I have a couple of lengths of "salvaged" tubing myself with a few too
many bends in it. I wouldn't have bothered in the past, but with the
cost of copper... Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has managed to
UN-work harden tubing? I was thinking of sticking it in the oven on
high heat for a while and letting it slowly cool. Anyone ever try it?
It's a pain in the neck, sure, but compared to unpotting an nst for
example, it doesn't sound too bad.
Neal.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Quarkster" <quarkster@xxxxxxx>
To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 11:18 PM
Subject: Re: [TCML] Winding the primary
Steve -
What is your primary conductor? If you're using copper tubing, here
are a few tips:
1. Use virgin refrigeration tubing, and leave it in the coiled shape
that it comes in. Don't try to re-use "salvaged" tubing if you want a
nice looking primary. Copper tubing "work-hardens" and stiffens very
rapidly as you deform it, so deform it as little as possible.
2. DO NOT try to straighten the tubing, then re-form it into a
spiral. The tubing will work-harden, then is likely to kink and
become unmanagable.
3. Have an assistant hold the coil of tubing about a foot above your
primary forms, and just let one coil drop down at a time. The typical
diameter of a coil of rerfigeration tubing is around 18", so I start
at the end of the primary that is closest in diameter to the diameter
of the coil of tubing. For a small diameter primary this means
starting at the OUTSIDE of the primary form and wind inward. For a
large diameter primary, this means starting at the INSIDE of the
primary form and winding outward. This way the tubing requires
minimum deformation initially, and then must be gradually formed into
a larger or smaller radius as you move outward or inward.
Regards,
Herr Zappp
_______________________________________________
Tesla mailing list
Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla