Description

This is it, the closest thing to a real P.A.F. on the market today.  Very short supply; when they’re gone, they’re gone.

November 2015. I found a small stash of vintage plain enamel from a UK supplier and struck a deal; it arrived in short order and sat around while I pondered how to handle it.  I got 1 spool of 1958 and a handful of 1959.  46SWG = 42.5AWG which is perfect for P.A.F.s, but my previous experience with the 57 wire (Roots ’57 LTD) was that it’s not fun nor easy to work with.

The wooden spools were evil and originally I was spinning the Geo by hand… tension was all over the map so I abandoned this pretty quick as it was taking ~4 hours per bobbin.  I kept having trouble but a few successes with the machine running really slow; lots of waste, lots of trying new things, but a few beautiful bobbins.  I was able to get things running under the machine’s power but really had to watch when I got to the ends as the wooden spools had shrunk and the wire was sliding around. It would go under a lip on the end and snap if I didn’t slow down.

Eventually I decided just to offspool the 59 wire to another small plastic spool by hand, one spool at a time to see if it would work.  It turned out better than expected and really didn’t take too long compared to hand winding bobbins.  Pretty much 1 day per spool then it was clear sailing to the end of the line!

The 1958 REA wire on the metal spool was a breath of fresh air compared to the wooden spools.  I was able to wind it direct without any issues after bending the lip of the spool with some pliers.

Doug and Pat working their magic!