Twisting heater wires by a drill

BoogieEngineer · Post by **BoogieEngineer** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:24 pm

I was wondering why most people twist the AC filament by hand. Is there some thing in particular against twisting them by a drill? Seems a lot easier that way, and it's perfectly even.

SteadyEddie · Post by **SteadyEddie** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:46 pm

Hand-twisted wire gives you better tone, didn't you know that? All the boo-teek builders swear by it!
Nah, I used a cordless Milwaukee myself.

BoogieEngineer · Post by **BoogieEngineer** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:57 pm

SteadyEddie wrote:Hand-twisted wire gives you better tone, didn't you know that? All the boo-teek builders swear by it!
Nah, I used a cordless Milwaukee myself.

I just tried twisting wires with a drill and I found the twisting go loose right after I released the wires from the drill. Perhaps a couple of cable ties keeping them still for a day or two will help

Reeltarded · Post by **Reeltarded** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 11:29 pm

Or two spots of super glue!

neikeel · Post by **neikeel** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 5:59 am

Done/used both many times.

Neatest method for me is starting on V1 and doing it by hand, 3 twists between each socket, evenly. The stuff with the solder core that Valvestorm sell is the nicest. I do not like solid core - it snaps/work hardens over time.

Sure the drill method will give you neat twists but you have to unravel and resusscitate the straighter bits that go down to the sockets.

Personal taste, IMO.

Sorry edited for typos

JimiJames · Post by **JimiJames** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 7:54 am

yep, I say to taste. I do by hand, but people do different gauges and there are different insulation jackets that react differently. In theory there is no right or wrong, but I merely do it by hand with quite a bit of opposing force pulling outwards in opposite directions so I get a stiff twist in a 3to4 wrap. That gives me a real neat "lay" in as close to the chassis corner as possible.
I also have a favorite wire I prefer to use strictly for the heaters.

Aesthetically I've seen boutique builders do military lead dress with as many twists as in their rifle barrel.
I was over zealous in the first stages of my first build and use military right angles at the 4 input jacks.... Needless to say it looked all wrong for a Plexi.

BoogieEngineer · Post by **BoogieEngineer** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:07 pm

I'm gonna do it by hand too. Last night I practiced and actually had a great neat result, and it was not that laborious. I got my stuff from ValveStorm and the tinned stranded core is really nice. I almost finished populating the board, I'm just waiting for the chassis to put them all together and wired. I can't wait. I love this work.

AJW · Post by **AJW** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:53 pm

Where did you end up getting the chassis from?

BoogieEngineer · Post by **BoogieEngineer** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:54 pm

AJW wrote:Where did you end up getting the chassis from?

I got it from Brian Wallace. It's not here yet, Brian's fixing some errors on it. I'm really ready to build now. I have finished the power board and half done with the preamp board. I love the build so far

AJW · Post by **AJW** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:19 pm

Nice! That's where I got my chassis. Is he fixing one of the original run chassis for you? There were only very minor issues. I do wish the corners were welded. I haven't had a problem, but I've started to lug it around since it's my current favorite.

BoogieEngineer · Post by **BoogieEngineer** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:34 pm

AJW wrote:Nice! That's where I got my chassis. Is he fixing one of the original run chassis for you? There were only very minor issues. I do wish the corners were welded. I haven't had a problem, but I've started to lug it around since it's my current favorite.

Yea as far as I know there are unfitting holes on the IEC slot and PT. Great to hear you love the amp. This is my first build and I'm sure I'm going to love it too. The one amp I promise I will never sell

. I got those 0.1uF Mustard caps today and have finished the preamp board. The chassis is getting here on Friday. There'll be a lot of fun this weekend

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Twisting heater wires by a drill

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