09-01-2013, 08:25 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2013, 08:47 AM by Radio Fixer.)
Thanks for the thanks on the article. Of course anyone making one now would probaly use a mechanical or calculator counter, that seems a brilliant idea to me. One chap in the US did correspond with me and built one himself. It was actually described on the Antique Radio Forum and should be still on their site. It was rewarding that someone found the idea useful. As I remember his was a nicer build mechanically and he got the motor as a spare from a hardware chain for a few dollars.
42 swg will still be too fine David. But anyway beware of old wire. Its usually kicked around for years (say 50) and the outer layers are likely to be damaged. You would be wise to take off the first 2 to 3mm or so and dump that. But another thing is the insulation is not as good as modern stuff. Today modern wire is rated at a 1000V and it will certainly stand that. I tried two strands tight twisted and it did. One strand twisted with a piece of bare copper wire and there were some sparks. But of course that is how enamelling works in needing two layers ... one may have a tiny imperfection but in use it is unlikely to align with a similar imperfection.
For me winding isnt a quick thing; takes quite a few hours so I would only use new wire. To do it and get a failure is not a risk I would take.
Gary
42 swg will still be too fine David. But anyway beware of old wire. Its usually kicked around for years (say 50) and the outer layers are likely to be damaged. You would be wise to take off the first 2 to 3mm or so and dump that. But another thing is the insulation is not as good as modern stuff. Today modern wire is rated at a 1000V and it will certainly stand that. I tried two strands tight twisted and it did. One strand twisted with a piece of bare copper wire and there were some sparks. But of course that is how enamelling works in needing two layers ... one may have a tiny imperfection but in use it is unlikely to align with a similar imperfection.
For me winding isnt a quick thing; takes quite a few hours so I would only use new wire. To do it and get a failure is not a risk I would take.
Gary
