Ampeg Portaflex Power Transformer
- Thread starter CJ
- Start date
Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:
> copper is 15 bucks a pound thanks to hybrid cars,
Copper is under $3/pound now.
The price for wire includes all that work. Get some 1/4" copper rod and a hammer, start making wire. Major job just to get it down to house-wire gauge. As you say, the smaller the gauge the higher the per-pound price.
Wire was uncommon until they developed better ways than hammering. Make a 0.229" hole in a steel plate. Taper the entry. Hammer-down the end of your 1/4" copper rod. Shove it in the hole, grab the tail, pull HARD. Now you have #3 wire. Do this dozens more times with smaller holes, you get to #40. Each stage is large machinery, large space. Every few stages you have to put the copper in an oxygen-free furnace to soften-out the hardness from the heavy working. Every few miles you have to re-drill the wear in the steel plates (smaller sizes often use artificial diamond).
Copper is under $3/pound now.
The price for wire includes all that work. Get some 1/4" copper rod and a hammer, start making wire. Major job just to get it down to house-wire gauge. As you say, the smaller the gauge the higher the per-pound price.
Wire was uncommon until they developed better ways than hammering. Make a 0.229" hole in a steel plate. Taper the entry. Hammer-down the end of your 1/4" copper rod. Shove it in the hole, grab the tail, pull HARD. Now you have #3 wire. Do this dozens more times with smaller holes, you get to #40. Each stage is large machinery, large space. Every few stages you have to put the copper in an oxygen-free furnace to soften-out the hardness from the heavy working. Every few miles you have to re-drill the wear in the steel plates (smaller sizes often use artificial diamond).
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