Been there done that. Pain In the Ass is what it is. There are Welds all over the transformer, and you need a dremel or similar tool to cut through them. Then once you do that, you have to remove the bottom plate, And Start Removing the bottom of the Core. Once you do that, You have to start splitting the E Core and try prying the Primary and secondary Out WITHOUT ruining them.

Took me 3 Days of Work to get about 2+ Lbs of Copper. I Did Get a couple spools full of the thin stuff. I saved the primary because it makes a cool electromagnet.

I weighed a transformer once, and the smaller ones are about 10 to 11lbs, So Out of that you could say about 2.5 to 3 Lbs in copper and the rest is iron.

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Insinuating that they hold the bomb.
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I have had really good luck with NST's, also....The ignition coils from newer GM cars. I just limited the primary on the ignition coils with a cap in series, and a rheostat from home depot. I'm pretty sure I was pulling a good 20k volts at least out of it. I ran a Tesla coil on one of these for a long time, with no problems(until the cap went south). MOTs (microwave oven transformers), I'm a little leary of. I've fried myself on one (and miraculously lived). I would suggest not using these, unless you really know what you are doing. Too much current involved.

Lazers--------->
...Jason