Gonna buy a Pickup Winder

[mick]

Yes I use a drill , it's reversable , has speed control and will be cheap and easy to replace when it finally shits itself , I had some things made up so I can screw the bobbins to it and then mount it in the drill .
You can get out of the DIY stuff Spence but they get smart ( well as close to it as they can ) in the end and buy you one for christmas/birthdays etc ...yes dear I would love to put up the towel rail but as you know the drill can't be moved since I got it all squared and levelled etc , what's that ? a christmas pressy , wow what could it be , hmm looks like it's a ' it's a..................new drill , why thanks ( geez now I'm really busy.......... :-(

Mick

[Calavera]

Thank you for all the answers!

But I'm going to buy a winder, so I'd appreciate if you'd stick to the topic!

Cheers!

[mick]

Go buy one then , and see if they can sell you a sense of humour while you are there.
Mick

[Spence]

Thank you for all the answers!

But I'm going to buy a winder, so I'd appreciate if you'd stick to the topic!

Cheers!

Lighten up buddy or you'll find you're in for a rough ride around here.

[Calavera]

Lighten up buddy or you'll find you're in for a rough ride around here.

Because I want to buy a winder?

[Spence]

No, not because you want to buy a winder. You may start a thread but the rest of us who's advice you're asking have the right to wander off course if we like. that's why it's called a 'thread'. We also have the right to be light-hearted.
Go and buy a winder; that's fine. Remeber though, we're not responsible for a bad purchase when we've already talked about the pitfalls of the Schatten winder. So long as you know the limitations and design faults and can work around them, you'll be fine.

[Joe Gwinn]

For a decent dc motor and speed control a dead portable drill ought to work just fine. I have a $29 Ryobi with dead NiCads that's ready and willing, The VS trigger switch has reversing and built in breaking. You can't beat that. There are thousands of AC-DC supplies left over from old printers, cd burners, tape drives piled on shelves in every Good Will store. Have at them!

I bought new ball-bearing motors from Globe Motors for $36 each. It turned out that plain-bearing motors had a little too much drag and side-load on the bearing when loaded by the toothed-belt pulley. The only real disadvantage was the 12-14 week wait while they built the motors - Globe has many variations in their catalog, most of which are built only when ordered. I got two motors (one to spin the bobbin, the other to someday power the traverse), but Globe would have let me buy just one.

If anyone cares, the motors I used are Globe model 405A6109-2, 12 volt DC (although I often take it up to 24 volts). The motor body is 1" diameter by 1.125" long, with a 0.125" diameter by 0.5" shaft sticking out of one end.

This is in the "IM-13" series of DC industrial motors: http://www.globe-motors.com/fullline.html

If you want the next largest motor of the same kind, use something from the IM-15 series. When I designed my winder, I made sure that an IM-15 motor would fit, just in case. It has not proved necessary so far, but a more complex winder will have greater mechanical losses, necessitating a larger motor.

I didn't bother with breaking, as I'm driving the motot from a low-impedance power supply, but all DC motors can be breaked by connecting a resistor across the leads.

[Pep]

DAMN IT! Stick to the TOPIC!!!

<grin> lol

[mick]

Of course..

What was it again???????? ( jeez I'm getting old )

Mick ( I think )

[lowell]

nice pic Spence!

[SK66]

What's a decent Tanac or other commercial winder going for now? Maybe $4,000 starting? Shat winder is probably the only "inexpensive" off the shelf option which is why they can overcharge for it.
If you make your own you will likely end up with a better winder for less. (I'd recommend the lathe design). If you just don't have the time spend on it, that's understandable. If you don't "want" to spend the time on it, or it's "too much hassle" or anything similar...then you probably don't have the hobby/experimental/enthusiast drive that's going to get you beyond your first dozen disasters in winding either....think about it.

[David Schwab]

The Scahtten is way overpriced for what it's made from... but I assume you are paying for labor. It's all hand made, and probably by Les Shatten himself.

Comparing it to the Tanac does put it into perspective though.

But for the same price as the Scatten you can get semi pro wood working tools that are made much better, which is my complaint with the thing. Some of it is rather crude.

I agree a lathe based winder is the way to go. In my case I had no time or space to make a winder, so the Schatten has been good, but it's days are growing to a close... it's easy to outgrow.

[Dr. Guitar]

As of now, I am a #1 professional luthier, and #2 amature pickup winder. I bought the Schatten because I have other more important projects on my plate at the same time. It works great for it's design, a bit pricey, but spared me a ton of time in getting started with pickups. I have done a lot of moddifications to it since i bought it. And now, if i made one from scratch, this ended up being a handy purchase, due to the knowledge I gained from working with it.

If you can find a used one, I recommend that. From Stew Mac, if you're in a bind and need something now.

[Spence]

It's very easy to get in too deep with winding machines.
Essentially you'll get more satisfaction from the machine you made yourself but if you don't have the time, the design or the desire the Schatten winder is the best bit of kit you can get.

[Scott S.]

I am using the Schatten, as discussed some parts of it look a little cheesy, but in practice, it works well for low production winding.

The price does seem high, but you order it, plug it in, and you are winding!!!

If it was $350 and did not work well I would have a beef, but after using it a while I am quite happy with the purchase.