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I've always liked building high voltage devices. In eighth grade, I built a Wimshurst machine—a high voltage static electric generator. Although measuring the exact voltage was not possible, I was able to produce sparks about 30cm long, giving an estimated voltage in the tens of kilovolts.
In high school, my friends and I built a low power flyback transformer driver. We did some high voltage wood burning, and after cleaning and staining the wood, we got a surprising artistic result.
The new flyback driver used a larger number of turns on the primary coil, smaller tank capacitors, and high voltage rated IGBTs. Unfortunately, the IGBTs died due to gate failure, and I ran out of IGBTs.
