RESISTANCE
- hand sewn 8” trace has a resistance of 350 ohms
- machine sewn top thread 8” trace has a resistance of 1 K ohms
- machine sewn bottom thread 8” trace has a resistance of 500 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 flat cardboard and has to be rewound on a bobbin for machine sewing
RECCOMENDATIONS
2009Bikeman tread dark is HIGHLY RESISTIVE and is NOT RECOMMENDED for sewing eTextiles, soft circuit, craft-tech, or wearable computing.
RETAIL
2009bikeman on ebay
3-Ply conductive thread 1 conductive fiber and 2 Black polyester fiber (non-conductive)
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. However – the thread is not plied well and you can see it pull apart when handsewing and when making knots.
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
bikeman’s dark highly resistive polyester thread.
Machine Stitching with a Schmetz Embroidery Needle 90/14
Machine stitching sample
top trace is bikeman’s RESISTIVE thread as top thread
bottom trace is bikeman’s RESISTIVE thread as bobbin thread
both methods sew smoothly without snags or fraying.
The reverse side of the machine sewing sample.
