Building a low cost Pickup Winding Machine

[hozone]

Dear all,

A few peaple ask me if I'm selling the pickup manual winding machine you found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNgywx7ITok
This one I've build years ago.
I was thinking to build something more "industrial" (all integrated PCB, industrial box), and sell this at "i don't know the price".
Firmware will always be opensource, as long as the schematics.
Do you think it would be something interesting? I mean, I don't know the demand/offers of this machine, the one you see I've just build for a friend of mine.
Thank you!

Davide

[ElectroWinder]

Having done extensive youtube viewing (hundreds of videos) there is a demand for low price units according to the comments section following the videos

People want commercial units, but not when priced at hundreds of dollars

Its not just guitar pickups - people want to wind/rewind all sorts of coils - radio, transformers, ignition coils, etc. So I think both linear and wave/scatter wind options will need to be included in a single unit using firmware or mechanical options

I'm considering entering the market with a self-assemble kit, but I've not finalized a design yet

[hozone]

Thank you for this reply! Your report it's very usefull.
By the way, I've just finished the manual version, and I'm working on the automatic version in spare time.

[ElectroWinder]

I'm leaning towards a nema 17 motor due to low cost and availability, but stepped up with large pulley on motor, and small pulley to rotate the pickup - maybe 3x will be enough to stop the nema from screaming flat out

For linear or scatter/wave winding, for simplicity I'm thinking of an "arm" that simply swings backwards and forwards in an arc - the motor would be mounted with shaft pointing upwards or downwards

I'm thinking CNC type open frame design using ready available aluminium profiles to hold everything together

[hozone]

Indeed I'm using for winding a DC motor with an hall sensor, for the traverse mechanism a stepper motor, I'm looking for a 3d printed way to make the stepper act as a linear actuator. But i'm way behind a good design, time devoted to this project unluckily is not much.

[ElectroWinder]

For the auto wire feature I was thinking of a simple 3 wire servo, as only cw and ccw back and forth movement is required

RC component suppliers have lots, but so do amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=rc+servos

[ElectroWinder]

I'm looking for ideas for controlling servos with code here: https://www.youtube.com/c/MakerTutor...ch?query=servo

[skydog71]

There seems to be a huge demand for the cnc mini pickup winder.

[ElectroWinder]

[QUOTE=I'm looking for a 3d printed way to make the stepper act as a linear actuator. But i'm way behind a good design, time devoted to this project unluckily is not much.[/QUOTE]

Not sure 3d printed moving parts will be long lived, but here you go:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:806529
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2783959


These two are metal and have DC motors, not steppers, but still controllable:
I've seen a lot of the parts used in this one for sale individually on aliexpress, except for the slotted arm and mounting plate: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001219794581.html (nice video of it working)
This one is cheaper: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000070562472.html

You could always 3D print the bits if you are good at design


I like this one for about £20 - another nice video: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000079971200.html

[hozone]

Thank you ElectroWinder for the suggestion, I was indeed looking at a 3d printed actuator. As for the code, I think I will go for a straight avrgcc code. I will keep you updated here! And also keep you updated about your project if you can

[ElectroWinder]

Thank you ElectroWinder for the suggestion, I was indeed looking at a 3d printed actuator. As for the code, I think I will go for a straight avrgcc code. I will keep you updated here! And also keep you updated about your project if you can

I just found an even cheaper one at about £15 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001166517245.html - they are designed as window opener/closers

They should be fast enough?

I am not considering 3D printed parts, except for non moving parts such as mounting brackets

I've more or less settled on the manual design - the right motor was the biggest problem, as I'm unsure about using the high frequency bodge with nema motors as used in the £650 CNC mini to make them go fast, and I have gone off the idea of gearing up using pulleys or gears - I like nema motors but they are really slow - got a good DC motor sussed instead, but will have a play with nema early in the new year when I will be buying stuff in - got no nema motors at the moment, unless I rob one from a 3D printer

Researching those stewmac winders, I discovered they have a $3.50 motor - a wonder the things wind at all as the motor is so weak

The coding for auto winding different coils could be a problem, but I haven't yet studied the mini CNC code which I downloaded - it is for a 32 bit board, and I was thinking arduino is going to be good enough

[ElectroWinder]

I think they've got the right idea with the 3D printer type traverse - the parts are all on aliexpress for about £12 total including the slide rail and block, if you 3D print the parts they machined out of aluminium

I look at the mini CNC it and think to myself, tail stock not required, face plate, not required, cost to build about £100

[kayakerca]

You might want to look on ebay for a commercial grade linear actuator like this. A 1" stroke for $35.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Haydon-Kerk...MAAOSwubdd0wn4

Better yet, a combination linear actuator/rotary stepper motor. Both actions required in a single unit. Not sure of the stroke distance on this unit, but they are cool!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Haydon-LR35...AAAOSwiyBc5Fuk

I used one similar to the first one above as my linear actuator on my CNC winder. Works great!

[ElectroWinder]

You might want to look on ebay for a commercial grade linear actuator like this. A 1" stroke for $35.

The first one is doable, as is the 150mm version of this at £25 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001092100923.html - but it would be the most expensive part in the machine

I still say a simple 3 wire servo will do the job: e.g. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3170748 or an even simpler one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2038205

A few more ideas here: https://www.yeggi.com/q/linear+actuator/

Costs can soon run away, and I was never thinking of a commercial quality machine - just something for hobbyists on a budget

[ElectroWinder]

Cheapest I could find at £13.60, has a 12mm push, but supplies seem limited: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33021496157.html