The electrostatic generator is one of many variants of a frictional electrical machine used in the second half of the 18^th century. It became standard equipment for the systematic research on the then new found phenomenon of electricity. The machine is composed of a hand crank to put the disc in motion, woollen cloth which forms the cushion, collecting combs and the conductor from which the generated charge could be retrieved. The collecting combs consist of metallic tips that are placed near the surface of the rotating disk passing on the electrical charges to the conductor.