Humbucker Construction Tips - help needed

[kayakerca]

Minimum Wage?
I don't think I've ever made Near that Much!
On the free hand soldering?
I have 2 of these.
Makes life much easier.
Aligator clip vise.
The base is not large enough, and I super glue the small vise base to a 1/4" x 4 inch square piece of steel plate, for stability.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26667[/ATTACH]

T

I also put small pieces of leather on the inside of the jaws of the alligator clips so I don't damage the wire in any way.

[big_teee]

Jason's Screwdriver is a bit pricy.
I like the small cordless drills with clutches for electric screwdrivers.
I do like bosch and dewalt.
a lot more economical and cordless.
I have a 12v bosch I use for assembly.
T

[Joe Gwinn]

Jason's Screwdriver is a bit pricy.
Not a Harbor freight $29 special like I buy!
Won't find any of those here on my bench.
I like the small cordless drills with clutches for electric screwdrivers.
I do like bosch and dewalt.
a lot more economical and cordless.
I have a 12v bosch I use for assembly.
T

Jason is giving good advice.

The precision torque control is very useful, because it allows one to just drive the screws without needing to be careful. Careful means slow.

The standard way to approach such questions is to figure out how much time and scrap/rework the tool saves, convert from time into dollars, and figure out how long it will take the tool to save its purchase price. If the period is less than a year or two, buy that tool -- it will make you money.

And remember that the money is usually in the boring stuff.

[big_teee]

Jason is giving good advice.

The precision torque control is very useful, because it allows one to just drive the screws without needing to be careful. Careful means slow.

The standard way to approach such questions is to figure out how much time and scrap/rework the tool saves, convert from time into dollars, and figure out how long it will take the tool to save its purchase price. If the period is less than a year or two, buy that tool -- it will make you money.

And remember that the money is usually in the boring stuff.

Agreed, That particular tool is good advice if you are going into professional assembly line production.
Not in the scope IMO of Beginner/Hobbyist type pickup building, where most of us do things on a wing and a prayer.
If we are talking about large production type business, then perhaps, I need to move this thread to the other forum?
I just wanted to keep things in perspective that the same accomplishment can be made on a much smaller budget, with cordless hand tools.
I use an older version of this one.
You can drill holes with it, set screws, even run the tap for pole screws.
http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-PS31-2A-.../dp/B003BEE2LU
Here's some more.
Examples, just to show a few.
http://www.autobodynow.com/products/...FY1FMgodzjUAEQ
http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/to...FcpDMgodECQAXA

[kayakerca]

Agreed, That particular tool is good advice if you are going into professional assembly line production.
Not in the scope IMO of Beginner/Hobbyist type pickup building, where most of us do things on a wing and a prayer.
If we are talking about large production type business, then perhaps, I need to move this thread to the other forum?
I just wanted to keep things in perspective that the same accomplishment can be made on a much smaller budget, with cordless hand tools.

Completely agree with Terry's comments. In a different life when I was rebuilding dishwasher pumps at Westinghouse back in the mid '70's, I had a pneumatic driver handing from a spring line 10" in front of my face. It was a beautiful tool to work with. But that's just one more thing from a very long list of things that separates the Big Boys from we Beginner/Hobbyist and newbie types. And rightly so. . .

[Joe Gwinn]

Agreed, That particular tool is good advice if you are going into professional assembly line production.
Not in the scope IMO of Beginner/Hobbyist type pickup building, where most of us do things on a wing and a prayer.
If we are talking about large production type business, then perhaps, I need to move this thread to the other forum?
I just wanted to keep things in perspective that the same accomplishment can be made on a much smaller budget, with cordless hand tools.

The calculation always applies. In this case, the payback period is too long.

I use an older version of this one.
You can drill holes with it, set screws, even run the tap for pole screws.
Bosch PS31-2A 12-Volt Max Lithium-Ion 3/8-Inch 2-Speed Drill/Driver Kit with 2 Batteries, Charger and Case - Amazon.com

I have one of those too. very useful. But not the best for drilling things where an accurate and reasonably perpendicular hole is required. Here, even a cheap Chinese drill press will run circles around anything handheld.

Here's some more.
Examples, just to show a few.
Milwaukee M12 12V 12 Volt Cordless Compact Screwdriver Drill 2401-20 | Autobodynow.com

Way too heavy?

Drills, Drivers, & Bits | Screwdrivers-Cordless | DEWALT® DW920K2 7.2V 1/4" 2-Position Screwdriver Kit | 534214 - GlobalIndustrial.com

That's more like it.

[big_teee]

Joe:
Think Hobby! Think beginner! Think making myself a pickup for my Import.
Think working on a small card table, think working in a corner of the bedroom.
So we all don't do large business orders when making pickups.
I do love small drill presses.
I have one I use often. (Mainly to drill out humbucker screw bobbins to slug bobbins)
But, for every hole I drill with a drill press, I drill 20 with the cordless.
Don't forget the versatility of the keyless chuck.
It speeds up life.
I use my cordless to take a partscaster apart in minutes.
With a magnetic screwdrive attacment, you just plug and play with all the different tips.
Anyway, buy what you want to, that fits your needs, in whatever your budget is!
Peace and Tone B/H Members.
BTW, the weight of the bosch 12 cordless is just right IMO for a all in one cordless tool.
T

