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  • Building an arduino based winder

    I haven't been around here for a while, and even when I did frequent the forums I was more lurker than anything. But as I get back into things I decided to build a new winder

    I wanted to see what I could put together based on items already available from different sources. In reality I wanted to try not to fabricate anything but in the end I couldn't find motor mounts tall enough that would allow a bobbin to spin so if you know of any let me know. I also wanted to play with an arduino so thats is one of the reasons I went that route. To begin with I will probably still control it from a computer through the arduino but this will open up the possibility to upgrade it to a stand alone system in the future. I also have a raspberry pi on the way so I may play around with that a bit as well. I could end up just going USB to parallel and hooking the motor drivers up that way as well. Either way I have a number of options to play with down the road.

    For the frame I used aluminum extrusion available from misumi. The great thing about misumi is they will cut the extrusions to length and not charge you for it. Their extrusions also are less expensive than 80/20.

    The base is made from 4 200mm lengths of extrusion coming to 200mm X 240mm. Trying to perform as little fabricating as possible I opted to use brackets that misumi has available for connecting extrusions. These could be attached by tapping the extrusions and drilling mounting holes through the outside rails to save money. The brackets with mounting screws and nuts are ~$4 each so they can add up pretty quickly. I also cheaped out and did not get the end caps as those were around $4 each as well. If I did this again I would get the end caps and then tap the extrusions, it would just look a bit cleaner in the end. The rails themselves were less than $3 each.








    For the traverse I decided to go with some items that I found on Inventables. They sell a product called makerslide which is an aluminum extrusion with an integrated rail for v-wheels to ride on. The also have some common mounting plates for stepper motors, idler pulleys, .... So I grabbed a small length of makerslide, a gantry plate, v-wheels, motor bracket , ...










    The traverse should have about 4" of travel. Some of that will be dependant on the bobbin plate and tailstock and how much room is left between them. At this point point I don't have a need for anything more than that but if I did the basic frame should be expandable to allow for more travel by getting some longer lengths of extrusions. The gantry plate is a bit large as well but offers a really good mounting surface for the wire guide(s). I think depending on the stepper motor used this could easily be setup to wind at least 2 pickups at the same time. I can always change the plate if I want to fabricate fabricate one that is a different size. I could also pretty simply change the drive belt system to a lead screw operation by changing the motor mounts and adding a delrin anti backlash nut.


    The bobbin motor and tailstock brackets were fabricated from 6mm aluminum angle from misumi. Again they cut it to size, width wise anyway. The angle is 100mm X 100mm so I needed to trim down the ends a little bit. Then I drilled out the mounting holes for the stepper motor. It's not attached as I forgot to order m3 screws long enough to attach it. Max bobbin size will be ~6in and should hopefully have an rpm around 1500. I'll also write some software that will allow me to use the bobbin motor by itself for hand winding.

    I haven't done anything with the tail stock yet because I'm not sure what I'm going to do there. More than likely will put some sort of flange bearing in there with a small length of rod that I can attach different things to. At a minimum I would like some sort of pointed rubber stopper or something like that but haven't found a place that has anything like that. If anyone knows of one please let me know.


    Thats all I have so far. I'm still waiting on the arduino and motor drivers to be delivered so I can't play with them yet. I think when all is said and done the parts should be around $300. Once I have everything sorted out I'll put together a parts list.

  • #2
    Originally posted by rdrr View Post

    I haven't done anything with the tail stock yet because I'm not sure what I'm going to do there. More than likely will put some sort of flange bearing in there with a small length of rod that I can attach different things to. At a minimum I would like some sort of pointed rubber stopper or something like that but haven't found a place that has anything like that.
    If you are good with winding only one coil at a time, you might want to consider something along the lines of the CNC Dudez pickup coil winder and use a universal bobbin mounting plate that is machined to accommodate pretty much any bobbin you would wind. It would mount directly on the shaft of the winder motor with the bobbin attached in place with machine screws, forgoing the need for a tailstock piece.

    Please keep your progress updated. I am really interested in these creative winder builds.

    Very cool looking unit and some great pictures.
    Take Care,

    Jim. . .
    VA3DEF
    ____________________________________________________
    In the immortal words of Dr. Johnny Fever, “When everyone is out to get you, paranoid is just good thinking.”

    Comment


    • #3
      Great post! Thanks for sharing. How smooth are those rollers and track? not to deviate too much from the topic but I'm thinking of building a video slider for my DSLR camera. This could be an inexpensive way to go.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by kayakerca View Post
        If you are good with winding only one coil at a time, you might want to consider something along the lines of the CNC Dudez pickup coil winder and use a universal bobbin mounting plate that is machined to accommodate pretty much any bobbin you would wind. It would mount directly on the shaft of the winder motor with the bobbin attached in place with machine screws, forgoing the need for a tailstock piece.

        Please keep your progress updated. I am really interested in these creative winder builds.

        Very cool looking unit and some great pictures.
        Thanks. I'll probably have some sort of universal holder like that too. The issue that I have is that I like playing with sidewinders and winding the wire directly around the magnet so there is nothing to screw onto the faceplate. I've done it with double stick tape but am not really found of that way of doing it. I'ld really like one of those rubber stoppers that cnc dudez have on theirs.

        Originally posted by StarryNight View Post
        Great post! Thanks for sharing. How smooth are those rollers and track? not to deviate too much from the topic but I'm thinking of building a video slider for my DSLR camera. This could be an inexpensive way to go.
        You mean something like this https://www.inventables.com/projects...-camera-slider.

        They roll really smoothly. 2 of the wheels have eccentric spacers on them to adjust the wheels to the track. These are spacers with offset holes so when you rotate them they loosing or tighten wheel against the rail.

