Capacitors

I just bought twenty 6000 volt capacitors at 2000 pico Farads. I'm planning on getting a 6000 volt power supply, so I'll need to run at least two in parallel, which reduces capacitance but increases the voltage rating. With 20 of them, I should achieve 10 nano Farads, which is quite a lot for this project I think. I'm suspecting that with a 6000 volt power supply, I'll be well under the one foot target, though I won't know for sure until I do quite a bit more math.

I've also found a nice stainless steel ball for the top of the secondary coil. Amazon sells them as obstructions to dog bowls for pets that over eat and eat too quickly. Since it's stainless steel, it should fit my conductive needs quite nicely; I may grind a flat surface on it so I can more easily mount it on top of the coil. It's 3.5 inches in diameter, so it's a quite nice size and should make a very attractive and effective top for the secondary coil, allowing huge charges to build up without dissipating, as a sharp surface would allow.

I think I'm going to mount the primary coil in balsa wood, or perhaps a thin pine; I've seen some designs that I really like floating around the internet. The secondary coil will probably be either PVC or cardboard, though if I find a lathed wooden rod, I'll certainly think about it, though I'll probably need to figure out how to run a grounding wire through it.