From these panes cut two disks sixteen inches in diameter with a rotary cutter, as described in the chapter on Miscellaneous Apparatus, [page 294], and rub the edges with a water-stone (see chapter on Formulæ, [page 330].)
From flat, thin tin-foil cut thirty-two wedge-shaped pieces four inches long. They should be one inch and a half wide at one end and three-quarters of an inch at the other, as shown at [Fig. 2] A. Give each plate of glass two thin coats of shellac on both sides; then lay one on the paper pattern ([Fig. 1]) so that the outside edge of the glass will lie on the largest circle. Place a weight at the middle of the glass to hold it in place; then make sixteen of the tin-foil sectors fast to the plate, using shellac as the sticking medium. But first give one side of each sector a thin coat of shellac, allowing it to dry; then give it another coat when applying it to the glass. The sectors are to be symmetrically arranged on the glass, using a line of the pattern as a centre for each piece (as shown at A in [Fig. 1]), and the fourteen and six inch circles as the outer and inner boundaries. Each piece, as it is applied, should be pressed down upon the glass, so that it will stick smoothly, without air bubbles or creases. A very good plan is to lay a piece of soft blotting-paper over the sector and drive it down with a small squeegee-roller such as is used in photography, taking care, however, not to shift the sector from its proper position. When all the sectors are on, the plate should appear as shown in [Fig. 2]. After the shellac, which holds the sectors to the glass, is dry, run a brush full of shellac around the inner and outer extremities of the tin-foil strips for half or three-quarters of an inch in from the ends. The shellac will hold the sectors firmly to the glass, and will slightly insulate them as well, thereby preventing the escape of electricity. Apply the remaining sectors to the other plate of glass in a similar manner; and as a result two disks of glass, with the applied strips, will be ready to mount in the frame.
DETAILS OF WIMSHURST INFLUENCE MACHINE
A hole three-quarters of an inch in diameter should be made in each glass plate, so that a three-eighths spindle may pass through them and into the bosses, so as to keep them in proper line. It is preferable, however, not to bore these holes if bosses and accurately bushed holes can be made in the uprights of the frame which support these disks.
At a wood-working mill have two bosses made that will measure four inches in diameter at the large end, and one inch and a half at the small one. They should be of such length that when the plates and two bosses are arranged in line (to appear as shown in A A at [Fig. 9]) they will fill the entire space between the uprights B B. Near the small end a groove is turned in each boss, so that a round leather belt will fit in it, as shown in [Fig. 3].
The base is made from pine, white-wood, cypress, or any other wood that is soft and easily worked. It is composed of two strips twenty-four inches long, three inches wide, and one inch and a quarter in thickness, and two cross-pieces fourteen inches long, three inches wide, and one inch and a half thick.
These are put together with glue and screws, and at both sides of the base notches are cut to accommodate the feet of the uprights. The uprights are seventeen inches high, three inches wide, and one inch and a half thick. The notch at the foot of each one is cut so that, when fitted in place, the foot of the upright will rest on a table on a line with the bottom of the end cross-pieces under each corner. At the foot of the uprights a piece of sheet rubber should be made fast, with glue or shellac, so that when in operation the machine will not move about or slide.
A groove is cut at one side of each upright six inches above the bottom, as shown at [Fig. 4] A. In this groove the driving-wheel axles fit, and near the top holes are made in the uprights through which the spindles pass, which in turn support the bosses and glass disks.