Wire length counter for winder

[Lyrebird Steve]

Was thinking it would be neet to be able to see the length of wire you have wound on to a pickup as well as a turn count.

From this you can calculate DC wound during the actual winding.

I saw one of these in the local hardware shop on sale for a few bucks.

STRAIT-LINE ROLLING TAPE | eBay

Essentially it has a rubber wheel that spins and counts revs as it spins. This is converted to digital distance display.

Has anyone attempted or built a setup that counts off the wire as you are winding ?

Tips/pit-falls ??

[Joe Gwinn]

Was thinking it would be neet to be able to see the length of wire you have wound on to a pickup as well as a turn count.

From this you can calculate DC wound during the actual winding.

I saw one of these in the local hardware shop on sale for a few bucks.

STRAIT-LINE ROLLING TAPE | eBay

Essentially it has a rubber wheel that spins and counts revs as it spins. This is converted to digital distance display.

Has anyone attempted or built a setup that counts off the wire as you are winding ?

I haven't built such a thing, but one thing comes to mind - keep the rotational inertia of the rubber wheel down as low as you can, and put the wheel between the wire supply spool and the elastic dancer, so the jerking from winding on a oblong bobbin doesn't cause periodic stretching of the wire.

[Joe Gwinn]

Was thinking it would be neet to be able to see the length of wire you have wound on to a pickup as well as a turn count.

From this you can calculate DC wound during the actual winding.

I saw one of these in the local hardware shop on sale for a few bucks.

STRAIT-LINE ROLLING TAPE | eBay

Essentially it has a rubber wheel that spins and counts revs as it spins. This is converted to digital distance display.

Has anyone attempted or built a setup that counts off the wire as you are winding ?

I haven't built such a thing, but one thing comes to mind - keep the rotational inertia of the rubber wheel down as low as you can, and put the wheel between the wire supply spool and the elastic dancer, so the jerking from winding on a oblong bobbin doesn't cause periodic stretching of the wire.

[ReWind]

You could calculate by before/after weight of the spool, without adding anything to the wire path, if you have a scale that is both large enough and sensitive enough.

[Jazz P Bass]

Uhmm.
The tape measure has a 300 foot range limit.
That won't work.

[David Schwab]

Also, as you wind, the coil gets larger, so I would imagine that might change the amount of wire on it?

I can't see a reason to know how many feet of wire on on a pickup. You can calculate that with the DC resistance, or weigh the coil.

[Lyrebird Steve]

I can't see a reason to know how many feet of wire on on a pickup. You can calculate that with the DC resistance, or weigh the coil.

David, I'm thinking it would be handy to have a DC counter that increments as you wind the pickup.

I'm thinking this would be the easiest way to do so ?

[David Schwab]

David, I'm thinking it would be handy to have a DC counter that increments as you wind the pickup.

Honestly, I don't see the point in that either. You can figure that out with math, if there is some reason you need to match the resistance.

Here's what I do. Wind 1,000 turns on the bobbin, and then read the resistance. Then take the resistance and divide it by the number of turns. You will end up with a number, like 0.93. If you multiply the number of turns by that number, you will get the resistance. If you divide the end resistance by that number, you will get the number of turns. That number changes with bobbin size and resistance of the wire.

So as an example, I have a humbucker bobbin with 5,000 turns of 42 that reads 4,650 Ohms. Using the method above the number is 0.93 (which is where I got it from). If I wanted the coil to be 6,000 Ohms, I would have to wind 6,452 turns. To get that I divide the resistance (6k) by 0.93.

The reason for winding the 1,000 turns is you need to find that number for that bobbin. If it's bobbins and wire gauge you use all the time, keep it in your notes.

[Bill M]

They make a counter for spooling thread that measures in feet. You see them on ebay sometimes. I thought about trying one, but never got around to it.

[RedHouse]

Why bother?

It's not a parameter (we) use in winding. We don't wind to length, we wind to turns, we don't buy wire by length, we buy by the pound, so why bother?

[Lyrebird Steve]

Why bother?

It's not a parameter (we) use in winding. We don't wind to length, we wind to turns, we don't buy wire by length, we buy by the pound, so why bother?

I wind to get a specific DCR, as this allows me to more accurately calibrate my sets.

Counting turns I can approximate reasonably where I want it to be ... however, bobbin geometry and tension play a large role in DCR approximation errors.

Counting the length of the wire ... and having a known DCR per foot ... accurate DCR winding is possible.


That's why I'd like it

[RedHouse]

I wind to get a specific DCR, as this allows me to more accurately calibrate my sets.

Counting turns I can approximate reasonably where I want it to be ... however, bobbin geometry and tension play a large role in DCR approximation errors.

Counting the length of the wire ... and having a known DCR per foot ... accurate DCR winding is possible.


That's why I'd like it

Well ok, I see why you bother.

It is a well known (and discussed often) aspect that DCR isn't a very good metric to influence your winding production, but not everyone sees things the same, so hey, rock-on chasing the golden DCR ring, everyone needs something to do.

[Lyrebird Steve]

Well ok, I see why you bother.

It is a well known (and discussed often) aspect that DCR isn't a very good metric to influence your winding production, but not everyone sees things the same, so hey, rock-on chasing the golden DCR ring, everyone needs something to do.

DCR is a more reliable input to my modelling tools than turn count ... if I had 30 years experience winding pickups (instead of 30 years of I.T.) I'd probably have the same condescending tone

[RedHouse]

...if I had 30 years experience winding pickups (instead of 30 years of I.T.) I'd probably have the same condescending tone

Probably not.

It takes a special knack to sound condecending while trying to help people and contribute to their posts, but on another note it's normally easy for people to accept things from more experienced people, but what do I know.

Sorry if I'm mis-giving my verbiage, it was unintentional Steve. Now where's my copy of Communication For Dummies, seems I need a refresh.

[jason lollar]

Well at any rate it will be interesting to see how well or poorly the feet measured will match up with the resistance on an ongoing basis or how well you can control the variables other than consistant wire diameter which is out of your control.