Optimizing the winding

[12xu]

Doing the factory way is much less fun and rewarding I find, it will save you some time, but gets to be more like work. I'd rather wind, then assemble than wind, wind, wind, build, build, build.

I'm lucky I have strong enough hands to not need a press to load the slug coils, I just use the but end of a screw driver and press as hard as I can. After a few of them, your hands can get pretty sore, but it saves a lot of time. When i sit down to wind, I don't need to get out of my seat for any reason...makes things faster.

My iron stays on for hours at a time and heats up instantly. It's a Hakko 888-d....great bang for the buck station and well worth the money, really nice to use.

[mr fab]

I collect orders for a few days and do them in batches. then I prewire all the base plates in one hit, and then wind the bobbins up, as one is winding I am finishing off the previous one, attaching the lead, wire testing, taping and fitting to the baseplate. by this time the next bobbin is finished and I start the next one winding... and in the meantime I do the same process as before. once both bobbins are on, I finish it off by terminating the wires and attach the cover if needed.

because I work at the winding bench I can also keep an eye of the winding process.

I rarely just sit there and watch the bobbins wind continuously.

[kayakerca]

And now i've learned that this is absolutely true. Fixing the shipping takes so much longer than i would ever have guessed.

That's just another one of the pluses of being a boutique winder that only winds for musicians local to the are in which I live. I don't ship. I'm just a small guy that wants to remain a small guy. Fortunately the area I live in has a population of ~ 1,200,000.

Now if Mark H decides to scale up and put me out of business I may have a lot of pickup parts being listed in the new "Pickup Parts, For Sell or Trade? " thread.

[12xu]

I rarely just sit there and watch the bobbins wind continuously.

That would be a massive time saver.

I've got to rig up a tensioner of some kind that I can trust.

I don't trust anything but my fingers for tensioning an unpotted pickup....it might be silly of me to think that, but that's my biggest fear, sending a set out and having them squeal. I've been on the other end of that scenario. Put in a new set of pickups, re-string the guitar, get excited about a new piece of gear and then have to deal with microphonics...just puts a damper on things.

[big_teee]

It might be silly of me to think that, but that's my biggest fear, sending a set out and having them squeal. I've been on the other end of that scenario. Put in a new set of pickups, re-string the guitar, get excited about a new piece of gear and then have to deal with microphonics...just puts a damper on things.

That's why I wax pot every pickup that leaves my shop!
T

[spichael]

That's why I wax pot every pickup that leaves my shop!
T

Yeah wax potting or any kind of potting is always a good measure! we use the standard parifin Bee's wax mixture but would love to try some different potting techniques

[12xu]

I prefer the sound of unpotted pickups. If I'm patient, I can lay the wire on well enough to keep the squeals away. I have to wind a little slower to do it or I end up winding too tight..its a fine line. It's a bit of a wash time wise, wind slower vs having the extra steps in potting.

I use a dab of clear silicone on the slug coil to dampen the cover. It will come off if someone ever wanted to swap covers or go with exposed coils and helps a lot with microphonics from the covers. I use a clamp when I solder the covers on and usually wait for the silicone to set before I take it off.

I had a customer tell me recently he could stand in front of his dimed half stack without any squealing...so, it works.

[mr fab]

most customers like my unpotted humbucker pickups. I wind slowly and I don't think it really takes more time overall, as it takes longer to assemble than to wind.

I too damp the covers, but use a special double sided tape to stop the covers squealing. works a treat.

even in my own personal guitars I use them unpotted and have had no problems with uncontrolled feedback as gig volume levels.

all my singles are potted however as they are more prone to microphonics, through pickguards . the pickguard acts as a sound board on fender guitars. and changing the material changes the tone. I recently changed to a aluminium one and the sound changed.

[DialtonePickups]

I agree with the couple others on here who have said that focusing on one task at a time and doing things in batches is a huge time saver.

Every movement you make takes time, so find ways to minimize movement. It seems a little crazy, but have all of your components in the most efficient spots. If you have to reach across the table over and over to grab something, it's going to take a lot longer and distract you more than having it right next to whatever you're doing.

To give you an idea - we hand-solder capacitors/resistors/etc. onto our circuit boards. If I make a couple at a time and am careless about how I'm doing it, it can easily take me an hour. If I'm really calculated about where I set the parts and do them in batches, I can get 10-12 done in the same amount of time - about an hour. So 5 minutes per board versus 30 by planning just a little better.

Our winder is next to the kitchen and I usually wind coils throughout the day. I might fit 1-2 bobbins in during breakfast, and 3-4 more throughout the day. When it's working, our winder (a mini CNC) has auto-traverse and a tensioner, so winding them is a matter of starting, removing, and replacing bobbins. I tape the coils there, but solder later.

I also agree with others - customer service, shipping, inventory, paperwork, etc. is almost more time consuming than the building part.

[spichael]

I couldn't have said it better dialatone! having all the proper tool's and a CNC winder makes building fly by! And batches do push you to perform a lot more efficiently!!

[Joe Gwinn]

Mise en place

Think of it as cooking: Mise en place - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia