The Armour Archive

I just found this site from a guy that has built a sort of die for wire coiling.

It's simple enough, and you don't need to even feed the wire when it's done. You can go full power on the drill without worry, and you get perfect coils every time!
I built one (looks like crap) and it works like a charm.
With the die, it's possible to coil half a mile of wire in 8.8 hours.

Here's the link to the site: http://members.aol.com/BrittM/die1.htm

I used to wind a half mile of wire in less then 2 hours. Course I broke my thumb dooing it but it was fast.

I've got a really big drill.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

Oops.
Did I forget to mention that my drill is comparatively wussy?
4 amps and 1350 max RPM is probably not enough for 14 ga. wire coiling.

I'm with Matt on this one. My dad has a Milwaukee Magnum drill that can coil a 20" coil in just about 7 seconds. It's hard as hell to handle at that high speed, so I usually wind at the low speed

Yup mine's an industrial strength Makita 1/2" hammer drill that doesn't hammer anymore.

3500 rpm and there's not much (including a thumb) that will slow it down.

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The budding mid 14th century German Transitional guy.
Mad Matt's Armory

8.8 hours?

Hmmmnn... should be able to go faster unless there is a lot of prep time between coils.

I still use the crank/drill method and with cordless black&decker can do 1/2 a mile in about 6.6 hours. Stick in wire, spin, clip and slide, repeat.

Although with bigger drill and a better guide I can see doubling that safely with no problem.

>All right Last post with this handle. I'm going to shift back to my common usage. If I'm going to be a "new member" I might as well rebuild my account.<

The true beauty of this guide is that you don't even have to feed the wire.
With the drill and bracket method, you've got one hand on the drill and one feeding wire that can cut you.
This way, you can steady the drill and if you have an industrial drill that can spin at say.....3500 rpm, you should be able to take out a half mile spool in no time.
My guide of course isn't perfect because I suck at woodworking, so I know that friction between the bar/wire and the wood is slowing my drill to about half or three quarters speed.
When I wind enough coils, the wood should be smooth and deep enough that it won't do that anymore.
If anyone out there is willing to give it a shot, let me know how it works out.

I "invented" such a device many years ago. Mine was about quarter the length of the one shown in the picture, and didn't last very long before it cracked. But, as you say, it works like a charm. I used it to re-coil too wide coils to a smaller diameter. The die could either be used to do the unwinding itself, or could take the rather crumpled wire which resulted from unwinding by hand. I never tried it with new wire, but can imagine it works even better then.

My favourite way of making coils was with two persons and a lathe. Coils of 3 feet length only took a few dozen seconds to wind. Removing the coil and remounting the wire took longer. One person to make sure the wire unrolls properly, the other to feed the lathe. I don't remember exactly how much time it took, but is was something like one or two afternoons for 40+ pounds of wire.

Ah, the good old days, when money was scarce and time was abundant...

The setup I used was a two foot steel rod with a hole drilled in it 2 inches from the end.
That end was chocked into my Black & Decker 3.0 Amp (Model D500) Reversable electric drill.

The 17 guage wire was threaded through the hole in the rod.
The other end of the rod went through one of the holes in the racking at my work.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZIng!
Two foot long coil.

BTW, I rigged a friction brake and spindle for the wire spool out of two plastic plugs and a piece of conduit.

Sure I'd get my fingers wound up in the coild sometimes, but the D500 doesn't have enough power or speed to injure. (Just hurt and annoy )
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZUnh! "OW! Da**it."
*unwind fingers.*
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing!

I bent a 90 in the wire, and stuck it between two of the jaws of the chuck, and wound it up. Use a 9/8 or 5/4 horse drill. Label says both... Don't wind faster than your fingers can move...

Viva Makita!

I use a 1/2 inch percussion too, 2800 rpm though, but I always use it at full speed...
It takes longer to cut out the coil and reinsert the wire than it takes to actually roll the coil.
50lbs spool of wire takes about an hour to coil. I tried this die thigny, and it seemed to slow me down and it cracked in no time.

Caught my fingers once (ow!)... I now grasp the wire farther away from the shaft. I made myself reinforced working gloves for holding the wire (taped 4 oz suede to the inside of the fingers).

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Where are the reasons
That once stood out so clear?
In a haze of compromise
They all seem to disappear

We use a 1/2 inch reversable air drill off the air compressor. Works great. Just have to keep it oiled.

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FIRESIDE ARMOURY
www.firesidearmoury.com

I've also been using similar wire guides for about six years. I recently "invented" a guide that works sort of the same way as this one and it is the best one I've ever used.

can go full speed with the a drill and not worry about the wire winding back over it's self or leaving gaps in the coil.. but it can also make coils, also at full speed, that have consistantly spaced gaps to create pre-opened rings when the coil is cut..

I also use the method of sticking the wire into the space between the drill's teeth.. only have to slide the coil off the rod; faster than having to cut the wire where it goes through the hole, then sliding it off the rod.

a slot cut in the end of the rod also works well.. I use that way for my 1/8"ID rings

nice idea! most maillers already have or have an idea on a coil guide.. I use something similar to the device shown....