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Wire Wrap Question — Parallax Forums

Wire Wrap Question

NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
edited 2012-09-19 09:40 in General Discussion
I am just curious to find out if anyone does wire wrapping anymore. Specifically, Anyone on the Savage Circuits Traveling Parts Box list. I have some tools, etc and would like to know if anyone would find it useful or not.

Comments

  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-09-17 21:20
    I don't do wire wrapping anymore, but I do use the Kynar wire-wrap wire and stripping tool for point-to-point wiring on soldered prototype boards. I would not give away your last wrap/strip tool, if I were you. They're still useful and expensive to replace. For example, the tool I paid just a few bucks for at Radio Shack back in the '80s now goes for almost $32 at DigiKey:

    -Phil
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2012-09-17 23:10
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    I don't do wire wrapping anymore, but I do use the Kynar wire-wrap wire and stripping tool for point-to-point wiring on soldered prototype boards. I would not give away your last wrap/strip tool, if I were you. They're still useful and expensive to replace. For example, the tool I paid just a few bucks for at Radio Shack back in the '80s now goes for almost $32 at DigiKey:

    -Phil

    Same here. Very handy for quickly prototyping a small circuit board or making the small changes/additions to a board that did not turn out as well as expected.
  • zappmanzappman Posts: 418
    edited 2012-09-18 00:28
    Sometimes I use wire-wrap, as a permanent replacement for slip on jumpers between two posts, I don't have to worry about the jumpers sliding off.
    I also use the wire-wrap wire to repair broken or missing tracks on circuit boards.
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2012-09-18 18:21
    I use wire wrap quite a bit. It is reliable and relaxing to do, because my projects don't justify making a custom PCB. those tools sure are darned expensive though.
  • ZootZoot Posts: 2,227
    edited 2012-09-18 18:26
    I use wire-wrap wire for the same kinds of things Phil describes.

    But I use this tool for about $7. What's the difference between the cheapo and the more expensive tool?
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2012-09-18 18:29
    Mine, strips wire, wire wraps and can undo connections.http://forums.parallax.com/newreply.php?p=1127613&noquote=1
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-09-18 19:04
    I-O-D,

    What's that link you posted? It takes me to a reply-to-thread page.

    -Phil
  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    edited 2012-09-18 22:56
    Invent-O-Doc wrote: »
    I use wire wrap quite a bit. It is reliable and relaxing to do, because my projects don't justify making a custom PCB. those tools sure are darned expensive though.

    Actually I paid above $200.00 for my Gardner Denver wrap tool in 1984, cut strip and wrap gun. It finally died two years ago so I went on ebay looking for a replacement. Bit was still in great shape. Turned out cheaper to replace the gun than fix. Found a cooper tools w/ 20 foot cord (probably surplussed out of a telco or government contractor) for about $25.00 and snapped it right up. Not quite G/D but does the job. Now if I could just find my old CPM backup disk along with my copy of a program called wiremaster.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2012-09-19 00:49
    I used wire-wrap a lot 30 years ago for prototyping. I used a hand-tool, sitting in an armchair. It was very relaxing.

    When I worked for English-Electric-LEO-Marconi Computers 48 years ago, for wiring mainframe backplanes they evaluated both Gardner-Denver wire-wrap and an alternative technique using little crimped on tags that were pressed onto the posts (I forget whose it was). They chose the alternative technique, for some reason.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2012-09-19 01:27
    A coworker and I wire wrapped a whole 6809 based prototype computer in 1982. Processor, memory, timers, UARTS, PIA, the works.
    I sometimes thing of using wire wrap but the sockets and tools get expensive. You can probably design a PCB and get a one off made time it takes and with less expense.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2012-09-19 02:13
    I use wire wrap for wiring in small places and connecting to a surface mount component. It's also useful for wiring up a circuit on the board's back side to make a prototype when a solderless breadboard is not an option due to weight or other reasons. The tool came from Radio Shack years ago and wire-wrap wire and tools are sold at electronics parts stores, still at reasonable prices in Taiwan. Occasionally a non-wire wrap wire will easily strip down on the end to assure a connection for more easy soldering in a small place. Small gauge wire wrap wire is also excellent for connections on the boards top side from component lead to component lead that enters the board.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2012-09-19 02:13
    I used to wire-wrap my transputer prototypes, and was quite surprised that they worked as it was currently the highest performance microprocessor that was generally available. They worked OK at the maximum 20 MIPS speed with two wait states for the DRAM memory, although three wait-states was the theoretical maximum.
  • ctwardellctwardell Posts: 1,716
    edited 2012-09-19 05:47
    Did anyone else ever have a "Just Wrap" tool?

    It was really cool because you didn't strip the wire, it wrapped tight enough that the pins would cut into the insulation.

    Wrapping bus type connections was very easy because you could just daisy chain from on device to the next.

    I was very bummed when the bit wore to the point of being unreliable and could not find a source for a new one.

    C.W.
  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    edited 2012-09-19 06:41
    ctwardell wrote: »
    Did anyone else ever have a "Just Wrap" tool?

    It was really cool because you didn't strip the wire, it wrapped tight enough that the pins would cut into the insulation.

    Wrapping bus type connections was very easy because you could just daisy chain from on device to the next.

    I was very bummed when the bit wore to the point of being unreliable and could not find a source for a new one.

    C.W.

    Yep, good tool mostly. "mostly" was why I spent the bucks on the automatic cut strip modified wrap bit and the GD gun to drive it. One of its first uses was a Z80 based buffer box prototype using the latest (at the time) 64k * 1 dynamic rams that had come out avoiding the 16k*1 that required multiple supply voltages.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2012-09-19 08:37
    I still use wire-wrap to this day. I guess because I have over 100 wire-wrap sockets still in my bins.

    I never did purchase a motorized unit for my personal use, but I used them at work during the 80's.

    My manual gun works just fine, and I have bits to outlive me. (When it comes time for my kids to divide up the loot, they are going to say, "what the heck is this stuff?" :)

    DSC00604.jpg
    DSC00604.jpg
    1024 x 768 - 114K
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2012-09-19 09:40
    I've found the hand tool I used to use:

    http://www.jonard.com/jonard-ecommerce/control/product/~category_id=HAND_WRAP_TOOLS_1/~pcategory=OK_WIRE_WRAP_TOOLS/~product_id=10021;jsessionid=CAF73FB31794EF7FE625F5FA46E6FD42.jvm1#

    It was the WSU-30M. I wore out a couple of them.
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