Auto Winder

[John_H]

I've been up in the Rockies, and away from the www. for a few days. I realized that I'd embedded the wrong video the last time I posted. This is the one I meant to put up. I'm home for a few days and I plan to try to work on it some.

New ideas include... Instead of relying on marks to re-align the traverse I drilled a pair of 1/16" holes that I can insert a piece of wire into to return it to exactly the same spot. To get an accurate reference for the length of the travel, I measure from the far end of the traverse rod to the wire guide. By doing it this way I'll be able to save the setups for different styles of pickups.

edit> Here's a picture of the de-reeler I made from 99cent store items and a piece of conduit. It works like a champ.

[Robbinst]

Hey John, brilliant work my friend! I am interested in building a new winder because my old sewing machine and calculator rig just isnt keeping up with what I would like to do anymore. I figure If Im gonna invest the time in making another one I might as well go big or go home, which is why I would like to create something based on your autowinder. I was wondering if you could help me with locating a few of the parts. Im sure others are curious as well. I think the main thing I would have trouble locating are the disks/wheels that are the correct size and possibly the rubber bushings holding everything in place on the main shaft. I would really appreciate any help you could offer, Thanks!

-Tyler

[John_H]

Hey John, brilliant work my friend! I am interested in building a new winder because my old sewing machine and calculator rig just isnt keeping up with what I would like to do anymore. I figure If Im gonna invest the time in making another one I might as well go big or go home, which is why I would like to create something based on your autowinder. I was wondering if you could help me with locating a few of the parts. Im sure others are curious as well. I think the main thing I would have trouble locating are the disks/wheels that are the correct size and possibly the rubber bushings holding everything in place on the main shaft. I would really appreciate any help you could offer, Thanks!

-Tyler

Thanks Tyler, This one here was really meant to be a prototype or working model. For as cheaply as I put it together, it works remarkably well. I posted it up so that other's could see some of the design aspects, and maybe incorporate them into their own winders. The traverse for example could be adapted to any cam actuated machine, and make it possible to make many different sized coils with a single cam, and the friction drive makes it possible to have infinite adjustability without the use of a single belt or pully. I'm still working on this, but if you want to make one similar I'll get a list together. Most of the pieces are easy to find. A few of them you might have to fabricate. ...check later tonight.

[John_H]

Most everything you'll need shouldn't be too hard to find, or very expensive. I think this is all original. I've never seen another like it.

1. Motor
I chose to use a sewing machine motor because of price, availability, and with the proper reduction there would be no lack of torque to turn the bobbin, and power the traverse.
The motor I used is rated at 7,000 rpm. It's on a 6:1 ratio to the main shaft. It seems to spin faster than it's rated speed.

2. Mainshaft
1/4" steel. ~16" long. I don't remember it being anything special, but it was nice and straight.

3. Main Drive wheel Shop Waxman 3-in Rubber Swivel Caster at Lowes.com
3" wheel from a caster I bought at Lowes. 1/4" id, epoxied to mainshaft.

4. Friction Drive wheel
I used a platen from dead bench sander. It's 6" in diameter and driven off of the mainshaft at a 12:1 ratio. I think one could be made with MDF.

5. Spinning Reel
The ready made source for a linear traverse. Not all will be usable.
The gear ratio between the skirt and the traverse is what's important. The skirt from the spool is what drives the traverse. I ground away the parts of the skirt that held the bail, and added the 2 1/8" od tire for the friction drive. Seven rotations of the of the tire equal a single pass of the traverse.

The math is pretty simple; for example if the 2 1/8" tire is aligned 2 1/8 from the center of the drive platen it will be at a 1:1 ratio. The platen is driven at a 1:12 ratio. Multiply that by the seven rotations of the skirt that it takes to make a full traverse. 12x7= 84 TPL @2 1/8" from center. Keep this equation in mind when you're looking for a donor reel and make sure that you have a ratio that will work.

6. Platen
I made mine from the flywheel of an old tape deck that I scrapped. About anything will work. On my old winder I made them from blocks of maple.

7. Traverse rod
I made this one from 3/16" scrap from the material I use for truss rods. It needs to be red hot to get a good bend.

