Well, what do you think?...

[Rancour]

Here's my winder set up. Uses a fishing reel from the 50's. what do you guys think?


My only problem with it is...The surface the bobbin is going to go on, isn't completely true, will I run into any problems?

[rdrr]

Looking at the first pic there looks like a pretty sever angle to block attached to the reel , which will most likely cause all kinds of lopsided winding patterns.

[Rancour]

I noticed that after taking the picks, it was the reel on the board, so I straightened that out, but the block on the wheel wobbles a bit. Will that effect anything? I'm most likely going to be hand winding, couldn't I just guide the wire one way or the other if it starts getting lopsided?

[big_teee]

Everything being straight and true is very important to get a straight level bobbin wind.
Just a little bit untrue makes it lopsided on the ends.
Have You thought about using some form of drill.
I've made a lot of good pickups with a Dewalt Cordless Drill.
I made a jig to hold the drill and a drill activator to start and speed up the drill.
Once you start winding you will see what problems your going to have.
Good Luck,
Terry

[Danelectron]

Very green. Hope it works.

[Rancour]

Everything being straight and true is very important to get a straight level bobbin wind.
Just a little bit untrue makes it lopsided on the ends.
Have You thought about using some form of drill.
I've made a lot of good pickups with a Dewalt Cordless Drill.
I made a jig to hold the drill and a drill activator to start and speed up the drill.
Once you start winding you will see what problems your going to have.
Good Luck,
Terry

Thanks for the input Terry
I'm only a beginner, so any input at all from any body who knows what there doing is appreciated. I thought about using a drill, but thought it would be too complicated, where can I get one of these activators?

[Rancour]

Very green. Hope it works.

Thanks Me too

I really want it to work lol, I've been waiting so long to dive into this hobby, and I finally did.

[rdrr]

You can probably use a router speed control for the drill activator that Terry is talking about. Router Speed Control

[Danelectron]

where can I get one of these activators?

I don't know, but most drills have a trigger cover that can be removed and the leads can be pulled out and wired to a variable control (pot) in place of the trigger. You can even use a pedal control. If you do this with a 120 volt drill, you will want to make sure to well insulate all connections.

[big_teee]

Thanks for the input Terry
I'm only a beginner, so any input at all from any body who knows what there doing is appreciated. I thought about using a drill, but thought it would be too complicated, where can I get one of these activators?

Activator! lol
Is a fancy name for a bolt threaded through a bar that I turn to put tension on the trigger of the drill.
I may have to take a few snapshots of my primitive setup.
It really works pretty slick.
Definitely not the fancy winder most of the guys have been making lately.
Good Luck,
Terry

[Danelectron]

Definitely not the fancy winder most of the guys have been making lately.

Do I detect a note of jelousy?

[rdrr]

Definitely not the fancy winder most of the guys have been making lately.

I wind with my pinky sticking out too

Rob

[big_teee]

Do I detect a note of jelousy?

You bet!
No, I'm just lazy.
I should have already built one.
I'm waiting on you guys to get everything perfected, so my job will be easy!
T

[Rancour]

Thanks for all the tips guys I'll give this thing a spin, then if I'm not happy I'll go the drill route

[mondo]

I would put the limiter as close to the bobbin as possible. You will have much better control over the windings.
otherwise the wire will go wherever it wants to.

[Rancour]

I would put the limiter as close to the bobbin as possible. You will have much better control over the windings.
otherwise the wire will go wherever it wants to.

I'll have to work on this thing lol, thats my next improvement, thanks man.

[copperheadroads]

The farther away the limiter is from the bobbin , The greater the distance you will need to guide your wire from side to side

[Rancour]

Well, I tried it out, and wound my first coil...It failed lol. Back to the drawing board.

