Who makes their own OPT around here?

[rvrazvan]

Who makes their own OPT around here?
What core do you use?(type/material)
How to you wind the bobbin?

I haven't seen to much ppl around making their own opt. It's hard to get it perfect (audiophile grade) but most likely you can build a better one for a lot less than the price of commercial transformers.

[BHD]

Not many people do it. The learning curve is steep, laminations of a proper size are hard to get, materials are expensive, etc.

There are some good tutorials out on the web and once I get a house and have the space to do this stuff I may give it a go - but I have no illusions of actually saving money by doing it.

[Tea-Bag]

Bpowell or Bud Powell does.
This, along with working with IC's, tonearm wiring is something I leave to the pro's

[Johnny2Bad]

It can be done, naturally. But on the other hand, aside from price, there are good transformer firms out there and some will wind to your spec (and of those, some will make the specific transformer part of the catalog afterward, since the design work is just sitting there, and they have the equipment to wind anything on order).

Unless you are a serious garage-rat hobbyist, or really want to learn the art, the truth is you may as well work another 10 hours and throw the wages at the problem instead. Time isn't money, but lost time is definitely lost forever. I can't see the exercise being a saving unless you're going into it whole hog; it might be different for someone already into it, since that's reaping the rewards of time invested. As a new venture the math changes, at least for me.

The exception might be if you need a huge, heavy piece of iron that costs way too much to ship, but even then you can always trade off delivery time for shipping cost. Even the proverbial "slow boat from China" eventually gets to it's destination. Also, the raw materials you might be able to get locally still have the shipping component in the price. Another possible exception is if you're building an "ultimate" amplifier that is worthy of the attention.

A well designed transformer that isn't built to a price is a wonderful thing, but they aren't cheap by their nature, even if you DIY it.

[flatheadmurre]

When you tried winding a few OPT´s you´ll start apreciating the LOW price of the commercial ones.

A mains transformer takes me 1-2 hours to calculate and wind.

An OPT takes the best part of a day.

Only reason for winding one your self is if it´s so big you cant find one on the shelf or you want a special primary load or taps.

It can be done and there are a few good computer programs for calculating, but how you split the winding in sections and layers is an art i got a clue about how, but i´m not even close to mastering it.

And you need a winding machine doing it all by hand is almost impossible.

[LinuksGuru]

I'm not making trafos (don't have any material and equipment to do so, and no reason to invest in this), instead, I design them for myself with my own software and order from any suitable factory (big headache indeed).

Use custom-made M4 toroid cores. Wanted to try HiB but factory I wished them to order from run out of this material and had no plan to purchase stock unless I place an order for 1 ton or so.

[rvrazvan]

Well i know someone from who i can learn a few things .
About prices it all comes down to your sources :P. With Ukraine Poland and Russia around cheap sources are everywhere

[LinuksGuru]

Originally Posted by rvrazvan

Well i know someone from who i can learn a few things .
About prices it all comes down to your sources :P. With Ukraine Poland and Russia around cheap sources are everywhere

It depends where you are living. Russia and Ukraine are outside EU, and thus, customs may be a problem too expensive for small orders. Poland is an obvious choice.

[Pano]

Originally Posted by Tea-Bag

Bpowell or Bud Powell does.

Do you mean Bud Purvine? BudP.

[tinitus]

Bud Powell was one of the greatest jazz musicians