That's it for the big pieces. The grommets came from a 180 piece kit I bought at harbor freight. 180 Piece Harness Grommet Set

I tried to identify the other bits and pieces in the pictures.

[Robbinst]

Wow that was very detailed. I have a much better understanding of it now. I cant thank you enough for putting that much time and effort into that description.

I suppose the only other thing I am unsure about is the counter circuit. Im assuming the leds are wired to the counter and when the aluminum tape breaks the light it counts one rotation?

[John_H]

Wow that was very detailed. I have a much better understanding of it now. I cant thank you enough for putting that much time and effort into that description.

I've learned so much here that I'm happy to contribute what I can.

I suppose the only other thing I am unsure about is the counter circuit. Im assuming the leds are wired to the counter and when the aluminum tape breaks the light it counts one rotation?

Check this thread out. I come in at post 24 http://music-electronics-forum.com/t220/

The Cub1 counter required a trigger voltage less than 3v @ 1kr so I designed the optical switch accordingly. I used this RadioShack® Infrared LED Emitter and Detector - RadioShack.com emitter detector set from Radio Shack. I made the switch 5 years ago. (I've been thinking about this winder for a while) Here's the schematic for the switch.

[Chris Turner]

After this thread, your sig quote is kinda hilarious, John.

[kayakerca]

After this thread, your sig quote is kinda hilarious, John.

Could not agree more!

[bruce bennett]

Hi I'm new to this forum..
but not new to guitar making or Pickup winding..

I was just doing some web research on pickup winders for a project I'm considering and just to see what the current state of pickup winding was like.
and I happened across this thread..

I gotta say.
My hats off to you sir.. that is a truly a brilliant piece of design work and execution.

[John_H]

Hi I'm new to this forum..
but not new to guitar making or Pickup winding..

I was just doing some web research on pickup winders for a project I'm considering and just to see what the current state of pickup winding was like.
and I happened across this thread..

I gotta say.
My hats off to you sir.. that is a truly a brilliant piece of design work and execution.

Thanks Bruce, I hope some of my ideas will be a help to you for your project.

[David Schwab]

John, thanks for the pictures. Very interesting. But I can't read most of the text!

Next time, use a larger type size, no under lines, and a different color! Never use red for JPEGs, as it picks up lot of artifacts, as you can see. And anti alias your type so it's smoother.

White or black would have been better.

[John_H]

John, thanks for the pictures. Very interesting. But I can't read most of the text!

Next time, use a larger type size, no under lines, and a different color! Never use red for JPEGs, as it picks up lot of artifacts, as you can see. And anti alias your type so it's smoother.

White or black would have been better.

Thanks David. I saw that, but didn't have time to re-do it. When I do, I'll replace the embedded images.

[ReWind]

Hi I'm new to this forum..
but not new to guitar making or Pickup winding..

I was just doing some web research on pickup winders for a project I'm considering…..

Hey Bruce! Good to see ya here, man.

Feel free to give me a buzz anytime if I can help with anything. 202-246-0147 info(at)re-wind(dot)net

Things have changed big time in my world since we last talked pickups. I'm a full-time operation now. I'd be glad to help you set up a machine or source parts or whatever.

[John_H]

I hadn't built many pickups for a few months, and needed to wind a bunch of P-90 coils, so I dusted off the winder last night. I've made a few little changes since I last posted. Mostly dealing with reduction ratio's to smooth the operation. The most notable is that I reduced the ratio of the traverse drive capstan, and the motor capstan by about 20%. This helped with the motor speed resolution along with better adjustability for the traverse with finer resolution as well.

[big_teee]

I hadn't built many pickups for a few months, and needed to wind a bunch of P-90 coils, so I dusted off the winder last night. I've made a few little changes since I last posted. Mostly dealing with reduction ratio's to smooth the operation. The most notable is that I reduced the ratio of the traverse drive capstan, and the motor capstan by about 20%. This helped with the motor speed resolution along with better adjustability for the traverse with finer resolution as well.

You may have stated earlier?
What is the rating of the light rheostat used for speed control?
Thanks,
T