CPu Fan as winder

[Tonebucket]

Hi everyone I am new to the forum.

I was wondering what you guys think of a CPu Fan being used as a winder.

I have trialled the basic idea and used a 9 volt battery to spin the 12 v 1.56watt fan.

The problem I have encounted is trying to control the speed of the fan with a guitar pot.

Has anyone an idea of any better components to control the fan speed??
:confused: :confused:

[Tom Phillips]

My first impression is that a CPU fan motor is not a good choice for a winder since it is designed for low torque / high speed.
A better choice would be a motor from an old sewing machine (complete with foot pedal speed control) or a variable speed drill motor.
Regards,
Tom

[Satamax]

There was an article long time on stew mac's catalog on how to make one witha cordless drill :D

[David Schwab]

The problem I have encounted is trying to control the speed of the fan with a guitar pot.

Has anyone an idea of any better components to control the fan speed??
:confused: :confused:

You need a motor speed control, which is a solid state circuit. I doubt a CPU fan has enough power to use as a winder.

A better choice is to find a used sewing machine at a yard sale or thrift store, and use that motor. They even have a pedal for controlling the speed.

My first winder was made from a sewing machine motor.

Some winders here used a small lathe as a winder.

[mkat]

I found the sewing machine motor and foot pedal to be a great option, and the cheapest. You can find most of the parts at garage sales or flea markets. I'm also working on another machine using a 12V DC motor with a kit motor controller only as a comparison. I finished assembling the kit and it works quite well, the only thing I need to sort out now for this winder is the mechanical stuff.

[Tonebucket]

Can anyone advise me if there are any specfic sewing machine motors better than others Also, what type of bearings and rods should I use to build a winder??

I have found out that cpu fans are not able to spin slowly enough.

[Satamax]

If you're not in a hurry, old turntables can do the trick too :D Or you can get their motors, forget about direct drive, get puley or tangential ones :D I'd say sewing machine is still the best option, and any machine should do as long as you can get to the motor. Ones with a flat flywheel at the back are easier to work with , i've even seen people double stick tape bobins directly to theses :D

[Joe Gwinn]

Sewing machines are best, but really want to spin too fast for winding. A pulley and shaft arrangement with a 4:1 speed ratio (bobbin shaft turns slower than motor shaft) works well.

[Stan H]

I used a variac with my first winder (sewing machine motor) to decrease the voltage to about 40 volts. You can find them on eBay for $40-50 new. Worked great! Other winders have put a bolt in the foot pedal for use as an adjustable "governor" by threading it in deeper or further out. I use a mini lathe now but I sure do miss that foot pedal speed control.

-Stan

[Llanonite]

Made this from a $10 paper shredder, $5 dimmer switch, $1 plastic bushings from Home Depot. The shredder had a micro switch I use to count rotations on the gear work and wired to a cheap calculator I had laying around. It also had a switch for forward and reverse. At full speed in forward I can get almost 800 rpm. However the calculator can only keep up with about 400 rpm or less.
This is my first attempt at winding. I practiced with an on old POS pickup I had laying around. I found that I will need to make some sort of tensioner to keep a constant tension on the wire.
Any recommendations?
:D

[David Schwab]

I found that I will need to make some sort of tensioner to keep a constant tension on the wire.
Any recommendations?
:D

Try this...

[Llanonite]

Try this...

:D Yeah, good idea. But it kept sticking to my fingers and sometimes broke the wire. I thought I'd read somewhere about a sort of felt tensioner.

[David Schwab]

:D Yeah, good idea. But it kept sticking to my fingers and sometimes broke the wire. I thought I'd read somewhere about a sort of felt tensioner.

Put a little baby powder or corn starch on your finger tips.

Yes some winders use a felt tensioner. I use my fingers.

[parentheticalfact]

I've got two winders I've used and both are just vintage recycled items.
The first was adapted from an old movie projector and the second uses many parts from a sony reel to reel recorder.
I imagine you could use a remote control car speed control from a hobby store. Electronic ones usually have a great speed range and have a motor braking function that works by shorting the motor coil.
It just seems that a motor like this should be geared down to have a greater power/lower speed, but even really light gears might be too much for one of these.
Great motors come from sewing machines, large tape recorders, windshield wiper motors, etc.

[parentheticalfact]

I imagine you could use a remote control car speed control from a hobby store. Electronic ones usually have a great speed range and have a motor braking function that works by shorting the motor coil.

This, of course would only work on a DC motor like the kind from a remote controlled car or a dust buster, by the way.

[mojoman]

Hi,

Just thought I would mention that I have employed a motor from a router along with an auto transformer for speed control. This works great due to the fact the motor speed/torque can be readly varied by reducing the input voltage to the motor. I am therefore able to make tight/loose wound pickups without any trouble.

[madialex]

:D Yeah, good idea. But it kept sticking to my fingers and sometimes broke the wire. I thought I'd read somewhere about a sort of felt tensioner.

This is where experience comes in handy...

I use my bare fingers as well, you get a feel for it after a while and you can tell when to loosen up or tighten up but felt is ok for a new winder tensioning by hand, I just never liked it, i cant tell how much tension i'm actually getting with felt.