Re: Cutting Variacs, was RE: variac amperage control??

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

Original poster: "Barton B. Anderson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <tesla123-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Hi Alan, 

I had no need remove windings. The entire toroid core is not wound. The area
which is not wound is right behing the plastic plate where you connect the line
to. The plate is easily removed and then can be manipulated out of harms way.
This area of the toroid core is ready to cut. Obviously, the core must be
removed from the frame (typical on large variacs but may consist of only a top
plate on smaller variacs). 

I removed the core. 
Positioned the core on the base of the gravity band saw. 
Turned on the saw - let it down slow - and let it cut. 

I don't know if you've seen a gravity band saw or not. It is simply a band saw
that is capable of being tilted from a vertical to a horizontal position. The
weight of the saw in it's tilt position and the saw spinning (normal band saw
operation) is what is used to cut through the core. This type of band saw is
typically used in machine shops to cut through large diameter tube and
rectangular stock of many materials. 

I would never attempt this without one. However, if one is crafty, a band saw
could be modified to pivot 90 degrees or more for a gravity effect. 

Nevertheless, none of the variacs ever required messing the winding. Once it
was cut and epoxied, the front connecting plate was mounted and any plates or
housings were reassembled and it was ready for use. 

Take care, 
Bart 
  

Tesla list wrote: 
>
> Original poster: "Alan Yang by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>"
> <megavolt121-at-mediaone-dot-net> 
>
> Bart 
>         when you cut your variacs, how did you get the windings off? and how
> much 
> did you have to cut out/off? 
>
> Alan