Build your own counter

[BillScheltema]

Hey guys,

While I was surfing the net I found this store (local to me) in Cambridge, ON called Sayal, and they have counter kits.
Since there seems to be alot of questions about counter (I should know) I thought I would post the link to 2 kits.

UP/DOWN COUNTER-MULTIFUNCTIONAL
4 DIGIT UP/DOWN COUNTER

Bill Scheltema

[jonson]

The 4 digit up/down one is the Australian Ozitronics kit and can be found cheaper elsewhere. I got one and found it very hit and miss so went back to my reliable mechanical counters which are spot on everytime.

[Bruce Johnson]

I have to agree with jonson. I don't get what the fascination is with electronic counters. A plain old mechanical counter is cheaper, simpler to install, and absolutely reliable. If you're building a fully automated CNC-driven machine, then the electronic pulses and counting is needed (although adding a mechanical counter as a backup is still a good idea). But for hand feed or cam-driven winders, why make things more complicated than they need to be?

[Musiclogic]

so Bruce, which mechanical counter would you suggest?

[Bruce Johnson]

What you want is called a Rotating Shaft Mechanical Counter, with 4 or 5 digits, and resettable. Here's some examples from McMasters:
McMaster-Carr
Look partway down the page under Rotating Shaft Counters. Item number 1697T23 is probably the one you want. It's 5 digits, CCW rotation, and good for 10,000 rpm. That's exactly the one that I have on my winder. You can also get them in CW rotation or both (counts up one way and down the other). New, from a place like McMasters it's $57, but you see them all the time on ebay and in surplus shops. I recently bought another one on ebay for $12. The key is that it has to be a Rotating Shaft counter, not a Lever Actuated counter. You can see the Lever Actuated counters at the top of the page. These will not work for a winder.

How you mount and drive the counter will depend on how you've built your winder. If you're belt driving your spindle from the motor and the back end of the spindle is available, then you can couple up the counter directly to the back end of the spindle shaft. If not, you can belt drive the counter with a small toothed belt and plastic toothed pulleys. The drive needs to be positive (that is, non-slip), but there's very little load required to turn the counter.

[Sock Puppet]

Just an observation gents, but an electronic counter can have

BIG DIGITS

[Bruce Johnson]

But you're already working with wire that you can barely see.......

Actually you can get mechanical counters with big digits if you want them.

[Sock Puppet]

LOL
Nice one Bruce.