My $25 winder

[black70bird]

Line Winder

This is the line winder that I picked up on eBay. It uses a sewing machine motor with a foot pedal type speed control.

http://music-electronics-forum.com/a...&pictureid=204

http://music-electronics-forum.com/a...&pictureid=203

[David Schwab]

This is the line winder that I picked up on eBay. It uses a sewing machine motor with a foot pedal type speed control.

http://music-electronics-forum.com/a...&pictureid=204

http://music-electronics-forum.com/a...&pictureid=203

That's pretty much what my first winder in the late 70's looked like.... only it wasn't made as well! I didn't have bearings, and it used a rubber band as a belt!

I'm getting ready to retire my Schatten for a new winder I'm building.

Just got the counter the other day. A $600+ counter, for $75 on eBay.

[black70bird]

Good deal

That's pretty much what my first winder in the late 70's looked like.... only it wasn't made as well! I didn't have bearings, and it used a rubber band as a belt!

I'm getting ready to retire my Schatten for a new winder I'm building.

Just got the counter the other day. A $600+ counter, for $75 on eBay.

Nice deal! I am as a matter of fact using a rubberband as a belt right now. I have to come up with some kind of a sensor for the counter and then try it out.

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There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots!

[David Schwab]

Nice deal! I am as a matter of fact using a rubberband as a belt right now. I have to come up with some kind of a sensor for the counter and then try it out.

Here's Leo Fender's old winder... rubber band and all.

[black70bird]

Hello all,

I've been lurking for quite a while and have learned a great deal from you all. I know the topic of 'sewing machine' winders has almost been beat to death, but I had to give it a try.

Not only is this my first post, it's also my first winder. Call it a prototype. I got much of my inspiration from this forum, although the topic is discussed on other sites as well.

I set out to build this winder for as little money as possible (keeps me out of trouble with the wife!). I started with a $3 sewing machine from the Goodwill store. I also bought a $3 set of roller blades at the same store and harvested the radial bearings for use on the winder shaft.

True, it won't go backwards, but we all know that's a simple work-around. The speed control is a dimmer switch from Wallyworld.

The counter was the most expensive component at about $12 from Ebay. Unfortunately, it has a zero-voltage trigger. I would have preferred to use an optical switch for the counter, but a reed switch will have to do the job. The way I mounted the reed switch seems to give me a reliable 1200-1300 rpm's.

All other parts were harvested from the scrap pile in my shop.

The next one will probably use a DC motor and optical switch for the counter, but for now I achieved the goal of building a super-low cost machine.

There's a pic below. I also have a video. I'll post it soon.

Cheers!

I watched the video, very good by the way, but could not identify the trigger switch for the counter. Do you have a photo and a part number for the reed switch you used?

Thanx in advance.

[emoishboy]

Hey, an awesome way to make a counter is to get one of the cheap calculators that you can enter "0+1" and hit enter as many times as you want, having it add one each time you hit the button. You replace the switch behind the enter key with a reed switch which you attach to your winder. It works great.

emoEDIT: woah, quick replies are weird on this site... I'm way too used to UG.

[David King]

Reed switches just aren't reliable above 600 rpm in my estimation. The optical and Hall-effect sensors are. That's all I got to say.

[Joe Gwinn]

Reed switches just aren't reliable above 600 rpm in my estimation. The optical and Hall-effect sensors are. That's all I got to say.

Reed switches are reliable if you know how to use them. The problem is that the obvious approach, a little magnet flying past the switch, yields too small a duty cycle, so the pulse becomes too short for the counter above some speed. Hall-effect sensors and optical sensors also have this issue. If you arrange things so that the duty cycle (on/(off+on) time) is around 50%, all three sensors will work just fine.

The advantage of a reed switch is that it does not require a power source, instead being powered by the counter.

If you can only go to 600 rpm, then the duty cycle is only 10%. If you go to 50%, then max speed will be 3000 rpm.

[matthewvanonselen]

Reed switches are reliable if you know how to use them. The problem is that the obvious approach, a little magnet flying past the switch, yields too small a duty cycle, so the pulse becomes too short for the counter above some speed. Hall-effect sensors and optical sensors also have this issue. If you arrange things so that the duty cycle (on/(off+on) time) is around 50%, all three sensors will work just fine.

The advantage of a reed switch is that it does not require a power source, instead being powered by the counter.

If you can only go to 600 rpm, then the duty cycle is only 10%. If you go to 50%, then max speed will be 3000 rpm.

Joe, please explain how to set the duty cycle for a reed switch to wirk fine like you said.

[walcen]

Hey that's one heck of a pickup winder, I love it. And the idea of using a dimmer switch for a speed control is brilliant, I've been tossing that dilemma around for a while, thanks man.

I was gonna go with the sewing motor but I thought it might be an over kill so I thought about using a motor from a discarded printer, people are always chucking them out and they have good motors in them, usually 12 v dc. strong enough to wind but not too strong to brake wire and if your any good with electronics you can even scrounge the power supply.


As for a counter? I made my own, you can use a cheep $3.00 calculator from the $2.00 shop LoL, or a pedometer from a breakfast serial box

check out John Fisher' web site

Untitled Document

regards

Wal

[Joe Gwinn]

Joe, please explain how to set the duty cycle for a reed switch to work fine like you said.

Easiest way is to have the magnet axis parallel to the axis of rotation, flying between two pieces of mild steel (galvanized steel electric box covers work well). The reed switch is also between the two plates, with axis parallel to the axis of rotation. When the magnet is between the plates, the plates carry the field to the reed switch, which closes. When the magnet is not between the plates, the reed switch opens. If you arrange things so the magnet is between the plates about half the rotation, the duty cycle will be about one half.

If the reed switch lags too much, you may need to cut some radial slits in the plates to control eddy currents. The radial slits all point to where the reed switch is.

This setup can be pretty crudely made and yet work perfectly. The main thing is to not short the magnetic field by using steel between the plates, or to hold the plates.

Make sure that the magnet cannot get loose and hit you in the eye. Careful cleaning with acetone and gluing with silicon rubber adhesive is a good idea.

It's good to balance the rotating assembly, to keep vibration under control.

[David King]

Joe ,
That is indeed a very simple solution. I was looking on line for radial magnets of the type used in small windmill generators but they would be far too heavy and expensive for this. (They might work out well for a magnetizer for AlNiCos though...)

[Joe Gwinn]

Joe ,
That is indeed a very simple solution. I was looking on line for radial magnets of the type used in small windmill generators but they would be far too heavy and expensive for this. (They might work out well for a magnetizer for AlNiCos though...)

Thanks. I didn't quite say it, but the plates are perpendicular to the bobbin's axis of rotation, and the magnet is held in a bar that's perpendicular to the bobbin axle (to which it's fastened) with the magnet in a hole at one end and a slug in a hole at the other end. The bar assembly is mechanically symmetrical, but magnetically unsymmetrical.

[walcen]

Thank you for the counter tip. I got an Omron H7EC-N-B counter for $11.99 on eBay, $5.50 shipping (what a rip).

I hope you enjoy your counter because you probably want find another at that price LOL that particular one retails for $164 + 10% GST in Australia so don't moan about the postage. LLLOL

Happy winding.

regards

Wal

[David Schwab]

Yeah, that's cheap postage. I think I paid like $15 for postage for my counter from eBay!