god that takes me back, I'm glad I don't use that thing anymore. I never got the cam to work very well and lost patience with it real fast. I became the "human cam" dude and just moved the wire guide back and forth by hand. I gave one away and still have one I want to make into an unwinder. My other one is still in use by Bill Chapin a luthier buddy who's house blew up and burned.....
My father and me built something similar some times ago..we still have it.
a drill turns and its speed change thanks to a current transformer, then a windshield wiper makes the edge for the bobbin and a counter of a video tape recorder show us the turns.. the wires uptighted by fingers naturally..
it was the beginning of my madness .. only to assemble the parts ..
I am interested to see what that goes for, thanks for posting that.
"I never got the cam to work very well and lost patience with it real fast."
Shit dave when have you ever had any patience?
The whole point of that type of handmade cam is that it doesnt wind a perfect coil- you have to baby sit it from time to time and even up the results by hand- I still use those and I have one that has wound tens of thousands of pickups- there is a shiny spot in the concrete floor I wore standing in one spot running that particular winder. All I have had to replace is the contact switch for the counter.
Believe me you have to have ALOT of patience to move that wire guide rod back and forth and back and forth.....about two years worth.
the problem really is that coming from being a total beginner, one doesn't have a clue how the cam should really be working and how to work around it. It worked ok first time I tried it, then it started building up wire on the ends and not in the middle; its real hard to adjust in tiny increments and thats where I lost it. I did work with it a couple weeks before ripping it off and flinging skywards. then I hooked a bicycle derailleur cable to the rod, that made it a little easier.....
Hi Jason. Glad you caught the post. I thought it was real interesting but was not sure if it was yours. Some cool reflections from the other posters as well.
I'm not experienced in pickup winding although I have disassembled many. Between my buddy and I we have been through many combinations of pickups both boutique and originals as well as plenty of magnet swaps while looking for the desired tone. I have a lot of interest in learning more and will probably try winding sometime down the road. Right now amp builds and mods / repairs have been keeping me busy. I know so far my best results have been with some average pickups and old rough cast magnets. There's something special there.
I am interested to see what that goes for, thanks for posting that.
"I never got the cam to work very well and lost patience with it real fast."
Shit dave when have you ever had any patience?
The whole point of that type of handmade cam is that it doesnt wind a perfect coil- you have to baby sit it from time to time and even up the results by hand- I still use those and I have one that has wound tens of thousands of pickups- there is a shiny spot in the concrete floor I wore standing in one spot running that particular winder. All I have had to replace is the contact switch for the counter.
Jason, I got my cams working pretty good just by taking those heart shaped ones and notching in some places but on some coils the regular heart worked fine. I think I use the down counter from Australia that you used and with that I could wind a few coils by starting and walking away. It's been a great winder for me.
sure you can get them to work very well which only a few people have been able to do as far as I have heard and you can do some odd things with those heart shaped cams so it will go a little faster across one way than the other for one thing
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