[Danelectron]

I'm curious, what failed? The coil? open or shorted? Or did the winder malfunction? What kind of pickup/coil were you attempting? How did the winder function? Was the ergonomics of it OK? I imagine the RPMs of the hand crank are low enough that you have time to monitor the layers pretty closely. It's cool you, at least, got it up and running! What do you think of that fine wire? Hang in there. It's a challenge, but it gets better the more you get used to handling the wire. Later, Dan

[Rancour]

Well, I think what failed was, the fact that the wire broke, so I tied it and then soldered it, but I don't think the poly coating melted, so the wire didn't contact with each other. th ergonomics were OK, and the speed was slow enough for me to monitor, my only complaint is that I should move the limiter closer so that I don't have to go too far to each side, nearing about 3500-4500 wraps, the wire constantly wrapped it self around the flat work of the bobbin. I was winding up a Stew mac humbucker kit. I was proud of my self for getting it going though. The fine wire was a little awkward at first but I'm starting to get used to it. For my next winder I think ill permanently screw a variable speed drill to my bench, take out the battery pack, and make a power supply so that I can plug it in, and mount it. My other complaint is that when I soldered the 42 gauge wire to my 28 gauge lead wire, I stuck it through the "square in a hole" from the inside of the bobbin, and left 1" inside, and creased it so that it laid flat, but that made a bulge, and made my coil lumpy looking, any way to remedy this so I don't get lumpy coils? I was thinking of soldering the lead wires on last. What do you guys do?

[copperheadroads]

Using that wire through the square hole is a pain in the ass & takes too much time
i just tape my start wire to my faceplate of my winder & dont use the Square hole
I so it the same way Duncan pickups done (im not sure about the Ant's)
.Solder both wires after you wind them

[Danelectron]

What do you guys do?

I've tried a couple of things. The first and a few others I soldered the lead onto the 42(or whatever) gauge and form a small bend that conforms with the curve in the bobbin and I've gotten the start to lay down nicely. I do get a bit nervous when the wraps start to lay over the solder joint though. I've tried taping the solder joint down, but sometimes end up with more bulk in the coil because of that. I've tried laying the start lead against the opposite side of where I run it out and let the layers pin down the lead all the way across. That makes a more uniform ridge across the bobbin. All in all, these methods have all worked fine. Lately, I've been winding a dual type humbucker where I tap a finish lead off and layer more over the top to another finish lead and wire them to a switch so I have a more or less standard output and a high output. For these I slice the square hole straight out of the edge so I can just lay the tap into the "slot".

Yeah, on the wire guide issue, Copperheadroads said it. I have my guide within maybe an inch of the bobbin and have the edge of the guide flush with the inside edge of the bobbin. They are adjustable for different dimensions of setups. It sucks trying to unwind a bunch of tangles that wrap over the edge. And with a motorized machine, the sh*t hits the fan pretty fast and hard and takes a while to back it off. I've had my fair share of open coils too, but they get further between all the time. Take care, Dan

[David Schwab]

I solder the wire to the start lead and then tape it against the inside of the bobbin, bend the wire out one end, and wind over it. I don't use the holes.

I've tried soldering the leads after it is wound, and I always broke the magnet wire.

[rdrr]

David and Dan, are you winding over the insulated pickup lead and just bringing that over to the outside of the bobbin? I guess that would mean your taping the lead to the outside of the bobbin as well while winding? Any chance you have a pic of that, I'm pretty sure I know what your doing but sometime a visual is a bit easier to tell.

Rob

[Danelectron]

rdrr, Yes, I do use the hole to bring the lead out, then tape it to the outside to keep it from flailing about. My digital camera took a powder.

[davos]

I used to drill a hole in the bottom of the bobbin and poke a bit of wire through that and tape it to the inside edge of the bobbin. Then I would try to get bulk built up next to that when winding it otherwise the wire can snag on it and snap. These days I just solder on my jumper leads after I've wound it. Like people said, they can snap but that only happens to 1 in every 20 or so I do and the hassle it saves me makes up for having to rewind a bobbin from time to time.

[David Schwab]

David and Dan, are you winding over the insulated pickup lead and just bringing that over to the outside of the bobbin? I guess that would mean your taping the lead to the outside of the bobbin as well while winding? Any chance you have a pic of that, I'm pretty sure I know what your doing but sometime a visual is a bit easier to tell.

Rob

I solder the magnet wire to the insulated lead wire, and then I tape that wire to the inside of the bobbin and let the end poke out. If the free end flaps around too much I tape it to the outside. This does produce a slight bulge, but it's never been an issue, and you can't even see it after the coil is wound. After I'd done winding, I solder the end to an insulated lead and tape the solder joint and tape it to the outside of the coil.