2 P90 questions

[JGundry]

The 319AM is one of the bigger Stevens winders I think. They are cool machines. The ones I have are the smaller fine wire models.

[Bill M]

Here's a couple pics of the Boesch winder. Sorry not the greatest quality pics.



I took the tail stock off for the 3rd pic. It is truly a great winder and so easy to set up.

[JGundry]

Cool winder!

[Bill M]

The 319AM is one of the bigger Stevens winders I think. They are cool machines. The ones I have are the smaller fine wire models.

It's a decent size winder, but still a table top winder with a tail stock. This one goes down to, I think, 46 AWG.

[ken]

Bill,

Your Boesch is a cool winder!

Also, it doesn't use a cam either, for the traverse, like many conventional winders of the time.

If it doesn't use a cam, how does it autotraverse?

Great, now I have winder GAS...

Ken

[David Schwab]

my late 60's ES 330 had black bobbins.

I had an ES-330TD also. It had chrome dogear covers. I can't remember what the bobbins looked like, but I did remove the covers and take a peek.

I remember they were wound about 8K as opposed to the set from the SG I had that were around 9K.

[EDIT]

I'm thinking they were clear though, since they didn't look different from the other set I had. I would have remembered that.

[Bill M]

Bill,

Your Boesch is a cool winder!

If it doesn't use a cam, how does it autotraverse?

Great, now I have winder GAS...

Ken

Ken, It uses a pretty unique system. It's driven by 2 gears, a magnetic clutch, and a spiral cut drive shaft. If I get time I'll pull the cover and take some pics. To sum it up it is an electro/mechanical traverse.

[vibrolux56]

I ordered a soap bar P90 from Gibson sometime after 1976 and before 1978 it was a clear bobbin, the first one I had seen, since all of my guitars were older. It did sound pretty good. JD

[ken]

I had an old school fishing reel like that. The spool and the spiral were geared together so they both turned at the same time. The level wind finger had a pin
on it that rode in a groove in the spiral.

I know how this works with a spool about 2" wide. How does this work if you can change the width of the bobbin?

Ken

[jason lollar]

that spiral cut piece is a cam- its a linear version of the same heart shaped cam in the leesona. All the old mechanical winders use some version of the heart shaped cam- its either on a tube like a fishing reel or it can also be vertically arranged which amounts to a circular piece rotating horizontally so it has a point on one side which waves down to a dip on the other side, no doubt there are other ways to get the same mathmatical result. Norton Associates Engineering: Cam Design and Manufacturing Handbook

INTRODUCTION SHAPES OF SOME

INTRODUCTION

The turns per layer on the leesona is adjustable but it would be a pain in the ass to do eh?
It requires replacing the worm drive and worm wheel- what a bizzarre way to have to do that, there are so many other simple ways to make the turns per layer mechanically adjustable in a far more simple and on the fly way.

[Bill M]

You are correct Jason. In your 2nd link there is a drawing of a cylindrical cam. Mine is about 2 feet long. When it is turning in one direction the traverse moves one way, then when the cam reverses its rotation it draws the traverse the other way.

If you look at the 3rd pic in my post 17, you will see a thin rod at the bottom right side with 2 micro adjust collers. They are what set my traverse distance. Its a well designed piece of heavy duty machinery. I just wish I could find more info. on the company that made it as they seem to no longer exist.

[ken]

Bill, I know how you feel. It seems that Stevens had lost much of the information for their earlier winders before Model 250? so I couldn't find anything for my Model 120M.

Ken

[Bill M]

Ken, I know. I cann't even find another piece of machinery that the company made. All I can find by googling is that they bought a 47 acre parcel of land in an industrial park in Danbury, CT., over 50 years ago and a name, Arthur H. Boesch. I find it very hard to believe that a company who made equipment of this quality just disappeared without a trace. I mean this winder was made to military specs. with out a doubt.

[jonson]

Ken/Bill if youv'e not seen it before , then is this any use. You'll have to sign up to download a copy and should cover a lot of your bits.
Coil Winding

[ken]

Bill,

I can't understand how a company could 'just disappear' like that either. If you're going to buy that much land you must have some big plans indeed.
Maybe they only designed their machines for military use and lost the contract?

Jonson, thank you for the link. That is a textbook written by the Stevens Co. for basic winder operation... and I was looking for it. Thank you much indeed!

Ken