Chris Jacobsen Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 I have a few table fans that need new 3wire or 4wire headwires, the 2wire power cable stuff I have plenty of but is there a source for 3wire cloth covered wire? I get that power cord is available but the headwires are very flexible, much more so than a power cable. Not sure of anyone has a good source for this or if I need to keep frankensteining my own out of robot cables. Any tips appreciated. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan King Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 Vintage wire supply I know offers kits and wire by the foot in both twisted and round in up to 3 conductors with enough I’m sure you could manage 4. I used them and really like the quality 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Jeffrey Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Adams Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 I just received the 50’ roll of 3 conductor cloth covered wire this week from Antique Fan Parts. I have used their wire for years as it is very flexible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jacobsen Posted June 3, 2023 Author Share Posted June 3, 2023 Thanks for the leads, will do some investigating. I usually resort to modern cable used for robot arms due to flexibility and durability but would be great to find an alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Ray Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 My vote is for Tony Clayton's wire. Custom makes wires to your specs and color. Super flexible and is superb. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Clayton Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 On 6/2/2023 at 4:22 PM, Chris Jacobsen said: I have a few table fans that need new 3wire or 4wire headwires, the 2wire power cable stuff I have plenty of but is there a source for 3wire cloth covered wire? I get that power cord is available but the headwires are very flexible, much more so than a power cable. Not sure of anyone has a good source for this or if I need to keep frankensteining my own out of robot cables. Any tips appreciated. Chris Hi Chris, You have poked the bear mentioning robot cable. My curiosity has gotten the best of me. Is that like Litz or elevator traveling cable, maybe something very different ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 (edited) Tony’s cables are far superior than the OTR/ fan parts wire!!! Edited June 3, 2023 by Lane Shirey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Huber Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 3 hours ago, Lane Shirey said: Tony’s cables are far superior than the OTR/ fan parts wire!!! Tony, Been a while since I bought the STANDARD black 18-gauge 3 wire cloth sheathed head cord. I still have the remains of a 50' spool of the original OTR wire. 🙂 I see Chad has his 50' spool price since he took over the old OTR wire business listed on his Antique Fan parts website. Can you please post your price for a 50' spool of your standard black cloth sheathed 18 AWG 3 wire head cord. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Huber Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 The old OTR was very supple head wire, and as I remember back then, very reasonably priced. Time changes things. Lester Holt comes to mind with NBC, at the end of his news cast each night he expresses a quote he took from Jerry Springer. "Take care of yourselves, and each other." Our website membership contains all walks of life. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel OToole Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 PM sent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Clayton Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 13 hours ago, Russ Huber said: Tony, Standard 18/3 🙂 Can you please post your standard black cloth sheathed 18 AWG 3 wire head cord. $2.99 per foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Huber Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 10 hours ago, Tony Clayton said: $2.99 per foot. $2.99 per foot of 18 gauge 3 wire black cloth sheathed head cord x 50 = $149.50 per 50' spool. That is reasonable, even in today's world, Mr. Clayton. Thank you for posting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Huber Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 40 minutes ago, Russ Huber said: $2.99 per foot of 18 gauge 3 wire black cloth sheathed head cord x 50 = $149.50 per 50' spool. That is reasonable, even in today's world, Mr. Clayton. Thank you for posting. The 12" Emerson desk fan with 3 wire head cord uses roughly 18" of head wire. 50' of Mr. Clayton's $2.99 a foot standard black cloth sheathed 3 wire head cord could replace 33 12" Emerson fan head cords for $149.50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Carmody Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 (edited) If Stan recommends OTR it is good wire for sure. I really like Tony’s wire.If your working on a Westinghouse with a spring wire retainer it has to be thin.It’s very flexible too for tight head work.The one on the left is 18ga 2 wire parallel, not sure where it came from.The one on the right is 18ga 3 wire from vintage wire.They too have excellent wire,just not specialized.That’s Tony’s 3 wire over braid in the center.Really nice and correct wire.It’s also properly color coded.That sure helped simplify the project.I will show it on a fan I’m working on shortly. Edited June 5, 2023 by Paul Carmody 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jacobsen Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 On 6/3/2023 at 2:09 PM, Tony Clayton said: Hi Chris, You have poked the bear mentioning robot cable. My curiosity has gotten the best of me. Is that like Litz or elevator traveling cable, maybe something very different ? Hi Tony, I work in an automation environment. Robot cable is the wiring we would use in robot arm, linear stages (where the wire needs to follow the stage) and other high repetitive movement applications. It is great stuff but I usually have to salvage the cables from a multi-wire cable and braid them together so it isn't ideal but it works. Other than being a bit hackish it doesn't match the look of the fan to have new multi-colored flex cables coming from the head. