanks to a 6V battery) produced an output via the coil and through the handles of around 50V. Boy did we have fun seeing who could hold on the longest?? Darned thing would probably be illegal these days!! 😡