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
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