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Re: Winding

Original poster: Ed Phillips <evp@xxxxxxxxxxx>

"Original poster: Terry Fritz <teslalist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Steve,

I have wound many by hand.  Just fix the wire at one end and start
turning
the tube.  Best to be watching TV or something since it might take
awhile.  But it goes along fairly well.

One thing that is really important is to use masking tape and tape the
windings in place as you go along.  That way, if you slip up, you only
have
to fix a little bit since the tape will hold the older windings.  I just
tear off dozens of little tape bits and stick on everything around be so
I
can grab them easily as I go along.

Also try and wind the wire fairly "tight".  Certainly not enough to
break
it or make winding hard, but you do want it to be nice and snug."

I've had good results holding the form in my lap with the wire spool on
the floor, wire feeding over the end (won't work with large wire but
fine for #28 and up). First, as Terry says, cut a number of short
pieces of masking tape and stick them to the tape roll where you can
reach them easily when things go wrong or you just need to take a pit
stop or something. Tape beginning to one end of the form, a little
beyond where you want the final winding to be. Start turning form with
one hand, holding the form with the other and using the thumb (feed the
wire under the thumb to maintain tension) to keep each new turn tight
and pressed against the previous one. MAKE SURE YOU DON'T CROSS OVER
ANY TURNS!!!!! Things may start a little crooked (hence the extra
length at the beginning, which can be unwound later), but pretty soon
you'll have nice even turns square with the form. Keep going until you
get tired or.... At some point around half way done it will probably be
easier to turn the form over and turn it in the opposite direction,
still using thumb. I've wound a 3" diameter form with about 1000 turns
of #30 in one evening, but with the tape around you can always stop when
tired and start again some time.

        This is pretty easy and a good way to get started, even if you build
some kind of a winder later.

Good luck,

Ed