Most of first DIY attempts involve the use of perforated metal sheets as high voltage electrodes(so called stators). It’s no surprise because at the first glance everything might look so simple. Take some perforated metal, cut it and bond everything via cheap double sided tape. It is also partially driven by literature that's available both over the net and books.
Apparent simplicity quickly disappears when one tries to coat metal sheets in order to avoid arching & leakage problems. Powder coating processes can be made to work. Usually it involves application of several layers of various plastics. Most of powder coating companies would refuse even attempting to do this. Then why not use some canned spray paint? Again not so easy as it sounds. Layers and layers of paint are required. Sharp edges of perforated holes are especially difficult to coat due to surface tension of paint. At the same time electrostatic field is increased at points of high curvature. So a seemingly simple approach becomes very difficult when adequate output levels and reliable operation are expected.
This part is dedicated building a panel from stretched wires. While relatively short, some general ideas are discussed.
Apparent simplicity quickly disappears when one tries to coat metal sheets in order to avoid arching & leakage problems. Powder coating processes can be made to work. Usually it involves application of several layers of various plastics. Most of powder coating companies would refuse even attempting to do this. Then why not use some canned spray paint? Again not so easy as it sounds. Layers and layers of paint are required. Sharp edges of perforated holes are especially difficult to coat due to surface tension of paint. At the same time electrostatic field is increased at points of high curvature. So a seemingly simple approach becomes very difficult when adequate output levels and reliable operation are expected.
This part is dedicated building a panel from stretched wires. While relatively short, some general ideas are discussed.
One thing that comes into question is how to support wires. Light louvers could be used as shown in the photograph above. The louvers have their own advantages and disadvantages. The first and very clear advantage is the availability and relatively low price of these. Another one is good insulating capabilities of plastic. The bad : difficult to glue wires to. Most glues won't provide a reliable joint. Louvre material dissolved in methylene chloride could be used as encapsulating "syrup" for wires. The joint achieved this way is rather reliable as proven by Acoustat. Another bad sides are brittleness and flexibility of the most common louver material which is styrene with certain plasticizers.
The second approach is building a frame yourself. Many materials could be used, including plastics, aluminium or even plywood. This way it can be optimized for one's requirements. One way of building it is by fixing cross bars a on long, narrow strips or "L shapes" made of plastic or aluminium. It can either be glued or bolted depending on materials of choice. Fixing every cross bar via screws is an exceptionally time consuming process. The distance between cross bars depends a lot on wire thickness and expected mechanical rigidity of the structure.
The wire stretching jig is an important device to make wires really straight. Without it flatness of the surface will be questionable, to say the least. Heavy duty steel threaded rods could be used to construct such a device. Copper wires are stretched until plastic deformation is achieved(1.5-2%). Then tension is somewhat released prior to application of glue. Various types of glue can be made to work, including epoxy, some polyurethane and even PVA(white wood glue grade D3).