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It's been a while since I decided to work on my Tesla Coil. My dad finally made me to work on it, and he built this rig (while I was sleeping, so I couldn't suggest anything).
Sorry for the crap quality of the picture. I took that before I got my new, HD cam (A lumia zs19).
I think what my dad was trying to do was have a fixed end to one end of the secondary (with removable screws through the endcaps) through one wooden post, and the other wooden post was a V and the other screw sat on that one, and he rotated it (using a tightened wrench with two bolts holding it in place) while I fed and aligned the wire to it.
Yeah, I know. It's a very ghetto rig. I don't have access to anything better, though I asked my dad for an actual handle for rotating (and he didn't buy one).
Unfortunately the wire keeps crossing and kinking. Is there any way that (without anything more than normal household materials) I could make this rig better? I'm trying to wind a 16*3.5 inch 26awg secondary for my fail-coil, so that it doesn't have to be fail anymore.
Hopefully, when I'm 16, I'll get hired, and I can have a bit more freedom over my experiments.
Also, do you have any suggestions on how to make a nice primary? Home Depot nor Lowes carried 1/8 inch tubing, so I got ~1/8 inch wire instead. 30 ft of it. I think Killa-X told me that it needed to be spaced .5 inches apart. The windings of the secondary will be at 1inch level. I have a PVC pipe, but to get it nice and round (and not squarish), how would I be able to make a nice primary out of the same, house-hold materials?
I don't want to keep having to buy new wire because I keep failing at the secondary, so this time, I want to build it right. Everything else is "fine" as far as "it works" goes.
Registered Member #89
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 02:40PM
Location: Zadar, Croatia
Posts: 3145
Hello
*Do* use a drill to spin your secondary; avoid the furstration of hand winding. Connect the drill over a variac and have a buddy turn it up or down for you - this can go really fast and you can get secondaries done in 10 minutes or so. A 12V cordless drill wired over a 12V transformer and rectifier is also good.
If you can't be bothered drilling a lot of holes in plexi for primary supports, simply tie the wire with zip ties to some PVC tubes, and then mount them onto your coil by two screws each. I've seen that done and it seems to work just as well as any pretty primary :)
Also, if the spool you've got is too large, find a bucket or something with diameter around the average diameter of your primary, and re-wind the conductor around it before attempting to fit it into coil.
*Do* use a drill to spin your secondary; avoid the furstration of hand winding. Connect the drill over a variac and have a buddy turn it up or down for you - this can go really fast and you can get secondaries done in 10 minutes or so. A 12V cordless drill wired over a 12V transformer and rectifier is also good.
If you can't be bothered drilling a lot of holes in plexi for primary supports, simply tie the wire with zip ties to some PVC tubes, and then mount them onto your coil by two screws each. I've seen that done and it seems to work just as well as any pretty primary :)
Also, if the spool you've got is too large, find a bucket or something with diameter around the average diameter of your primary, and re-wind the conductor around it before attempting to fit it into coil.
Marko
Only thing is, I don't have a variac. My dad also didn't want to use a drill; I had suggested that approach. Also, I'm fine with making notches for a primary support. The thing is, it will be square, otherwise, as I don't have enough PVC for 8 supports.
Registered Member #3056
Joined: Mon Aug 02 2010, 01:24PM
Location:
Posts: 21
I built something like this and it worked pretty good.
You can cut the cost down without the counter and improvising for the nylon pulleys to hold the coil form. ( I used threaded rod, I used a a 5" wood disk with a neoprene backing on each end of the coil form held together with wingnuts and lock washers. I just wound a minibrute resonator with it and it works fine. Another member here made a beautiful one like this.Mine isnt nearly as pretty, but it works just as well.
So you have to build the frame and the only electronics you need are the motor, PMW controller and flexible shaft coupler. I have all of this stuff in my goodie box and I would let you have it IF you and your dad decide its what you need and commit to building it. If he says yes have him PM me. I assume your interest in this is only going to grow, , a decent winder is a must. Trust me on this one.
Registered Member #89
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 02:40PM
Location: Zadar, Croatia
Posts: 3145
My dad also didn't want to use a drill; I had suggested that approach. Also, I'm fine with making notches for a primary support. The thing is, it will be square, otherwise, as I don't have enough PVC for 8 supports.
Well, you better convince your dad to use a drill, in order to prevent a long and painful procedure that results in snapped wire :| A light dimmer might work with a 230V drill. Perhaps some drills have a good enough dimmer built into them; but I found those unwieldy.
Also, If you could buy 10 meters of copper wire for your primary, a few meters of PVC tube won't hurt either :)
Registered Member #162
Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 10:25AM
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3140
I have only used a powered winding rig once, I wind by hand (one volunteer to turn the handle), it is quicker than making a motorised winder I also turn the wound coil by hand when applying/drying PU varnish, that's when a motor would be useful. A turns counter would be nice but once you've chosen the winding length and wire diameter that's accurate enough.
Registered Member #3056
Joined: Mon Aug 02 2010, 01:24PM
Location:
Posts: 21
I dont have the experience winding coils you guys do, so for me a variable speed winder was alot easier to work wiith as i could pay better attention to the quaility of the coil ( turns straight, evenly spaced and not overlapping ..ect) I did use a counter on mine and the motorized winder was very usefull when drying the varnish . I tried winding by hand by myself and it took forever and getting a volunteer isnt always an option. Also Ive never snapped a wire with my winder ( although if I was doing HUGE secondaries I would use a drill with a foot switch)
Registered Member #15
Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
Location:
Posts: 3068
You can try just a simple DC motor. Terry Fritz has a nice article on how to build a home winder using McMaster-Carr parts. I believe its mirrored on Bert Hickman's website now. Just hook to a DC power supply and you can vary the voltage for speed and the current for torque. Works great for small coils.
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Winding Rig
