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Van De Graphite Generator

I wonder...
 
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So I know graphite is electrically conductive... This is pretty widely known. I noticed today that it is also good at accumulating (and discharging) static electricity. While routing, and more intensely while deburring with a handheld belt sander, a duct comprised of layers of Kevlar and graphite, the hand I used to hold the duct in place on the table was getting continuously shocked, through two layers of glove to boot.

So I got to thinking, it'd be pretty neat to set up a display like that, similar to a typical Van De Graaff generator but with no metallic components. Has it been done?

21 Quest, Jul 03 2014

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       Sparks [+]
  

       Almost certainly technically possible; ironically, the difficult part might be the mechanical rather than the electrical aspects.
  

       The drive for the belt is going to have to be a windmill, or a waterwheel, or a descending weight.
  

       Most Wimshurst machines were built of wood, glass and ivory.
8th of 7, Jul 03 2014
  

       Sparkz güd... I've really been putting a lot of thought lately into the potential of nonmetallic composites.
21 Quest, Jul 03 2014
  

       This I like.   

       Cat fur is pretty good, if I remember right. Actually, I remember my Physics teacher vigorously stroking his black rod with something like cat's fur, in order to get a discharge.
  

       Ahem.
Ling, Jul 03 2014
  

       Any examples of a completely nonmetallic Wimshurst or Van De Graaff machine that come to mind, 8th? I'm not being argumentative or defensive here: I'm genuinely curious.
21 Quest, Jul 04 2014
  

       Well, we would say "odd" rather than "curious", but that's just semantics.
  

       No, we can't cite examples. But carbonised thread would provide conductive paths (it worked in the first incandescent lamps) and carbowax could provide the conductive pads on Wimshurst discs. Likewise, carbowax could be employed to make Leyden jars.
  

       // Cat fur is pretty good, if I remember right. //
  

       Oh, you do … <evil chuckling>
  

       // Actually, I remember my Physics teacher vigorously stroking his black rod with something like cat's fur, in order to get a discharge. Ahem. //
  

       That could have been phrased in a less ambiguous way …
8th of 7, Jul 06 2014
  
      
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