Winding basket-weave & spiders' web coils etc

[Yorkie]

Most of us will have seen the old fashioned type of coils as used on pre-war sets such as crystal sets and early valve sets, and often seen in old magazines and photo`s. These can be Honeycomb, Basket weave, Spiderweb and other forms of coils. In German these are: Honigwaben, Korbspule, Spinnwebenspule. Basket weave coils are also mentioned in books as "Lorenz" coils, and can be made in different shapes and sizes, as the Honeycomb and Spiderweb coils. These coils were made because they have low self-capacitance, and it results in a coil with a higher Q because the windings are further apart from each other, and there is more air between the layers. At the link below, there’s a very interesting and informative article on how to wind these coils, and also, several links to short videos on home-brew coil winders, including the ‘Gingery’ winder, which I’ve almost made, but which is on the back burner due to other projects taking priority:

http://www.pa2mrx.nl/UK/coil%20homebrewing_uk.htm

It’s on the website of a Dutch radio amateur, PA2MRX, which has other interesting radio stuff, including such things as how to cast your own radio knobs in resin:

http://www.pa2mrx.nl/UK/PA2MRX-UK.htm

(It's in English - not Dutch!).

Hope it’s of interest.

[tiv48]

thanks yorki i love sites like this
rob t

[AlanBeckett]

I'd already got this one bookmarked.
It's wonderful, and one of these days .....
Of course Col has an authenic wavewinder, and a complete set of gears.
Alan

[Yorkie]

Of course Col has an authenic wavewinder, and a complete set of gears.
Alan

I think that at the last count he had three!!

And what a set of prize-winning gears too, all made by Colin, and housed in a custom designed box, complete with custom made brass nameplate. How cool is that!

[AlanBeckett]

David,
I think Col only has one Wavewinder. The others are straight coil winders
I was hoping my Post would galvanise him
Alan

[Yorkie]

David,
I think Col only has one Wavewinder. The others are straight coil winders
I was hoping my Post would galvanise him
Alan

How can it not do!

You (and Joe) have probably seen the gears he cut and the box in which they're housed, as I did, a couple of weeks ago. What a monumental achievement - not just cutting the gears, but working out the size and pitch. But then once Colin gets the bit between his teeth, he doesn't stop till he's seen the task through to the bitter end. (EG ' Restorer's Dream'!).

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks David and Alan for your kind comments and yes here I am having only just noticed this thread.

Thank you also David for not only adding this interesting thread but for including the website links which I've just book marked and will read in due course.

My coil winders consist of a standard manual AVO Douglas winder which is a delight to use. Two rather expensive German electric Aumann winders which at the moment although both winders do work the single foot control I have has become faulty and awaits my attention; these winders are wonderful to watch as the carriage changes direction without stopping and does so with great precision.

The fourth winder is my fully restored AVO Douglas Progressive wave winder. This was bought as seized up scrap and without a single change gear. I was honoured to receive the top restoration award from the BVWS in 2009 for my restoration story of this winder. I lost a great deal of sleep during this restoration and even came up with a brand new way of gear cutting using a lathe; I ended up making a complete set of gears from cast iron blanks (rounds) totaling some 45 gears and as I gained practice I could cut a 60T gear in one hour; this was just the actual gear cutting not including the more basic reducing the blank to dimension and boring the mounting hole.

The French polished wooden box and brass nameplate were delightful projects in their own right and neatly house the full set of gears together with a spanner.

I've never used the wave winder as the covered winding wire brings tears to my eyes it being so expensive but my chum Harold Scott informed me months ago that there is a way of using enameled copper wire for wave winding and I'll be looking into this as winter gets a grip.

I enjoy our hobby immensely as it opens up whole new areas for me to explore and experiment with. I enjoy restoring basket case "woodies" but I also like to take on more difficult challenges which look absolutely hopeless and it is these which allow me to stretch my imagination to the limit; many of these projects take a great deal of time but every one gives me a lot of joy and pleasure.

My chum David (Yorkie) very kindly sent me construction details for making a router comb jointing jig which I did actually make and use to cut the joints on the wooden box. The jig was simple to make and produces perfect comb joints with ease; it is a pleasure to use.

I had to make a number of new parts together with the gears and these were the winding arm which had broken in half; the spindle with revolving centre and locking mechanism and the locking alloy knob. All were treated as small projects.

With winter fast approaching perhaps you will finally complete your "Gingery" wave winder David; I was most impressed by your workmanship when you kindly brought it along to show me. I too have the Gingery plans but never got around to making the winder.

The pictures show the wave winder during dismantling and finished also the gears with housing box and home made brass nameplate. The comb jointing jig is based on the design kindly supplied by David and the alloy knob was made to match the similar style knob on the winder.

This was a long restoration and I learned many new techniques whilst enjoying every minute of it.

Kind regards, Col.