StewMac coil wire reel question.

[jpm83]

My question is that does those Stewmac reels have that kind of "de-spooling" angle in them?

I just wound my first pickups and my coil wire reel 145gr. didn't have that angle and it was breaking the wire quite much (too much), so I did only complete two pickups and after that I tried to "pimp" the reel and the out come was a total flop (no more usable wire out of this reel).

Janne

[kevinT]

I like the angle spools much better. I'm currently using some PE with a 5 inch flat-flanged spool and i find that i have to use a Whisker disk to have the wire come off of the spool more smoothly. With the angled spools, there is less drag on the wire and i really haven't had to use a disk for these types of spools.....more drag equals more tension...and you have to account this.I have to reduce the tension on my tensioner becuase of this.

BTW...this wire isn't from Stewmac.

[David Schwab]

Stew-Mac reels do not have an angle on them.

What I was doing when I used them was to have them rigged up on a 45 degree angle, and then placed them about 3 feet behind me, and that seemed to work fine.

I actually used a cup holder tree to hold the reel at an angle.

[Possum]

...

Its best to put the spool quite a ways off from your hands or the felt tensioner, if you're too close you'll break alot of wire...

[jpm83]

Thanks for the all of the replies. So the key element here is distance between the reel and your hands?

Janne

[David Schwab]

Thanks for the all of the replies. So the key element here is distance between the reel and your hands?

Yes, and even some distance between your hands and the winder helps.

You have to buffer the jerking the oblong bobbin causes as it spins.