I was just thinking that the silk thread idea isn't mentioned in
the "How to build an inexpensive aero engine" book, nor does GP or
Revmaster mention it.

Or have I lost that cell already?

I dunno. It was in all of the do-it-yourself VW manuals "back in the
day"
and genereally mentioned #50 as the thread size. I had presumed that #50
was a fairly stout thread, however a post by Highflyer in this
conversation
leads me to wonder and a breif www search was less than informative...

Peter

Thread numbers, IITC, are like wire guages. A #10 is quite stout, and
a #36 is a typical machine sewing thread - with a #50 being quite
fine. If a sewing machine has ANY tension problems, you won't sew with
#50.Just what I remember from the sewing I did when I was a kid (my
mother was a very accomplished seamstress).

Thanks, now I'll use the right stuff in the future.