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Michael Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 15 hours ago, Russ Huber said: ...50' of Mr. Clayton's $2.99 a foot standard black cloth sheathed 3 wire head cord could replace 33 12" Emerson fan head cords for $149.50. "We're gonna need a bigger spool!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Clayton Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 I got a larger one 😉 16 inch blade sits atop it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Clayton Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 23 minutes ago, Chris Jacobsen said: Hi Tony, I work in an automation environment. Robot cable is the wiring we would use in robot arm, linear stages (where the wire needs to follow the stage) and other high repetitive movement applications. It is great stuff but I usually have to salvage the cables from a multi-wire cable and braid them together so it isn't ideal but it works. Other than being a bit hackish it doesn't match the look of the fan to have new multi-colored flex cables coming from the head. Chris Chris, I would be very curious to see a peice of it to compare with what I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Newcity Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 On 6/2/2023 at 7:09 PM, Stan Adams said: I just received the 50’ roll of 3 conductor cloth covered wire this week from Antique Fan Parts. I have used their wire for years as it is very flexible. For the 20 + years that I have been restoring, this is the very best head wire available. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jacobsen Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 3 hours ago, Tony Clayton said: Chris, I would be very curious to see a peice of it to compare with what I use. Hi Tony, sure. This is a small snip I have on hand. The wire is about 12ga. The stranded core is probably over 100 wires making it really flexible. It doesn't have any actual maker marks on the wire (cut out of a larger cable at one time). Dont have much on hand now but if leftovers drop I sometimes pick some up. There is a good amount of variation out there, even some cheap on ebay if searching for "robot cable". I used to have some that was for a laser power supply that was super flexible, about 12ga. I think it was a silicone jacket and similar 100 or so strands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Clayton Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 45 minutes ago, Chris Jacobsen said: Hi Tony, sure. This is a small snip I have on hand. The wire is about 12ga. The stranded core is probably over 100 wires making it really flexible. It doesn't have any actual maker marks on the wire (cut out of a larger cable at one time). Dont have much on hand now but if leftovers drop I sometimes pick some up. There is a good amount of variation out there, even some cheap on ebay if searching for "robot cable". I used to have some that was for a laser power supply that was super flexible, about 12ga. I think it was a silicone jacket and similar 100 or so strands. 12 AWG !!! That's a beast of a wire. 16 AWG is the biggest I have used to date. Not for electrical need but to build proper profile of original wire style. My 18AWG contains 150 strands of tinned copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jacobsen Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 2 minutes ago, Tony Clayton said: 12 AWG !!! That's a beast of a wire. 16 AWG is the biggest I have used to date. Not for electrical need but to build proper profile of original wire style. My 18AWG contains 150 strands of tinned copper. Yea, it is pretty thick. I would probably have chosen 14ish ga but beggars can't be choosers. I didn't have a great source for flexible power wire, in the past I even tried 3wire power cords, stripping the jacket and braiding the wires but that is pretty stiff too. As said, robot wire = NOT ideal. Can't wait to see what wire you carry, I have been searching for some time now for a good headwire. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Tony my company manufactures torsion and single axis motion cables. Completely different properties and they don’t lend well to a fan headwire. Trust me. If it did, I’d be using our company’s cable. You’re on the right track with your designs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Huber Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, Tony Clayton said: My 18AWG contains 150 strands of tinned copper. Just so were clear, Tony and I are not tight buddies. So none of this is personal toward either Tony or Antique Fan Parts. Tony sent me samples of his wire months ago. This included a sample of his black cloth sheathed 3 wire 18 AWG head cord. The key factors in supple 3 wire head cord is numerous fine copper wires in a soft rubber like consistency insulation per conductor, surrounded by a quality done sheathing. Well, I have the best of both worlds here to hold in my hand and observe. BOTH examples have these qualities. Tony's 3 wire is a bit larger in diameter but slips through a nice Emerson grommet that has little hole wear yet fills the grommet hole like the original Emerson head cords did. Tony did send a sample of a smaller diameter black cloth sheathed 3 wire head cord. I think it is nice and good for the organization Tony is making a go of it. Otherwise just like Rockefeller and Standard Oil Co., you have a monopoly on a product and the world is your oyster until a new kid shows up on the block strutting his stuff. 🙂 One conductor of 3 of original OTR head cord counted out to 169 strands. Tony's head cord on top, OTR on the bottom. Tony's head cord in an Emerson Grommet. OTR head cord in the same Emerson grommet. Tony's head cord on the left, OTR on the right. Tonys on the left, OTR on the right Edited June 6, 2023 by Russ Huber 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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