Can I pick your brains please.

What are the standard diameters for wooden dowelling. I don't want the
downright specialist sizes please because I hope to find it at one of
my local DIY superstores!

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery in order to run an electrical device all day. The
dowell would have a drawing pin at each end with a thin wire attached
which is connected to a 1.5volt power supply at the other end. IYSWIM!

The cell diameters are as follows:

AAA cell = 10.5mm (0.42") diameter
AA cell = 14.5mm (0.58") diameter

What alternative material to wood could I use?

Thank you.

john wrote:

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery

If you can't buy dowel that is the right size, get the next size up, cut
it a couple of inches longer than you want, Assuming you don't have
access to a lathe, stick it in the chuck of a drill, and use a strip of
sandpaper to thin it down.

Andy Burns wrote:
john wrote:

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery

If you can't buy dowel that is the right size, get the next size up, cut
it a couple of inches longer than you want, Assuming you don't have
access to a lathe, stick it in the chuck of a drill, and use a strip of
sandpaper to thin it down.

Or get some the next size down. Roll paper round it until it has grown
to the diameter required. (Use glue between layers for super job; a bit
of sticky tape at the end for a lash up.)

No need even for a drill. :-)

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

In message , Andy Burns
writes
john wrote:

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery

If you can't buy dowel that is the right size, get the next size up,
cut it a couple of inches longer than you want, Assuming you don't have
access to a lathe, stick it in the chuck of a drill, and use a strip of
sandpaper to thin it down.

Take some time:-)

Does it actually need to be round?

regards

--
Tim Lamb

"john" wrote in message
...
Can I pick your brains please.

What are the standard diameters for wooden dowelling. I don't want the
downright specialist sizes please because I hope to find it at one of
my local DIY superstores!

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery in order to run an electrical device all day. The
dowell would have a drawing pin at each end with a thin wire attached
which is connected to a 1.5volt power supply at the other end. IYSWIM!

The cell diameters are as follows:

AAA cell = 10.5mm (0.42") diameter
AA cell = 14.5mm (0.58") diameter

What alternative material to wood could I use?

Thank you.

Just as a matter of interest, what sort of device is it that you want to run
for an extended time, and what is it you are going to use as your external
power supply ?

Arfa

On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:00:38 GMT, john wrote:

Can I pick your brains please.

What are the standard diameters for wooden dowelling. I don't want the
downright specialist sizes please because I hope to find it at one of
my local DIY superstores!

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery in order to run an electrical device all day. The
dowell would have a drawing pin at each end with a thin wire attached
which is connected to a 1.5volt power supply at the other end. IYSWIM!

The cell diameters are as follows:

AAA cell = 10.5mm (0.42") diameter
AA cell = 14.5mm (0.58") diameter

What alternative material to wood could I use?

Thank you.

You can buy 10 mm dowelling but it usually comes in 1.8M lengths.
Try modeling clay of some sort or epoxy putty

On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:52:22 +0000, Rod
wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:
john wrote:

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery

If you can't buy dowel that is the right size, get the next size up, cut
it a couple of inches longer than you want, Assuming you don't have
access to a lathe, stick it in the chuck of a drill, and use a strip of
sandpaper to thin it down.

Or get some the next size down. Roll paper round it until it has grown
to the diameter required. (Use glue between layers for super job; a bit
of sticky tape at the end for a lash up.)

No need even for a drill. :-)

Or papier mache

"Alang" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:00:38 GMT, john wrote:

Can I pick your brains please.

What are the standard diameters for wooden dowelling. I don't want the
downright specialist sizes please because I hope to find it at one of
my local DIY superstores!

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery in order to run an electrical device all day. The
dowell would have a drawing pin at each end with a thin wire attached
which is connected to a 1.5volt power supply at the other end. IYSWIM!

The cell diameters are as follows:

AAA cell = 10.5mm (0.42") diameter
AA cell = 14.5mm (0.58") diameter

What alternative material to wood could I use?

Thank you.

You can buy 10 mm dowelling but it usually comes in 1.8M lengths.
Try modeling clay of some sort or epoxy putty

Or a modelling or craft shop, which will have lots of bits of odd-sized wood
and plastic in small lengths.

Arfa

"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
...
In message , Andy Burns
writes
john wrote:

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an AAA
or AA battery

If you can't buy dowel that is the right size, get the next size up, cut
it a couple of inches longer than you want, Assuming you don't have access
to a lathe, stick it in the chuck of a drill, and use a strip of sandpaper
to thin it down.

Take some time:-)

Does it actually need to be round?


Does it need such a specific diameter anyway?

