Digital BW, The Print

Completed my first rod. It actually went much smoother than I 
expected. Although I used a drill press and a lathe in the process, 
it could probably be done with hand tools. 

I only used the lathe to support and turn the rod. The slowest 
rotational speed seemed to fast to control so I turned it by hand. 
I'll try power next time. It should be possible to jury rig something 
to hold the rod while wrapping; or it could be done by two people. 
Basically you need to be able to turn the rod while maintaining 
tension on the wire. Either four hands or mechanical assistance. I 
had to fuss a bit to get the right combination of wire tension and 
angle of the wire to the rod to pack it tightly without over-
wrapping. But it's a fairly forgiving process at least with the soft 
copper wire I used.

Holes in the ends should not be a problem with a vise, a hand drill, 
a sharp drill bit and a center punch. Or forget the holes and 
overwrap and epoxy outside the working area. I used holes with solder 
on one end and epoxy on the other.

The 1/2" steel rod is available at Home Depot in 3 ft lengths. When 
cut to an overall length of 23" (for 17" paper when I get my 3000, 
another topic)there was a slight bend in the rod. Using feeler gages, 
I estimate it was about .004" from straight. As I understand the 
coating process, the rod is not allowed to turn, so it could be held 
in an orientation that eliminates the bend. Or, I was wondering if I 
could use the slight bend to more evenly distribute the coating. 
Since coverage seems to get thin toward the ends, a little extra 
clearance out there might help. Have to experiment.

Now for the questions. I used .025" wire because that's what I had. 
With EAM, I'm getting slight but quite unacceptable vertical banding 
in the direction of coating. Probably not enough coating. I'll 
experiment with more coating material at the top but I might have to 
make another rod with thicker (.030"?) wire. Another thought; I made 
the rod long enough to coat the widest material anticipated, 17". 
Since I'm only doing 8" wide tests, could the extra weight per unit 
of contact be thinning out the coating? Do we need sets of rods of 
different length and different wire diameter to do different material 
of different widths? That would be different ... and rather expensive 
if you were buying them.

Bob

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark" 
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> Bob,
> 
> >How about hand wrapping straight rod? I have a lathe that might
> >simplify the process. I think I'll give it a try.
> 
> I suspect a lathe and some wire or the right gauge will do it.  The 
1/2 inch
> stainless steel rod has small holes drilled in it at the ends of 
the wrapped
> section.  The ends of the wires go through these and are soldered.
> 
> > What dimensions
> >would you advise for coating 13" wide EAM?
> 
> 15" or winding will do.  Then leave 2" on each end as handless.
> 
> > From what I've read
> >1/2"x16" rod wrapped in .030" wire over 15".
> 
> Give yourself some bigger handles/ends.
> 
> > One problem will be to obtain perfectly straight rod.
> 
> I'm not sure where one would get 1/2 inch stainless, or how most of 
us would
> drill or solder it.
> 
> > Also anchoring the ends securely with
> >no increase in diameter.
> 
> Since the paper will hold the rod a little off the glass, some 
increase in
> thickness will be OK.
> 
> Good luck.  I think this should be doable.
> 
> Are MIS prices reasonable?
> 
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com
> ____________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark"
> <paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> > Don,
> >
> > >So where can one purchase a mayer rod? Diversified isn't selling 
to
> > >rank and file consumers. ...
> >
> > Diversified just was not able to service small accounts
> profitably.  So, MIS
> > has been set up as the retail source.  I don't know what their
> prices or
> > availability will be.
> >
> > >Paul Gardner Company sells an 8 inch wood for $73 + shipping! 
OUCH!
> >
> > Maybe we ought to look for more springs that can make good
> substitutes.
> >
> > Paul
> > http://www.PaulRoark.com