Re: Twiddlesticks

On Thu, 19 Jun 2025 14:00:31 +0100, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
wrote:

On Wed, 18 Jun 2025 18:03:03 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:
>

On Wed, 18 Jun 2025 18:04:29 +0100, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
wrote:
>

Gentlemen,
>
Many of us are familiar with the all-too-common problem of reciever
re-alignment. Dealing the vintage radios with fragile ferite cores in
their IF stages is unavoidable and can prove to be a major PITA. The
cores are brittle and eager to shatter at anything much above mm/mg
torque levels. The key is to use a tool which is not only non-metallic
but also a perfect fit for the slot it must engage with in the top of
the core. Given the range of sizes one encounters in this concern,
it's often necessary to 'roll your own' tool. Well I have a suggestion
to make. Wood makes the best tool for this job and opinions vary as to
which particular wood is ideally suited to this task. Lemon and orange
are often cited. But they're expensive and hard to source typically.
However, I've found a marvellous alternative: yellow heart. I don't
know what the technical name is for this wood, but that's what it's
informally called. It's cheaper and more readily obtainable than
orange or lemon and AFAIC, *better* than either with it's incredibly
fine grain and viceral hardness. It files and sands readily and when
dipped in cellulose sealer, will not fray in use.
Just thought I'd share that with you guys.
>
CD.

>
I have no experience with lemon or orange wood.  However, if they're
anything like the wooden tuning tools I made and used half a century
ago, I suspect you will have problems.  Wood absorbs moisture from the
air.  I had problems with the tuning changing at VHF (> 100 MHz)

>
It does absorb moisture if left untreated, yes. That's why it's
important to dip the finished tool in cellulose sanding sealer, wipe
it off, let it dry, then repeat the process.

The grain (which is
already very fine and tight with yellow heart) will now be impervious
to atmospheric moisture AND that grain will be bonded by the sealer,
making it much less likely to fray and thereby extending the useful
life of the tool considerably.

I beg to differ somewhat.  Trees and plants are designed by nature to
efficiently transport water along the trunk (or branches) through the
xylem using capillary action.  It can't do that while leaking water
through the outer layers (bark, cambium and phloem).  Those are fairly
well sealed.  The water transport doesn't stop when the tree is cut
down.  Think of the tree trunk as a bundle of soda straws.  The water
still moves along the length of the trunk.  Therefore, if you want to
prevent the tree from absorbing water, you need to protect the ends
and not so much the outside of the trunk.  Capillary action is only a
small part of the water transport system.  Most of the pressure comes
from the roots via osmosis.  For very tall trees, there's also
transpiration (pressure from evaporating water).  However, if all
you're worried about is water getting into your wooden tuning tool,
the small amount of water in the xylem will be noticeable at VHF
frequencies.

<https://www.reddit.com/r/boatbuilding/comments/hhaujy/why_does_planking_end_just_behind_the_bow/>
"This affirms the wooden boat builders trick of sealing the plank ends
with glue, even the staunch traditionalist will put glue on the end of
the planks."

frequencies.  This is about half of the tuning tools I've accumulated
over the years:
<https://photos.app.goo.gl/7Gq4r85pipeccUMz9>
>
My favorite do it myself tuning tools are ceramic rods.  Buy some
ceramic rods and grind the tips until they look like a "blade", Allen
wrench, or whatever.
<https://www.ortechceramics.com/products/ceramic-tubes-rods/ceramic-rod/>
>
My 2nd favorite is plastic.  I forgot which plastic worked the best. A
crude  test for a proper plastic is to put a sample in a microwave
oven for maybe 15 seconds.  I just tried it on some of the tuning
tools in my collection.  No heating, melting or fire.  Or, you could
just find a plastic that works as a coil form.
>
If you have a grid dip meter, measure the self resonant frequency of
an inductor and capacitor in parallel.  Find the resonance frequency.
Shove the plastic sample into the core (or nearby).  It should NOT
change the resonant frequency.

>
Certainly won't ifyou use wood either.

Huh?  I suggest you use some kind of ceramic or plastic, unless you
enjoy research projects.

You might want to try using a moisture meter.  Two types.  One type
shoves two pins into the wood and measures the DC resistance.  The
other is a capacitance meter with the wood sample between two
capacitor plates (also known as "pinless").  I have 3 of the pin type
that I use for determining if my firewood is dry enough to burn.  It
might be suitable for measuring the moisture content of your tuning
tools.  I haven't tried this (yet).  Look for one that has a setting
for different types of wood:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=moisture%20meter&udm=2>

Good luck.

--
Jeff Liebermann                 jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272      http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann      AE6KS    831-336-2558