hi... read through some of the posts and am wondering if anyone could point me to a place where i could get the "guts" of a tesla coil in order to make one myself... i have access to a glass shop and can blow my own sphere or sorta sphere... wondering if it is totally necessary to vacuum the sphere...
thanks to anyone
cheers
w

Well, assuming that you know a bit about electricity, and how to read an electrical schematic, I would check out Steve Wards page. He has a pretty good selection to choose from. I am pretty new to building coils myself and a few of his coils seem to be "beginner friendly".
Here is a link to his page.
http://stevehv.4hv.org/

Here is a link to a simple SSTC. Lots of components but good simple design. Will produce 2-7" steamers if you correctly follow the design.
http://stevehv.4hv.org/SSTC5.htm

Here is a vary simple VTTC vary few components. Will produce 2-7" streamers if you correctly follow the design.
http://stevehv.4hv.org/VTTC1.htm
Each of these will cost you around $100 or so to build. Unless you already have some of the materials.

BTW, if you decide to go with the VTTC, here is a good link with a full set of building instructions.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Build-A-Vacuum-Tube-Tesla-Coil-VTTC/

 Although each coil design will give you different streamers, I like the VTTC because it looks vary "Vintage".

Thanks for the links!