Rob Graham

On 2 Mar, 04:00, john wrote:
Can I pick your brains please.

What are the standard diameters for wooden dowelling. I don't want the
downright specialist sizes please because I hope to find it at one of
my local DIY superstores!

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery in order to run an electrical device all day. The
dowell would have a drawing pin at each end with a thin wire attached
which is connected to a 1.5volt power supply at the other end. IYSWIM!

The cell diameters are as follows:

* * AAA cell = 10.5mm (0.42") diameter
* * AA cell = 14.5mm (0.58") diameter

What alternative material to wood could I use?

Thank you.

What about a dead AA or AAA cell - should be about the right size -
bit of insulting tape over the ends to prevent it interfering - add
the wire as planned

What about a dead AA or AAA cell - should be about the right size -
bit of insulting tape over the ends to prevent it interfering - add
the wire as planned

'Dead' cell's tend to leak over time and leave a nasty mess not recommended.

Ash

In article ,
john wrote:
Can I pick your brains please.

What are the standard diameters for wooden dowelling. I don't want the
downright specialist sizes please because I hope to find it at one of
my local DIY superstores!

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery in order to run an electrical device all day. The
dowell would have a drawing pin at each end with a thin wire attached
which is connected to a 1.5volt power supply at the other end. IYSWIM!

The cell diameters are as follows:

AAA cell = 10.5mm (0.42") diameter
AA cell = 14.5mm (0.58") diameter

What alternative material to wood could I use?

You can buy dummy cells for this very purpose.

Thank you.

--
*Honk if you love peace and quiet*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
john wrote:
Can I pick your brains please.

What are the standard diameters for wooden dowelling. I don't want the
downright specialist sizes please because I hope to find it at one of
my local DIY superstores!

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery in order to run an electrical device all day. The
dowell would have a drawing pin at each end with a thin wire attached
which is connected to a 1.5volt power supply at the other end. IYSWIM!

The cell diameters are as follows:

AAA cell = 10.5mm (0.42") diameter
AA cell = 14.5mm (0.58") diameter

What alternative material to wood could I use?

You can buy dummy cells for this very purpose.

Thank you.

--
*Honk if you love peace and quiet*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Maplin used to keep them, but don't seem to any more. You also used to get
them with CB handhelds to make the difference between 10 rechargeable cells
at 1.2v, and 8 dry ones at 1.5v. Those ones had contacts and a shorting
strap, which would have made them ideal for the job, once the strap had been
cut, and wires attached to the two new ends. If there's a CB or amateur
radio shop in the area, might be worth just popping in, and seeing if they
still have any laying about, long forgotton in a drawer somewhere.

Arfa

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Arfa Daily"
saying something like:

You can buy dummy cells for this very purpose.


Maplin used to keep them, but don't seem to any more.

A second's googling...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/noframes/261.htm

On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:39:20 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
john wrote:
Can I pick your brains please.

What are the standard diameters for wooden dowelling. I don't want the
downright specialist sizes please because I hope to find it at one of
my local DIY superstores!

My application is to use a very short length of dowell to replace an
AAA or AA battery in order to run an electrical device all day. The
dowell would have a drawing pin at each end with a thin wire attached
which is connected to a 1.5volt power supply at the other end. IYSWIM!

The cell diameters are as follows:

AAA cell = 10.5mm (0.42") diameter
AA cell = 14.5mm (0.58") diameter

What alternative material to wood could I use?

You can buy dummy cells for this very purpose.

Really? I thought dummy cells were 'short-circuit' - the OP wants to
fit a PSU across the 'cell'... :-)

--
Frank Erskine

"Grimly Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Arfa Daily"
saying something like:

You can buy dummy cells for this very purpose.


Maplin used to keep them, but don't seem to any more.

A second's googling...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/noframes/261.htm

Ha ! Waddya know ... Well spotted, Grimly old boy ! Funny that. I put every
combination of "dummy" and "battery" and "cell" that I could think of into
their on-site search engine, and it didn't return any useful results. I
hereby declare you king of the keyboard, and authorise you to have an extra
cup of coffee and a biscuit for your efforts ... :-)

Arfa

The message
from Grimly Curmudgeon contains these words:

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Arfa Daily"
saying something like:

You can buy dummy cells for this very purpose.


Maplin used to keep them, but don't seem to any more.

A second's googling...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/noframes/261.htm


Save the petrol getting to Maplin. Cut a suitable length from a 6"
nail -- or at least that's what I did years ago when making up an
external battery pack for a power-thirsty Z88. For larger sizes of
battery, pad out with insulating tape to ensure it stays in location. or
use the plastic spacers which allow AA batteries to be substituted for C
or D cells