The transformer is an oil burner ignition transformer. A neon sign transformer ( >6kV) will also work.

An automotive coil in series with a lamp dimmer and a 10uF capacitor should also work, but I haven't tried it. The 500pF capacitor and 15K resistor are to reduce the spikes that the transform er sees. The circuit should work fine without them, they are just to prolong the life of the transformer. Also, the 15K resistor limits the surge current when t he 2nF cap starts charging. Both the 500pF and 2nF are 20kV ceramic doorknobs. I have heard of people using PVC and aluminum foil caps as well, but I haven't tried it myself. The 2nF value isn't critcal, I've seen up to 5nF values used here. The two spark gaps in the schematic are 3 sections of 3/4" copper pipe about 4" long epoxyed to a ceramic tile .028" apart. I built the gaps like this --><><-so I only used three pieces of pipe but still had two gaps. The two 5ohm 10W res istors are to limit the total output power. If you aren't getting enough output power try reducing them. L1 is 9 or 10 turns or 14ga wire on a section of 1.5" PVC pipe with a ferrite co re. The core is just some pieces I had kicking around, I think there are 2 rods out of old AM radios and a couple of split cores off a parallel cable all taped togeather. I suspect that you could make due without the ferrite if you made the coils bigger, say 4" or so diameter. L2 is 9-10 turns of heavy guage (1 Ga or better) cable on a 3" PVC form. I think that I used about 10 feet of cable on mine. L1 fits inside it. The .47uF cap an d the 5k resistor are to keep the HF out of the welder. The cap is a 250V metali zed film EMI supression cap. The WelderOu connection is whatever you want to use as your welding current, usually -Ve or AC. The work connection is attached to the ground cable and to the welder ground. The photos are of the prototype I built. After I made sure that it was working I put it in a grounded metal box and shortened all the connections as much as pos sible. All interconnects are at least 14 ga. The circuit has been working fine for me for both TIG (AC and DC) and stick. It will jump about 3/8" under argon and about 1/8" in air. Chris