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Registered Member #480
Joined: Thu Jul 06 2006, 07:08PM
Location: North America
Posts: 644
Asimov -
In your first post, you stated "I have acquired almost all the parts...." for a new Tesla coil.
However, you didn't mention if you had completed the design (on paper). This is an absolutely essential step if you want to avoid frustration and wasted time and money, or (worst case) a completely non-functional coil that cannot be brought into resonance.
For instance, what are the dimensions of your topload? Simplistically, the single most critical parameter of the complete coil is the resonant frequency of the secondary circuit (secondary, topload, length of ground wire, etc) ), since that will dictate the required resonant frequency of the primary circuit. This in turn will control the required primary inductance (length of primary conductor) and the tank capacitor value (how many capacitors you will require if you are planning an MMC, etc).
If you haven't already completely designed the coil on paper, and know the required values, parameters and dimensions of EVERY part, then I'd strongly suggest that you STOP everything until you can actually design the coil.
Tesla coil design utilities like WINTESLA, JAVATC, TESLAMAP, etc make it very easy to design a coil, and determine the exact values and dimensions required to achieve resonance. You can also substitute various values and dimensions to see the effects of different configurations.
As far as using a lathe for winding a secondary, you need to be pretty familiar with how to operate a lathe before you attempt to use one for this purpose. Only very small "hobbiest" lathes, or expensive toolroom lathes will have infinitely variable spindle speeds. Most common lathes use a standard AC synchronous motor, and the speed of these motors is fixed (controlled by AC line frequency), and the pulley or gearing selections will not provide a low enough spindle speed for coil winding. Trying to control speed by use of a variac may just damage the motor. Many lathes will have a "back-gear" mode that provides a very low spindle speed, but because the motor will still be turning at full RPM, there will be a long "cost-down" time after you turn the power off.
Winding a 12" diameter secondary on a lathe is not a trivial task; I'd still recommend that you start out with a much smaller secondary (4" X 24" or simiular) to match your 15/30 NST. This can be wound on a simple fixture made from 2 X 4's, a few plywood braces, and a variable-speed electric drill.
Registered Member #2038
Joined: Fri Mar 20 2009, 03:39PM
Location: Bristol Uk
Posts: 60
Just thought i'd add a note on winding your coil on a lathe, if you are lucky you may find that one of the auto feed or thread turning settings will match the pitch required for your chosen wire, if so it would be worth trying to develop a tool that will hold your reel of magnet wire and keep it taught enough, your coil winding could be made almost automatic.
if i ever decide to build a larger TC i will be investigating this option, since my neighbour just bought a nice programable (not quite full CNC) lathe from a local engineering shop that recently closed down.
Registered Member #2048
Joined: Wed Mar 25 2009, 08:58PM
Location:
Posts: 8
Thanks for the input on the variac and lathe setup. I have discarded that idea. Instead I took a heavy duty electric drill and removed the trigger and speed control circuitry. I replaced the circuit with with a six-foot cord which I terminated with a light dimmer switch. Success. The dimmer switch provides fine speed control. I will used the drill to power a winding jig.
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Almost ready to commence assembly
