Calling upon over 20 years of experience in studying and working with Enigmas
the designers devoted over 5 years to producing this accurate replica. The
result is a fully working and absolutely complete replica Enigma that can not
be told from an original. It comes in a superb reproduction of the wooden
outer box and is complete with 12 steckers.
1. First, each of the 26 wires is cut to a length of 9 cm.
The insulation is removed from each end by heating it to 450 deg. Celsius.
Each of the ends of each of the wires is tinned with solder (pre-soldered).
One end is then cut to only 3mm length for soldering into the spring of the
spring-mounted contacts.
2. The 26 flat contacts that are embedded in the fixed contact plate are
cleaned with a drill and counterbore tool.
Then they are pre-soldered and then the wires are soldered into the holes.
3. The disk with the soldered flat contacts is stored for a few days to allow
it to return to a completely even temperature.
The disk is then mounted in a special holder so that the contact side can be
made perfectly flat.
This is necessary because the bakelite expands (grows) from the heat of the
soldering and the contacts sink about 0.05mm deep into the bakelite disk.
The disk is placed in a special holder that holds only the outer edge of the
disk.
This holds the disk securely and avoids vibration while the tool removes
the excess bakelite material to make the surface completely flat.
4. The fixed flat contact plate with its wires is then mounted above the disk
that will hold the spring contacts.
Temporary round spacers are used to hold the two disks apart.
Each wire is then inserted into the hole for the proper spring contact on
the opposite disk.
5. The springs are then screwed onto the contact pins and each wire is soldered to its appropriate spring.
6. The wires are then turned in a loop around to the right.
The contacts are brought around into the correct position and then
the cover plate for the spring contacts is mounted.
Each contact must be checked to ensure that it moves freely and that it
comes all the way out.
7. The wires are then carefully brought into the gutter of the body part.
This must be done very gently, so as not to destroy the insulation on the
wires.
8. Before mounting the fixed contact plate with its 3 screws, all of the wires
between the touching surfaces must be removed and pressed into the gutter.
9. The wire ends coming from the fixed contacts and the spring contacts must
be bent very carefully so that they do not touch the opposite contacts or
wires in a conductive area.
10. Insulating tape of the old non-plastic type is wound around the contacts to keep moisture and humidity out.
11. A specially designed and built test device is used to check the rotor wiring.
Each connection is checked to ensure that it is correct and that there are no accidental connections between other wires or metal parts.