[copperheadroads]

you could knock a huge chunk of time using a faster machine- it should only take 3 to 5 minutes to wind a humbucker coil hand guided. If set up time is appreciable- it should take 5 minutes or less to set the machine but if it takes longer dedicate a machine to it and dont change it.
Soldering shouldnt take more that a few minutes per joint- keep practicing. Assembly- same thing, use a power driver. You can buy drivers that will torque down to almost nothing Ingersoll Rand ES60P From Flexible Assembly Systems Inc
you can find these used with power supply for 100 to 200 dollars if you look- you can set them so low they will never strip a brass wood screw out of the bucker.
Other than that practice, pratice- if it was as easy as people say that have never actually made pickups there would be a zillion guys making a living at it.
Antother thing to consider is would you really want to do that all day long every day?- it takes a certain type of attitude not to get bored out of your skull and to keep quality up to 100% of your level and production time at your minimum- whatever that number is.

Great advice Jason
I use power screwdrivers of my assembly of humbuckers but I still tighten my brass bobbin screws by hand .A torque controlled screwdriver may be just what I need for the assembley.
I don't wind fast but I have taken my prototype humbuckers out of my tester guitar & removerd the wire & rewound them & had them installed & playing them again in under an half hour .

[Joe Gwinn]

Joe:
Think Hobby! Think beginner! Think making myself a pickup for my Import.
Think working on a small card table, think working in a corner of the bedroom.
So we all don't do large business orders when making pickups.

But we're hoping you grow into an industrial power, the kind everybody complains about. Vertically integrated to the point that you make your own sheet steel and copper wire.

I do love small drill presses.
I have one I use often. (Mainly to drill out humbucker screw bobbins to slug bobbins)
But, for every hole I drill with a drill press, I drill 20 with the cordless.
Don't forget the versatility of the keyless chuck. It speeds up life.

One can get keyless chucks for drill presses, but they are not cheap if they are good enough. Rohm is a good brand. Albrecht is the standard, but will likely cost more than the drill press.

But I ended up using a good ball-bearing jacobs chuck, to prevent the drill from slipping in the chuck when drilling large holes in mild steel.

I use my cordless to take a partscaster apart in minutes.
With a magnetic screwdriver attachment, you just plug and play with all the different tips.
Anyway, buy what you want to, that fits your needs, in whatever your budget is!
Peace and Tone B/H Members.
BTW, the weight of the bosch 12 cordless is just right IMO for a all in one cordless tool.
T

Vertically integrated, with the smokestacks to prove it.

[big_teee]

I hope everyone gets the Pickup tools and test sets they want for Xmas.
T

[copperheadroads]

I hope everyone gets the Pickup tools and test sets they want for Xmas.
T

oNLY if pickup tools are guitars/amps /pedals/speakers ........that kind of stuff ....

[big_teee]

oNLY if pickup tools are guitars/amps /pedals/speakers ........that kind of stuff ....

I agree!
The test set I like is a Les Paul, and a Marshall Amp.
After building 2 scratch build amps, I like amp building as much as anything.
They cost too much to sell many, so I'll keep making Pickups, when someone wants them.
T

[David Schwab]

Hi Guys,

I've made a small number of humbuckers, but I just can't seem to make/construct them in a timeframe that would make it economically viable for me to produce.

For a pair

- The winding of the bobbins and set up of the winder takes almost an hour.
- Soldering of the start/end leads to the coils - which I am very anxious about, as I need to sand (?) the PE coating off - takes an hour
- Wax Potting - 20 mins
- Construction/Assembly an hour or more

So, I'm running around 3.5 to 4 hours per set. Surely this has to be way way longer than it should take.

Any tips (particularly with the start/end leads) gratefully accepted

Thanks
Steve

That's way too slow.

I think you just need to practice at it. It takes me less than 10 minutes to wind and wire up a bobbin. You do not need to sand off the insulation on the magnet wire. Just set your iron hot enough. Mine is set about 380°C.

I start off with a bunch of black and white hookup wires, with the ends stripped and tinned. I cut each about 2.25" long. I put a white one in a helping hands clip, and wrap the magnet wire around the tinned end about 10 times. Then I solder it and hold the tip on it about 6 seconds. When I see the insulation on the hookup wire getting soft I know I got it hot enough. I stick that through a hole I drill in the bobbin, and secure it with a small piece of 1/8" wide masking tape. The I wrap five turns by hand, and secure it to the winder.

I use either double stick foam tape, or a small fixture I made that holds bobbins on with a screw. Then I wind. I go as fast as I can while still making a neat coil. Usually takes less than 10 minutes. I remove the bobbin, wrap the wire around a black hookup wire the same was as the start, solder it, and pull off the wire going to the spool, and check it on my meter. If it's good (and 99% of the time it is), I wrap some masking taper on the bobbin so that the finish solder connection sits on the tape, and then I lay it flat and tape over it and around the bobbin. I think mark the tape with a Sharpie so I know if its a neck or bridge coil, or other info, put a rubber band around it and into the wax for 10 minutes. Then I start on the next coil. I just keep doing that until I have all the coils wound I'm wokring on.

Humbuckers are fidgety to assemble, but once again it takes me about 10-15 minutes tops. That's because I'm doing it all day long.

You just have to practice dong it, and don't get anxious. It's only a pickup.

[big_teee]

So how long is it taking now?
T