Azonic Tensioner Technology for Ultrafine Wire

[Joe Gwinn]

I was curious about how the Azonic Products model 3535 (Azonic Products - Tension Devices) works, and recalled seeing a patent with a drawing that looked like the product, so I did a little research, and hit paydirt.

There are two two relevant patents. The first one is 3,990,652 in 1976, to Maurice H Brown, who seems to be their main brain. In 1991, '652 is updated by 5,040,741, which states that while '652 worked well for 40 AWG and heavier, the new approach of '741 is good for AWG 44 to 56.

A separate patent, 6,409,116, covers AWG 55 and thinner.

The big delay between the patents probably reflects the changing needs of industry - people didn't wind much AWG 55 in 1976.

Now, '652 was originally developed as a pretensioner for the standard bouncing-dancer tensioner described in 3,837,598 (Azonic Products - Tension Devices), but is usable by itself for ultrafine wire.

A specific issue being solved was the winding of square and rectangular coils, where the wire jerks (accelerates), so it's reasonable to hope that these will work well for pickups.

[big_teee]

Remington Sells the 3000.
High Performance Tension Head Assembly - AWG #30 - #44 - Model 3000 Details | Remington Industries
They aren't cheap.
Add it to your shopping cart for the price.
T

[David Schwab]

Add it to your shopping cart for the price.

Right at the bottom of the specs it says:

"Price: $265.00"

Not cheap.

[ken]

If it worked as advertised and I needed it, I'd buy it.

ken

[salvarsan]

I think the crucial point is that it delivers a well-regulated tension for a round (or nearly so) bobbin, but the Azonics principal notes that he doesn't recommend it for oblong bobbins, namely those for pickups.

[Joe Gwinn]

Right at the bottom of the specs it says:

"Price: $265.00"

Not cheap.

What's your comparison?

[Joe Gwinn]

I think the crucial point is that it delivers a well-regulated tension for a round (or nearly so) bobbin, but the Azonics principal notes that he doesn't recommend it for oblong bobbins, namely those for pickups.

Which one is "it"? Brown does mention "rectangular" bobbins. If I understand, Brown implies that the bouncing dancer design cannot to this, but says that the new and improved design (esp '741) can.

[Mike Sulzer]

I was curious about how the Azonic Products model 3535 (Azonic Products - Tension Devices) works, ...

That is a really nice video showing how it works. I am wondering what winders really want to do and if this can do it. Keeping the tension constant at the coil over a revolution seems like a very difficult problem with an oblong coil. It looks like this device can keep the tension constant at the spool, and thus regulate the average tension at the coil, but not really affect the jerking at the coil except in an average sort of way. Has anyone used such a device and figured out how it actually affects how the wire goes on the coil?

[big_teee]

That is a really nice video showing how it works. I am wondering what winders really want to do and if this can do it. Keeping the tension constant at the coil over a revolution seems like a very difficult problem with an oblong coil. It looks like this device can keep the tension constant at the spool, and thus regulate the average tension at the coil, but not really affect the jerking at the coil except in an average sort of way. Has anyone used such a device and figured out how it actually affects how the wire goes on the coil?

It says "Spool Size 3 inch max".
I mainly use 5 inch Elektrisola Tapered spools.
T
The 3000 does take up to a 6 inch spool.
http://azonicproducts.com/30-350.htm

[David Schwab]

What's your comparison?

The amount of money I have in the bank? lol

I wasn't comparing, just in general.