springs or wire coils?

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <RQBauzon-at-aol-dot-com>

instead of doing tedious winding for solenoids and chokes, can relatively 
long (like 1ft.) springs be used? and, if so,  if a ferrite core is needed, 
can a relatively long nail be pushed into the sprinng?
          
spring winding~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I____________________________________
I___ferrite_nail________________________>
Ispring winding~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~