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Anyone have a piece of the old cotton braided wire that isn’t coming apart that I can obtain? I want to figure out how many threads were used in the 4 over 4 braid. I only need a foot or two that I can unbraid. Everything I’ve got is in such bad shape, that trying to undo the braid results in the threads crumbling into powder.
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I’ll see what I can do Craig. I’m presently in Phoenix where my pile is but am heading back to AK on Sunday. I have to go to my hangar before I leave anyway, so I’ll see if I have anything that isn’t crumbling to dust. What gauge wire? Are you thinking of having some made or just looking for off-the-shelf?
JG
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Jim: Until you jump to really huge wires, it’s pretty much the same. Diameter can vary as what is known as the “pick” angle can be between about 35 degrees and 65 degrees. What this means is that the threads cross between those angles. I need to determine if the machine needs to have 16, 24, 32 or 64 bobbins to make the braid.
Looking at adding the capability to the shop to overbraid modern wire for restorations. Also thinking about having laser wire marking capability too. If it happens, a client would send a list of wires, wire numbers, lengths, gauge and braid or no braid. I’d then mark the wires, cut to length and then overbraid. Kind of a real niche in restorations, but would be a decent service I think, if available. It would look period correct, but be a step up safety wise. One thing that I would definitely change though, is not using cotton then shellacking it like was done during the war. I’d simply use kevlar or Nomex threads instead.
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I managed to find a bit of original L-5 harness wire with the braided cotton sheath still intact – brittle but holding together. Finished diameter about 3/16″ and no color woven into it. I carefully slit it down the middle and then clipped off a short piece to photograph. As you can see, it’s woven on a bias and the angle appears to be 45 degrees. I was careful to keep it in a fully relaxed state and the count appears to be 14 strands per inch.
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