        Something similar could also be built using parts from openbuilds. I thought about using parts from them as well and it was really a toss up as to which to use with the ultimate decision coming down to wanting to build a shapeoko in the future.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by rdrr View Post
          Thanks. I'll probably have some sort of universal holder like that too. The issue that I have is that I like playing with sidewinders and winding the wire directly around the magnet so there is nothing to screw onto the faceplate. I've done it with double stick tape but am not really found of that way of doing it. I'ld really like one of those rubber stoppers that cnc dudez have on theirs.
          You can drill and tap a hole in the bobbin mounting faceplate at the location that is dead centre of the motor shaft to secure Strat or Tele style bobbins as that flatwork comes with a hole between the D & G magnets. The bobbin mounts on the faceplate and is secures with a long screw, either directly or through another mounting plate on the other side of the bobbin. Secure it all with a long screw and a butterfly nut to lock it down. The images below show this sort of mounting setup. This type of bobbin mount arrangement eliminates the need for double back tape.

          Click image for larger version

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          For P90's or HB's, drill and tap a couple more holes in the bobbin mount plates either side of centre that would match up with pole piece holes on the bobbins.
          Attached Files
          Last edited by kayakerca; 01-14-2014, 12:30 AM. Reason: spelling, grammar and the like. . .
          Take Care,

          Jim. . .
          VA3DEF
          ____________________________________________________
          In the immortal words of Dr. Johnny Fever, “When everyone is out to get you, paranoid is just good thinking.”

          Comment


          • #6
            just picked up an Aduino Uno myself for the same purpose!

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by rdrr View Post
              Once I have everything sorted out I'll put together a parts list.

              THIS... would be awesome!

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by kayakerca View Post
                You can drill and tap a hole in the bobbin mounting faceplate at the location that is dead centre of the motor shaft to secure Strat or Tele style bobbins as that flatwork comes with a hole between the D & G magnets. The bobbin mounts on the faceplate and is secures with a long screw, either directly or through another mounting plate on the other side of the bobbin. Secure it all with a long screw and a butterfly nut to lock it down. The images below show this sort of mounting setup. This type of bobbin mount arrangement eliminates the need for double back tape.
                Yes, I do intend to do somthing along those lines and thats perfect for bobbins that have holes in them but my issue is for a different style of bobbin. For sidewinders I've been doing the bobbin is 3.25 in long ceramic magnet glued to 2 pieces of forbon so the whole thing looks like a small I-Beam. There are no screw holes because its going to get mounted sideways to the steel bar in the middle . Thats where something holding it from opposite side of the winders faceplate would come in handy.


                BTW, where did you pickup the guide nozzle I saw in your build? The only place where I could buy a single one was $10 + $30 in shipping. All of the other places where a lot size of 20 at $8 per plus shipping.

                Rob

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by rdrr View Post
                  Yes, I do intend to do somthing along those lines and thats perfect for bobbins that have holes in them but my issue is for a different style of bobbin. For sidewinders I've been doing the bobbin is 3.25 in long ceramic magnet glued to 2 pieces of forbon so the whole thing looks like a small I-Beam. There are no screw holes because its going to get mounted sideways to the steel bar in the middle . Thats where something holding it from opposite side of the winders faceplate would come in handy.
                  Yes, it looks like you are going to have to get creative on that one. If I were winding one of those a week, I'd figure out some tail piece setup. If I were doing 2 a year, I'd be thinking tape would work real nice.

                  BTW, where did you pickup the guide nozzle I saw in your build? The only place where I could buy a single one was $10 + $30 in shipping. All of the other places where a lot size of 20 at $8 per plus shipping.

                  Rob
                  Some styles of winder parts are just not inexpensive and stainless steel wire guides with ruby tips are among them. If you go that route, I would recommend getting more than one with different ID's so your setup can accommodate larger diameter wire. Mark Hammer loaned me a couple of spools of much heavier magnetic wire to experiment with, but my guide nozzle had too small an ID to accept the wire. You also might want to consider buying the 20 pieces and sell what you don't need to other members in the forum that might like to incorporate them into their winder rigs.
                  Last edited by kayakerca; 01-15-2014, 12:52 PM.
                  Take Care,

                  Jim. . .
                  VA3DEF
                  ____________________________________________________
                  In the immortal words of Dr. Johnny Fever, “When everyone is out to get you, paranoid is just good thinking.”

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I went down the Arduino path and eventually relented and went to USB based controller boards.

                    My primary issue was actually not the controlling of the stepper motors ... but the interfacing through the small LCD key panel.

                    My setup was :-

                    Netduino
                    Sparkfun Stepper controllers
                    LCD Keypanel

                    I had sourced a few libraries, and converted a few as well.

                    Eventually, it was the interface that was too clunky for me to work with and I abandoned it for a Phidgets Stepper controller and have built much friendlier controlling software

                    As an aside, I have multiple Neduinos and Stepper controllers available at a large discount if any one wants them, DM me

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                    • #11
                      I was going to control the arduino through a computer so the interface wouldn't be a problem until I decided to use the arduino stand alone. Whats bugging me about the arduino setup right now is that I got the AutoDriver board from sparkfun and everytime I reset the arduino I have to reset the power going to the driver board. I may just end up with the phidgets drivers as well.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I noticed this recently ... Thought it worth posting here

                        Pete's Blog: Guitar Pickup Winder

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by oc disorder View Post
                          I noticed this recently ... Thought it worth posting here

                          Pete's Blog: Guitar Pickup Winder
                          Hey, cool! That's my site.

                          I'm just getting back into winding after some time off, so I've been working on some improvements to the original winder. This is some fun stuff!

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