Almost there -- first winder

[kayakerca]

It is getting pretty close now. Finish installing the wiring for the digital counter (reed switch and small magnet), the tensioner, and add the traverse stops and I think it will be ready to give it a go! The current pulley gearing runs to a max of 1,050 rpm.

Jim. . .

[David Schwab]

Looks good! Nice work!

[kayakerca]

Looks good! Nice work!

Thanks David. Still not quite ready for the first wind. It took me a bit to overcome the fact that I didn't want to "tape" the blank pickup to the plate. I noticed that all the flatware had a hole "dead center" that would accommodate a 4/40 machine screw. So, I drilled a hold in the mounting plate and put a 4/40 machine screw through that was long enough to pass hold the pickup plus the spacer blank over the tops of the Strat staggered magnets that protrude through the top of the top flatware (and still have enough room for a nut to hole it down to the plate). The spacer over the top of the magnets is routed to accommodate the staggered magnets while holding the top flatware of the blank pickup in place. I guess the flatware has a hole in the center to allow it to be mounted on a lather type setup with a tail piece to hold it in place during winding. It will be a bit yet before I am ready to wind my first pickup, so I can't be sure it will work well with the nut and bolt lock down setup. Beauty is, I can just flip the entire jig over to reverse wind a pickup. Only time will tell I guess.

Take Care,

Jim. . .

[David Schwab]

I use double stick foam tape to secure my bobbins. I find that works well, and as long as you check the tape from time to time, I can get about 4-6 winds out of a piece. On the odd occasion that the bobbin drops off, it's a very anticlimactic event. It just goes "plop" and sits there.

I use tape because some of my bobbins are built around a central blade, so I can't secure them with screws.

[kayakerca]

I use double stick foam tape to secure my bobbins. I find that works well, and as long as you check the tape from time to time, I can get about 4-6 winds out of a piece. On the odd occasion that the bobbin drops off, it's a very anticlimactic event. It just goes "plop" and sits there.

I use tape because some of my bobbins are built around a central blade, so I can't secure them with screws.

Since I wanted (on a "just because" basis) to be able to RW with the ground on the inside, I needed to come up with a way to mount a Strat type pickup with the top facing the mounting plate as the magnets prevent you from mounting the top flatware to the spindle plate with tape. So, I cut a piece of hard board the shape of the top of the flatware and routed a section long enough and deep enough to accommodate the Strat magnets that stick out past the top of the flatware. Drilled a hole in the centre and it fit quite nicely over the tops of the magnets and on the top of the flatware for support.

I'm planning to add a transverser based on the Jason Lollar winder book. I am going to add a rehostat to that setup so I can control the speed of the CAM to coordinate with the speed of the winder. I think this should provide a lot of control/precision over the way the winds go on the pickup, either side by side or scattered. I built a little EXCEL spreadsheet that calculates the CAM rpm to coordinate with the winder winding speed taking into account the height of the pickup and the diameter of the wire. So I calculate (as an example) a Strat pickup that is 0.438 high using 42 AWG that is 0.0028 thick with insulation would be 156.4 winds per layer. If you were winding at 1,000 rpm, that would mean 6.39 layers per minute and a corresponding CAM speed of 3.20 rpm to layer the wire evenly. I read in an interview with Jason Lollar that scattering is really even pace but at a faster rate (If I remember, I think he said maybe 4 or 5 times, but I'll have to find it again). Anyway, adjusting the winding to CAM speed ratio's would accommodate that as well, and on the fly if you wanted. Anyway, it will be a bit of time yet before we see if this works or just blows up on me.


Take Care,

Jim. . .