Steve
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Post by Steve on May 12, 2020 20:27:46 GMT 12
This is a cross-post from the 107 restoration, but I've 3D printed some tube formers that take the orange-drop caps and created a reproduction label to go around them...
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 12, 2020 20:31:54 GMT 12
Here is the first sample... its not perfect - the 3D print was too thin, and the hot melt glue distorted it. All I have is candles, so I dripped candle wax all over it then used a heat gun to flow it out. Before that I used shellac to try and darken the yellow paper I used (only colour I have).
As you can see in the last shot - the purple of the 3D print shows up badly, so I'll pull out the wad punches and make some black craft-paper end caps before waxing them. Then I just need to do something to roll the ends over - I have some ideas to try there.
I also need to get some darker paper, or stain it. Coffee maybe... although I have some walnut stain that might also work.
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Post by Kempy on May 13, 2020 7:42:20 GMT 12
Looks great Steve! Now there’s a reason to finally get a 3D printer I think.
You could print it with black plastic, yes?
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 13, 2020 8:40:38 GMT 12
Yes, I could if I had black filament, which unfortunately I don't but I might be able to borrow some. I used purple because that's what I had loaded and it was just am experiment, and the black end caps should look ok hopefully
I'll do some more experimenting today and see if I can get better results. I was looking for brown paper with no success when it dawned on me we have a stack of brown paper bags from shopping, so that might work...
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 13, 2020 18:43:46 GMT 12
Second attempt is in the middle - I used a brown paper bag cut to roughly A4 to print the label. Thanks to supermarkets I now have lots of paper bags 
The waxing process is ugly - I dripped candle wax all over it which looked like a hot mess - a cross between a bad hair day and a 100 year old candlestick holder that has never been cleaned... and then I use a heat gun to even it out, which sees most of it drip off and some of it boil.
I also used a wad punch to make black cardboard end caps, and managed to manually roll over the ends of the paper to match the original - pressing the end caps in then kind of holds the rolled over paper in place.
I think its better... but still needs a little refinement.
I read something from Bill Heinz who worked for RCNZ where he talks about dipping capacitors in a hot vat of cerise wax and resin - I tried to find out about cerise wax, but either ended up on jewelry sites or sealing wax sites. Is cerise wax the same as sealing wax? It looks like a lot of the sealing wax you find now is a plastic - something like a low temperature hot melt glue type substance?
I don't think my wax method is the right way to do it - would dipping in a molten jar of candle wax be better? Is there a better wax to use?
Cheers, Steve
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Post by dada on May 13, 2020 19:33:35 GMT 12
You could possibly use bee's wax (brownish) or alternatively paraffin wax (clear). Back in the day NZPO used bee's wax to "treat" cotton covered cables. The wax was brought up to near boiling in a special heater (bit like a large electric thermette) and the cable end plunged in (lots of bubbles) and then drawn out relatively slowly so the excess wax drained back into the boiler. H&S nightmare as the boiler was sometimes used live on top of racks! Cheers, DC
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 16, 2020 0:28:51 GMT 12
Thanks, I've made version 3 of the core, which has a lip to aid in rolling the ends over neatly and ordered some beeswax in a light and dark shade to try... so will keep experimenting until I get something I'm happy with If anyone is interested, I built the basic 3D model using TinkerCAD - the model (I've made it available for non-commercial use) is here: www.tinkercad.com/things/ebe93cHkUhX - it doesn't look right because of the way TinkerCAD shows things, but it is... Click 'VIEW IN 3D' to see it better, you can spin it around with the mouse by clicking and dragging it. I then select all and export to an STL file, which I open with Ultimaker CURA - a slicer for the Ultimaker 3D printers - and from there into the printer. Once I get this one (0.01uF) nailed I'll make the other two common sizes - 0.05 is the same diameter but longer and the 0.1 which is the same length as the 0.05 but thicker. I also need to find a 0.001 and a 0.25 for measurements otherwise I'll just make them the same as a 0.01 and 0.1 respectively - I need to have a good look through my old cap box though because I'm bound to have them in there somewhere. Cheers, Steve |
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6A8G.
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Post by 6A8G. on Sept 19, 2020 7:54:38 GMT 12
This chap re-stuffs old wax caps using beeswax...
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Steve
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Post by Steve on Oct 10, 2020 10:39:51 GMT 12
thanks, yep - I purchased some beeswax a while back and it works better than the candle wax I was trying... I have a few samples I'm happy with now and also have some solid-core wire to make new tails with as well... once the school year starts to shut down and I can breathe again I'll get back into this project...
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peter
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Retired, collector of vintage radios and test equipment for restoration and repair.
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Post by peter on Oct 24, 2020 21:46:35 GMT 12
Unless things have changed in the last decade or so, you should still be able to get paraffin wax from microscope supply houses. To cut thin sections of tissue, it is usual to embed the tissue in a block of this wax and to do that it used to be normal to put the tissue in melted wax in a warm oven just above the melting point of the wax for 23 hours or more - the idea being the wax would permeate the tissue and provide support for the sectioning knife.
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Steve
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Post by Steve on Oct 27, 2020 12:50:53 GMT 12
Thanks Peter, I may look into that, since I occasionally accidentally dissect my tissue while working on radios - so perhaps dipping my fingers in paraffin wax before I start will be beneficial I will look in to that though, as I'd like to experiment with different processes to try and get the right effect. Cheers, Steve |
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