Carl Willis's video: Hand-cranked x-ray machine

One hundred years ago, the world's then-largest toy manufacturer--Bing Toy Company of Nuremberg, Germany--listed "fine experiment boxes for Roentgen-Experiments by means of Wimshurst Electrical Machines" in its catalog. The kits included a miniature (but fully functional) cold-cathode x-ray tube, fluoroscope, and instructions, all packed in an "elegant cardboard box" ready to hide under the Weihnachtsbaum for your favorite dimple-cheeked young radiographer. Ahh, those were the good old days, right? When kids actually did something worthwhile with their lives rather than play "Call of Duty: Black Ops" til the rooster crowed! Coal and switches for the lot of 'em...! But I digress. I'm happy to report that what's old is new again, at least in regards to the Roentgen experiments with Wimshurst machines. The machines are sold online for use in didactic settings, and are more affordable than ever on account of Chinese mass production. Couple one of these with a nice Polish reproduction Crookes tube (I have had best success with the deflection beam tubes as shown), and get ready to crank out that radiation! As the video shows, I can manage in excess of 0.3 R / hour a few inches from the tube. And as Part II will show, I can make beautiful radiographs. The next time you are about to exile a young whippersnapper off of your lawn, instead consider introducing the errant lad to a respectable old-fashioned pursuit that's exciting enough to make one's hair fall out: Roentgenography. The barrier to entry is only about $150 over at sci-supply online. Oh, by the way, be careful and all that other mumbo-jumbo.