Sustitute for dial drive cord

[Royboy]

After searching for many months for dial cord I found in a hardware shop in York some braided nylon chalk line which looks ideal and identical to the old RS drive cord.
The product is branded CARDOC CORD but no name of manufacturer.
I got a hank of 18 mtrs size A for £1.63 which I thought was good value.
I havent had opportunity to try it yet but I am sure it will do fine.
Hoping this may be of interest to someone.
Regards
Roy
PS if anyone is local to York the shop is Barnitts near the Shambles.

[Mike Phelan]

Does it actually have chalk on it, Roy?
If so, it will leach out any lubricant on pulleys and the like.
Fishing line might be better - there is a good shop in Malton on Castlegate.

[Royboy]

Originally Posted by Mike Phelan

Does it actually have chalk on it, Roy?
If so, it will leach out any lubricant on pulleys and the like.
Fishing line might be better - there is a good shop in Malton on Castlegate.

No. Builders put their own chalk on to it before streching and "Pinging" a chalk mark.
Cord is completely dry and looks identical to RS drive cord.
Have searched fishing tack shops around here but never came up with anything remotely suitable.
Roy

[squinancy]

Fishing lines are never working properly, don't have the necessary grip, unless perhaps roughened by rolling a sharp cogged wheel along them or by sandpapering. Purpose made nylon drive cords for vintage radios are, however, turning up in shops, real and online, with surprising frequency. Miklos

[Station X]

The type of fishing line to use is "backing line" which has a braided appearance. It's different from the more common monofilament line.

Of course if you can get proper drive cord use that.

[reelguy]

Probably a weird idea but ... . If you buy a plumb bob from a hardware shop, The string or cord is very similar to dial cord . Just a thought !.
Peter W.......Reelguy

[Brian R Pateman]

And a very good one!

I buy this from the local hardware shop in the village (we're lucky that we still have one) in large quantities. What doesn't get used for the radios is used as picture cord!

And it isn't expensive.

Regards,

[Malcolm G6ANZ]

Hi, I needed to replace the dial drive on an old Philips 2086A, and I can agree that the line cord as described by Royboy works. It is the same diameter as the original cord and is unchalked. It grips the drive spindle very well and is easy to knot at the ends. Best of all its cheap!
Now I need to fix the radio
Malcolm

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by Station X

The type of fishing line to use is "backing line" which has a braided appearance. It's different from the more common monofilament line.

I've used monofilament line several times and found it to work well, though it doesn't look right. It mostly comes in lurid yellow or green colours which look awful but you can also find it in black which isn't too bad.

It's worth keeping a spool handy for those occasions when you don't have anything else. It's often sold on market stalls for a couple of pounds for a big reel. Buy the thickest stuff you can find (it will still be thinner than the original cord).

Paul