CNC Winder anyone?

[Corcia]

i've just started with pickups winding but i'm using cnc machines since five years, so I would like to give my contribution by joining this two passions together.
Reading the posts in the forum I've seen there had been attempts, I believe there is a very cheap way to approach the problem so I would like to share it with you.
The core idea is the following: there is no need for a dedicated CNC controlle, the whole Automation of the Winding machine can be managed by a serial port and a PC.
there are many softwares that can turn a PC into a CNC controller, the most used and most efficient IMHO is Mach3 by ArtSoft, once installed and configured properly it can be used to manage the winder; let's see how:
we would need just 2 stepper motors with matching drivers and power supply (it might be feasible also with one synchronous motor and one stepper motor).
one stepper motor shall be in charge of rotating the bobin (a couple of pulleys will be needed to have the desired rotation speed), the other one shall be connected to a lead screw (or a ball screw) to the traverse feed mechanism.
the software, via the parallel port, will generate the pulse train and te dir signal needed to drive the motors.
Mach3 will see the winding machine as a Lathe thus controlling the bobin as thespindle and the traverse feed as the cutting tool.
we will be able to program the machine with a simple text file (G-Code), i will create a small excel shhet or a small software that will output the g-code on the basis of the inputs as follows: bobin height (or traverse travel), TPL, bobin botation speed and total turns.
is someone interested in such project? if yes we could start a Prototype...

[Kindly Killer]

I have no relevant expertise to contribute, but if you design an open source CNC winder I will surely build one. One thing I can say about my own interest in your proposed project is that I will have to buy either an old computer or a PCI card to make it work - nothing I have now has a parallel port. Still a PCI card is less than the price of an Arduino, and the idea of entering variables directly from an easy interface is appealing.

[guitarmike2107]

Yes I am interested, I have three brand spanking new stepper motors, controllers and power supply sitting here waiting for a project. this might just be it.

I think the key thing for me to be properly interested would be for the mechanical to be easy to build, cheapish, but not use any bent coat hangers anywhere.
Mike

[Corcia]

that's what i had in mind! first of all Opens Source, of course cheap (as far as possible!) and easy to build.

[big_teee]

that's what i had in mind! first of all Opens Source, of course cheap (as far as possible!) and easy to build.

The Parallel port seems like a bad Idea, in this day and age of computers.
Anyway to go USB?
T

[Corcia]

i agree, but to go usb an external controller would be needed and it costs more or less 200$, of course for a cnc router it's a must, but for our application it definetly too expensive. otherwise it might be feasible via a pcmcia to parallel but it's 100$, yet too expensive...
i will investigate, but as of today i can only give supports for parallel based projects...my fault...

[David King]

Most of us already have working winders, we just want a cheap programable traverse. Stepper motors and drivers are too expensive as is ArtSoft's Mach 3. I'd suggest you just control a cheap RC servo motor for the traverse controlled by a pulse generated by your PC. Build a simple GUI interface in C. Use a DC motor with PWM or if you want de-luxe -go with a three phase AC with VFD. Use the counter signal from the spindle to control the step generator on the pc. That way the user controls the winding speed manually and the traverse just keeps up. USB interface is a must, most everyone is on laptops and last I checked laptops don't come with parallel ports. You might as well just port it directly to the iphone/ android and skip the p.o.s. pc. The last thing I want to do is lug my desktop computer down to the shop every time I want to wind a pickup.

[kayakerca]

that's what i had in mind! first of all Opens Source, of course cheap (as far as possible!) and easy to build.

When you say "cheap", what kind of money do you estimate this winder will cost by the time it's complete? As for a computer, finding an old laptop that has a parallel port and cost $50, if you don't already have one, to dedicate to a winder doesn't seem like a big deal.

[Kindly Killer]

PCI parallel card is only $20-$25, plus you can still find people wanting to just get rid of old computers - tho they don't set them out with the trash anymore (sigh)... I get the gist of why this is ideal for the project, and I think you should go ahead and think about:

goals of project
assumptions (builder has a computer with PCI slots, but not expensive CAD/CAM software)
budget for project
capabilities of winder


...and team up with people

If you ignore the naysayers and build a prototype, people will see it working and get interested. When it's just an idea everyone is an expert on why your idea is crap; but when you have a prototype it's easier for everyone to see the difference between ingenuity and opinion.

BTW can you recommend any books on getting into CNC? I know very basic electronics - stombox and amp stuff from practical standpoint, plus a little Arduino - but I want to learn some CNC stuff.

[David Schwab]

Just in case some of the newer members haven't seen it, but one of our members Elepro had come up with a CNC brain and controller board kit:

http://music-electronics-forum.com/t16956/

There are few threads on this CNC winder here.

I'm in the process of building one of these.

[captcoolaid]

Question Rather than going with step motors why not use a worm gear, xy table, and 2 stop swithes. One for forward and the other for reverse on the traverse. Also you could do it where it has a traverse speed that is independent from the motor speed. That is how my machine works. New they are very expensive but I bet you could build one for around 500 bucks for a single bay machine.