The £31 scrapheap CNC winder challenge

[peskywinnets]

My employers are throwing out a couple of very old DEC dot matrix printers from their stores like this - (http://www.wickensonline.co.uk/rc201...75plus-top.jpg )...which got me thinking "These puppies would be idea candidates for a really ugly but reasonably functional CNC pickup winder"

This old (very well made) printer already a decent stepper motor that moves the (belt driven) carriage back/forward ....so if I mount the main winding motor onto that - & then feed the copper wire onto the pickup from where the paper would normally feed in, then I've gots me the makings of a very cheap CNC winder!

The printer carriage drive belt 'gears' the stepper 'distance travelled per step' movement up a bit, so its present per step resolution would appear to be too large for pickup winding, but if I gear it back down with a 1/16th microstepping driver it ought to be ok)

To this end, I've just ordered a stepper motor driver from our friends in China for £31 delivered.

Expect to see possibly the ugliest winder you'll ever set eyes on - but it makes a change from sewing machine winders!

Stuff also needed...

Main winding motor - like I say they're chucking out a couple...so I'll use one of the carriage steppers as a main winding motor too.

Driver board PSU - for the intended purpose (a relatively light load) any dodgy old PSU will do (I have some chunky CCTV PSUs somewhe re or other - I'll use one of those)

CNC sw - Mach3 demo will suffice.

[NB70]

I think this is waiting to be hacked into a small (and probably slow) CNC winder
Link: egg-bot

[big_teee]

I think this is waiting to be hacked into a small (and probably slow) CNC winder
Link: egg-bot

That looks Cool, I never knew there was, or heard of an Egg Bot!
Let us know how it turns out?
T

[peskywinnets]

If pickup winding machines looked like popstars, this one will be Amy Winehouse...

[belwar]

If pickup winding machines looked like popstars, this one will be Amy Winehouse...

[copperheadroads]

BURRRRRRRRRRR

[big_teee]

If pickup winding machines looked like popstars, this one will be Amy Winehouse...

Looks like Telephone office Printers.
I've worked on several look a lot like that.
Terry

[David Schwab]

Or...



That printer looks like more work than it's worth. But I'm curious to see what you end up with.

[peskywinnets]

Alas, I think this (in its present form), may not get any further than this stage.

Those two black drive cogs at either end of the carriage belt - essentially, the stepper is being geared up by those - their circumferences are about 55mm - therefore a 200 resolution step motor, yields 0.275mm of travel per step .....pretty poor en you consider pickup wire is about 0.065mm in diameter! Normally steppers are geared down...ok, so I can likely wrestle some resolution resolck with microstepping, but I'm now thinking here just to rip the parts out & start from scratch!

Oh BTW - Amy I see her in our locality a bit (she's North London girl) ...she was born & raised in the suburb I now live.....she's aesthetically challenged in the flesh too.

[peskywinnets]

Ok, mission abort on the £31 CNC winder challenge - not enough resolution on the belt driven carriage .....*but*, there is enough resolution to build a pickup 'blade cutter' ...my reasoning for going to all this hassle is that short of getting stuff laser cut (not cheap), not many steel retailer seem to be able to cut steel blades in the small depths I seek. So - after judiscious use of a hacksaw (to cut the dot matix printer chassis down to size), & staying true to the original Amy Winehouse vibe, I give you the £5 pickup blade cutter (the £5 being for the allegro Stepper IC I'll use with it!)

[ckngumbo]

VERY Clever! Just needs a mole on its' lip.

[Danelectron]

If pickup winding machines looked like popstars, this one will be Amy Winehouse...

Hilarius.

Good idea for a winder.