RESISTANCE
- hand sewn 8” trace has a resistance of 22 ohms
- machine sewn top thread 8” trace has a resistance of 66 ohms
- machine sewn bottom thread 8” trace has a resistance of 25 ohms
THREAD QUALITY
- easy to thread a size 24 crewel needle
- minimal fray or whisker
- easy to sew by hand as well as machine
- thread is wound on an industrial spool and has to be rewound on a bobbin for machine sewing
RECCOMENDATIONS
Lame Life Saver thread is conductive, medium diameter, and has minimal fray. This thread is RECOMMENDED for both hand sewing and machine sewing eTextiles, soft circuit, craft-tech, or wearable computing.
For this review I used a sample Lame sent me April 2012. After 2 years the product has not tarnished.
RETAIL
Lame Life Saver
Their website states:
Resistance = 20 ohm/ft
Deiner = 18
Hand sewn LED circuit on cotton broad cloth with felt backing.
Positive and negative traces are 8 inches long.
Threads a crewel needle size 24 easily.
Hand sews a basic running stitch with minimal tangles or difficulties.
1.8mm blue LED with 4 tight loops around the LED leads.
Use a fresh 3V CR2032 battery to power the circuit.
LED glows = empirical evidence that the thread is conductive
Lame Life Saver and Kitronik are very similar quality threads but Lame Life Saver has a higher resistance.
Machine Stitching with a Schmetz Embroidery Needle 90/14
Machine stitching sample
top trace is Lame Life Saver thread as top thread
bottom trace is Lame Life Saver thread as bobbin thread
Both methods sew smoothly without snags or fraying.
The reverse side of the machine sewing sample
