How to make your own simple 5pf Capacitor

It is surely possible to make your own capacitors.At least those with small values, like up to 5-100pF

PARTS:

 

– Insulated wire (24-gauge, stranded or unstranded) 

That’s it!  Simply twist the two wires together – six or seven times will do the trick – and voila!, you have entered the dark art of making your own capacitors!

 

All you need is an inchworm of wire.

Two examples of 5pf capacitors. They kind of look like the Einsturzede Neubauten dude…

 
 Wanna check to see if you’re little twisting shenanigans have capacitance?  Bring on the multimeter, an essential tool on your work bench.  Adjust your multimeter to read ohms, making sure that it also displays your output in farads.

Essentially, a capacitor only consists of two metal plates separated by an insulator.  The insulation of our 24-gauge wire acts as a buffer between two pieces of copper from making a completely closed connection from the shortest path.