Making my attempt at hand plates

[Broven]

Could you measure the nut on the wrist? An M8 is about 13mm (.51").

I verified that the nut is 13mm. I'm assuming you meant the nut in the center, that is welded to the hand plate. [There's the bolt head, the 13mm nut, and then a 10mm nut that attaches to the opposite end of the bolt.]

[Miss_San_Diego]

what Gage wire did you use

[MannequinFan]

what Gage wire did you use

I used THHN/THWN 14 GA stranded.
This is the stuff...
https://www.cerrowire.com/wp-content/up ... s_2014.pdf

[Mr Franz]

what Gage wire did you use

I used THHN/THWN 14 GA stranded.
This is the stuff...
https://www.cerrowire.com/wp-content/up ... s_2014.pdf

...and it's rated for 600 volts!

[Boobman]

what Gage wire did you use

I used THHN/THWN 14 GA stranded.
This is the stuff...
https://www.cerrowire.com/wp-content/up ... s_2014.pdf

...and it's rated for 600 volts!

It's not the volts as much as it is the amps! I really wonder if it would be better to use a solid wire vs stranded, fatigue wise copper becomes weak with repeated bending.

[MannequinFan]

It's not the volts as much as it is the amps! I really wonder if it would be better to use a solid wire vs stranded, fatigue wise copper becomes weak with repeated bending.

Stranded wire has a higher resistance to fatigue than solid wire. It also allows you to use a heavier gage wire and still be flexible.
14 GA solid wire would be too stiff for this, so you'd need to use 16 GA or less which will break much faster.

https://sites.google.com/site/noxcables ... s-stranded
"Stranded wire is more flexible than solid wire of the same total cross-sectional area. Solid wire is cheaper to manufacture than stranded wire and is used where there is little need for flexibility in the wire. Solid wire also provides mechanical ruggedness; and, because it has relatively less surface area which is exposed to attack by corrosives, protection against the environment. Stranded wire is used when higher resistance to metal fatigue is required."

[secretagentman]

Just know that stranded wire has more "memory" than solid.
It will resist holding a new position.

[Boobman]

It's not the volts as much as it is the amps! I really wonder if it would be better to use a solid wire vs stranded, fatigue wise copper becomes weak with repeated bending.

Stranded wire has a higher resistance to fatigue than solid wire. It also allows you to use a heavier gage wire and still be flexible.
14 GA solid wire would be too stiff for this, so you'd need to use 16 GA or less which will break much faster.

https://sites.google.com/site/noxcables ... s-stranded
"Stranded wire is more flexible than solid wire of the same total cross-sectional area. Solid wire is cheaper to manufacture than stranded wire and is used where there is little need for flexibility in the wire. Solid wire also provides mechanical ruggedness; and, because it has relatively less surface area which is exposed to attack by corrosives, protection against the environment. Stranded wire is used when higher resistance to metal fatigue is required."

Sounds logical, i know my old Mallory HP plug wires i bought for my 351 CJ, used stranded solid core wire but i think they were of a stainless steel inner core outer core a alloy. Same kind of wires used in race cars.

[MannequinFan]

Just know that stranded wire has more "memory" than solid.
It will resist holding a new position.

The 14 GA stranded holds a pose just fine. Sometimes you just need to bend it a little ways past where you want it to be.
I think the tube phalanges are helping with this also.

https://youtu.be/zaOOU7zYO6M

[secretagentman]

I'm not saying it's impossible, but harder. Also sharp angles are much more challenging.
Either way it's not my first choice for wiring circuits because it never stays where you put it.

I had been thinking that a heavier jacket might prove more durable - like direct burial, but finding that as a single conductor in a smaller gauge (and in shorter lengths) would be damn near impossible for most people.

[Mr Franz]

Stranded wire has a higher resistance to fatigue than solid wire. It also allows you to use a heavier gage wire and still be flexible.....

Something to that. I was playing with some 12 gage stranded the other night, quickly bending it back and forth for about 10 minutes or so. Managed to kink the insulation a bit, but the wire itself remained intact and still held it's position reasonably well when bent. Quite sure that wouldn't have been the case had I tried that with the factory solid wire set-up.

Downside I think, is that the hands wouldn't grip as well with stranded wire in the fingers. I could live with that though. I think it's a fair trade off for the added durability.

[winterwarBo]

Janie has Solid 12G romex (NM) and I used 14G solid in Lisa.

[MannequinFan]

Downside I think, is that the hands wouldn't grip as well with stranded wire in the fingers. I could live with that though. I think it's a fair trade off for the added durability.

The big difference is having the tubing on the wire because you're forcing it to bend in only one small spot.
To get the feel of it, anyone can try the bend test with some 14 GA stranded wire and a couple pieces of 5/32" brass tubing.

You could use either solid or stranded with this idea, however stranded will last a lot longer than solid.
When I was at Home Depot, I tried bending several different wire types. The 14 GA solid seemed way too stiff to me, but I haven't tried it with the tubing. The harder the fingers are to bend, the higher the stress will be on the palm plate connection.

It's just hard to tell how well this will work until it's actually installed.
If someone out there with a doll that's ready for the junk pile want's to donate a hand for the experiment, I'd be glad to put this to the test myself. I could send the hand back with the skeleton installed. You'd just have to reconnect it at the wrist with some Permatex flowable silicone which works well on TPE.
I'm sure this will stir some controversy, but I also did a little test with the Peramatex and TPE...
https://youtu.be/meDZCFrhNJw