Wan a be luthier

[Chadheckler1]

Somewhere around 500 rpm seems to be my personal sweet spot. Then again I like use fingers to apply the tension...I'm sure you could go much faster with a tensioner. Then again, I am not building a lot of pickups so I figure what's the rush.

[walcen]

Pickup winding question,

From your experience as pickup winders, in which direction is it more desirable to have the bobbin rotating, in relation to the way you're looking at it?

Picking the wire up from the top, or the bottom?
Or does it make no difference as long as the guide is level with the bobbin axle?

regards

Wal

[Dave Kerr]

I have the bobbin mounted to the right of my winder, and the bobbin spins clockwise when viewed from the right side of the winder. This way the wire is laid on the bobbin at the top of the rotation where it's better lit and pretty close to eye level.

[walcen]

Ah yes, lighting is an important factor to consider, thanks Dave.

[RedHouse]

Can anyone tell me how to wire up an optical interrupt switch so I can use it on my pickup winder counter? It's a few bux cheaper than a read switch and more accurate.

regards

Wal

Here is how to hook up a CUB4 to an optical interrupter: http://classicamplification.net/winder/OPTEK-CUB4.pdf

Does anyone know what the fastest recommended winding speed is for pickups?

what's the fastest anyone has wound?

regards to all

Walt

I find a window of between 600 to 1100 RPM a good place to work.

[walcen]

Anyone know how to hook up a sewing machine motor to DC? can you just run a bridge rectifier of the AC outlet?

[RedHouse]

....Anyone know how to hook up a sewing machine motor to DC?...

Is your mains DC voltage?

....can you just run a bridge rectifier of the AC outlet?....

You can but that doesn't "hook up a sewing machine motor to DC"

If you mean plainly hooking up a DC motor to your mains, what is your mains voltage?

If you have 120VAC mains you could run a 170VDC motor from a bridge rectifier and capacitor, if you have 230VAC mains you of course would need a 330VDC motor. Otherwise you would need a step-down transformer to match the DC voltage your motor requires. The AC-to-rectified-DC conversion is roughly calculated as: AC x 1.46 = DC

You know, reviewing the questions developing in this post ....I'm thinking I'm smelling a troll.

[walcen]

Thanks Brad that helps a lot.
No I don't have a DC outlet, I'm just tinkering with this motor, Ive rewired it so it will run forwards and backwards but it runs considerably slower in reverse and as it is universal it should operate better on DC.

The plan is to use it as a coil winder but despite my search efforts I couldn't find information on weather or not I could run a bridge rectifier off the mains or if I needed a step down transformer to achieve the appropriate voltage.

your reply was more than adequate, BUT what do you mean smelling a troll ?

regards

Wal

[RedHouse]

...your reply was more than adequate, BUT what do you mean smelling a troll....

Never mind Wal, it's all good.

[Joe Gwinn]

Anyone know how to hook up a sewing machine motor to DC? Can you just run a bridge rectifier of the AC outlet?

Yes and yes. AC terminals to the AC outlet, DC terminals to the sewing machine motor. It works very well.

What also works very well is a small variac between wall outlet and the AC inputs for the bridge.

The sewing machine motor will turn the same direction regardless of DC polarity fed to the motor.

[walcen]

Another question for the accomplished pick-up winder.

Obviously one can't always mount the bobbin perfectly central to the bobbin plate.

Is vibration an issue at the higher speeds?

Does the machine need to be clamped to a bench?

Or does it just need a heavy base?

Thanks in advance David

regards

Wal

[mkat]

It depends on your design. Mine is not too heavy, but still needs to be secured 'cause it occassionally does move.

[walcen]

V Magnet

Ok I'm gonna go out on a limb here and ask the burning question.

What is a V Magnet? What is meant by the term V Magnet?

Is it any different from any other alnico magnet?

[walcen]

ANYbody?

[LtKojak]

Ok I'm gonna go out on a limb here and ask the burning question.

What is a V Magnet? What is meant by the term V Magnet?

Is it any different from any other alnico magnet?

Where did you get this term? Out of any context it could be difficult to guess.

Maybe it's referred to AlNiCo 5 but expressed in roman numbers? I'm guessing here.

Most used AlNiCo grades:

II is for two (2)
III is for three (3)
IV is for four (4)
V is for five (5)
VI is for six (6)
VIII is for eigth (8)

HTH,