Hi Tim,I've never had to use a rubber mallet or hammer of any type. I don't quite "get that"! That just sounds like a bad idea from the start. 1/4" refrigeration tubing is very easy to work with. The biggest issue is supports. David Reiben made a similar primary using abs tubing and was quite successful, but I personally would not do as good a job. Thus, I use rigid supports to accommodate the primary tubing.
Supports of the following are my preference for flat coils and certainly helps the winding process, but are a bit more difficult to make. http://www.classictesla.com/temp/Pristand.gif
The cuts into the center create a flexible snap in ability. Without the cuts, you'll "force" the tune into the holes and this will bend the tubing creating a poor connection. I used 3/8" acrylic for this particular standoff. All that is really needed is to purchase the tubing, drill a few drill sizes similar to this arrangement, and find the drill size which works well for the tubing. Then, just drill and cut the acrylic to size. It ends up very nice in the end.
To get something nice, it takes some thought process with the method used. If your just looking for a working coil, even a messy primary will perform well. Been there and done that also (there's nothing wrong with that approach either). However, I wanted to point out another avenue. Tubing is great for tapping along it's length for tuning and if you are simply required to "snap in" the tubing into position, winding becomes a cake walk.
I am also a big advocate of ty wraps. But, always use a single hole for a single ty wrap (never two holes). Two holes will allow the primary to slide all over the place. Simply insert the ty wrap up through a single hole, around the primary, and back down the same hole (securing on the bottom). This will ensure the primary stays in it's intended position. It's not as good as an acrylic standoff, but it's darn close.
Here's an old picture of one my coils using a ty wrap primary (note I used acrylic strips between wood and primary).
http://www.classictesla.com/temp/Pristand.gif Take care, Bart Tim Meehan wrote:
Hey Guys - thanks for the advice. I think that I'll probably try the rubber mallet and refrigerator tubing rather than stripping the insulation off of some power cable. On Nov 15, 2007 5:38 AM, Lau, Gary <Gary.Lau@xxxxxx> wrote:Yes, I agree that using super-heavy gauge solid wire is awful to work with. 1/4" refrigeration tubing is MUCH more flexible and kink-free. While Litz wire is the ideal primary conductor from an electrical perspective, it cannot be tapped to adjust the inductance. The same is true for " small gauge multi-conductor cables". Regards, Gary Lau MA, USABehalf Of Tim Meehan Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 11:38 PM To: Tesla Coil Mailing List Subject: Re: [TCML] Slow progress. I notice a lot of people using the heavy-gauge copper wire. I have usedittoo in some of my (ill-fated) coil projects. It isn't easy to bendaroundand I was wondering if you could use the small gauge multi-conductorcablesor litz wire for the primary?_______________________________________________ Tesla mailing list Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla_______________________________________________ Tesla mailing list Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
_______________________________________________ Tesla mailing list Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla