Here are some pics of when I wind my coils. It is a quick way and if setup correctly can give good results. As I am limited on space I have to move all the stuff so its never get left setup. The wire used is 0.4mm enameled copper wire. I buy it on 20KG reels ( shown below ). I also buy it on smaller 2.5KG which is normally good for winding 1 or 2 coils. Don't use anyother wire it will probably not work. the coil shown is not for any particular coil, it was only a test coil but shows well how to wind the coils.

I mostely use 6.3" (160mm) waste pipe which is avaliable from my local DIY store. It is a brown dusty colour and normally comes in 3 meter lengths. The wall thickness is about 5mm. Its a bit thick for tesla coil use but at least its strong and harder to melt than smaller walled tube. Don't use anything but good solid waste or drain pipe. The pipe I used for this page is black 2.5"dia down pipe which is very common.

Here you can see the large reel of 0.4mm wire. It is supported on a block of old transformers and a bar through the middle allows the reel to spin.

Here is my Variac. I use this to control the speed of the drill. Put the drill on low speed. You may also wish to place a fan to blow cool air over the drill since it can be almost stalling and can get rather hot! I've used this old drill for many coils for the past few years and its still going!

Here you can see the finished wound coil. The drill is supported in a vice. You can see the cloth I use to hold the wire while I am winding.

Here are some closer pics to the wire which was guided onto the pipe..

As the tub spins on the drill, I hold the wire in a position to what it is now. I hold the wire in a cloth as it will cut and burn your fingers while you are winding. I keep the wire straight and hold it as the wire winds on the tube. When I start the winding I start 1cm from the end of the coil. When I wind 1cm more wire I then move the wire I am holding 1cm to the right. Again, when 1cm more is wound, I then move 1cm to the right. This means the wire is guided onto the tube where it is being wound. With a lot of practice you can get good results. If you move to fast then the coil will get gaps in the winding, to slow and the wire will slip and go all over the coil, then you have to de-wind a few turns and start again. It can be a good idea to stop every few inches or so and place tape on the coil. Should the wire slip it will only unwind to the tape and can save hours of time.

You can just make out the wire going from the coil to the reel ( reel not in this pic ). Latter I will varnish the coil. I do this to hold the wire together and to stop it from coming undone. In this pic I have just finished the winding and I have placed some black tape over the coil to stop the wire from undoing.

Here is the other end support of the coil. I trap a old motor in the blue vice. The motor just fits nice inside the tube. The 2 transformers are to support the vice so it does not move.

For my thicker tube, 4.3 and 6.3" dia, I made a circle out of some wood. This fits just inside the tube. One end has a bearing and a shat to provide a free turn for one end of the tube. This shaft is then trapped in a large vice. the other end of the tube has a smae sized circle though has a large bolt in the middle of it. this is the turning end of the tube and is trapped into the drill for turning..