This is my first Tesla coil secondary. It will be wound semi-manually to get a sense of the process before attempting to automate future builds.

Design: 80mm diameter PVC pipe, 26 AWG enameled wire, 320mm height (4:1 aspect ratio).

Estimated wire needed: ~201m (based on 800 turns × π × 0.08m circumference)

I also made this calculator to assist with design: https://harrisfauntleroy.github.io/tesla-coil-secondary-calculator

Close ups of the coil

Winding the Tesla coil secondary with hand drill Close up view of wound Tesla coil secondary showing wire spacing

Design Parameters

Parameter Value
Coil form diameter (D) 80mm (0.08m)
Wire gauge 26 AWG
Wire diameter (d) ~0.45mm (measured)
Target winding height 320mm
Aspect ratio 4:1

Measured Properties

Property Measured/Actual
DC Resistance 28Ω
Turns 823 (calculated)
Wire Length 207m (calculated)
Inductance (L) ?
Capacitance (C) ?

Process with images

Preparing the coil form and rig. Used a variety of 15mm PVC pipe pieces to make the rig.

80mm PVC pipe mounted on winding rig made from PVC pipe Unwound Tesla coil on winding rig ready for winding

Winding the coil, used a hand drill to turn the coil form while hand guiding the wire, keeping layers close by guiding it with a piece of plastic.

Tesla coil drying after lacquer coating application Completed Tesla coil winding before lacquer coating

Applying spray on polyurethane lacquer. Will likely do multiple coats.

First coat of polyurethane lacquer being applied to Tesla coil Spraying lacquer onto wound Tesla coil secondary

Tuning

I cover finding the resonant frequency of the coil in a separate post.