I'm curious if it was a problem tensioning the source wire. If allowed to slack, there are problems. In the past when I've done this I had help or used my spare hand to put two almost 90 degree bends in the wire (without actually making a full angle). That and the friction from my fingers helped. I know I've seen wire tensioners before too. Not sure how they do it on the tape, but anything that keeps tension should help in winding. The hard part for me was getting it to spool up evenly instead of bunching in the middle or against one side.

Actually, with a moment's more thought based on what you said, my drill doesn't throttle down all that slow. Speed might have been a part of it, but if it was in my case, I can't imagine doing it with duct tape.

Thanks for the suggestions. Let me just say that it sounds easy, but they have tried a lot of similar concepts and keep coming back to refinements of this. They do have some ideas for further automating some aspects of the assembly process, but there's a significant capital investment barrier. They are always working towards improving the productivity. Beyond that, I really can't say anything more.

No need to Mr. Ritter. I think we all appreciate your efforts. And I'm sure it's not as easy as I've made it sound (I haven't tried it except with wire and only with one spool).

Again, thanks for the entertaining and educational insight into the process..... now if we can just get a slideshow for the ETS Knives. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

People think it's expensive? I saw them at REI and got one to check it out. Went back in a few days and bought 4 more. Now I have one for each vehicle, and one for each backpack. Of course, I still tinker a little with mine... <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I'm amazed that the cost is so low, but then again, I buy some of these individual components from time to time, so I know the relative costs.

Why is it that people can always count the cost, but never the value?