Coweco Winding Machines (2)

[Beef Coon]

Hi, I've be meaning to post some photos of these. I've got a Coweco Moel C and a Model CS. I've been on the hunt for a few years for more or less "complete" mechanical auto traverse machines. I'm glad I took my time, did some research and asked questions. I like vintage guitars, pickups, electronics and the winding machines - particularly the machines use to wind those pickups.

I originally learned about these guys from all the photos of Abigail Ybarra hand winding Fender pickups on a COWECO CS. Then read about them here and found some literature online about them. Then asked a few knowledgeable people her for advice and I'm very grateful.

The gears and cams, as well as some other parts, are completely interchangeable between the 2 machines. They use adjustable cams, so one cam can do humbuckers & P90s as well as a bunch of Fender stuff. The intent is to do vintage correct Fender pickups on one of the same make and model machines they had during "the golden era."

Here's some photos:









more coming...

[Beef Coon]

More pics

Gears. Anyone have advice on best way to store these?



Adjustable Cam. This one's a monster & not suitable for pickup bobbins.






Here's the CS, that still needs some TLC. I believe this was on eBay for YEARS for too much $. I think there's some old threads on here that had links to a # of auctions for it. I beat the guy up for about 6 months until he finally sold it to me for a reasonable price. It came with about 50 gears, so I can hit just about any TPL / turns per layer.

[Beef Coon]

Here's my ghetto tensioner. I used what I had around to build it and will make nicer ones. I use neoprene for tension. I've got one place above the spool where the magnet wire gets adjustable tension applied. Then it goes over the neoprene covered spool, under the rod covered in neoprene to my wire guide which has two pulleys. That's it and it works great - no bulging in the middle of bobbins and consistent tension.

[Joe Gwinn]

Gears. Anyone have advice on best way to store these?

Cams too - all are made of steel or cast iron. Basically, keep them oily. I store such things in ziploc freezer bags, with some way oil (Vactra #2) in there, but any oil will work.

Another trick is to coat the gears with lanolin. Dissolve lanolin in solvent, dip gears, allow to dry.

Yet another alternative is LPS Rust Inhibitor, which is made for the purpose, being the modern-day cosmoline:

LPS 3 Premier Rust Inhibitor, 11 oz Aerosol: Power Tool Lubricants: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

[Jim Darr]

Bob,

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Having the right cams for different coil heights and all those gears for various TPLs make all the difference in getting the sounds you are after AND consistent results. Did you end up getting adjustable cams made or did you decide to go with various fixed cams for different coil heights? Make sure you use plenty of grease on the cams and cam followers.

Interesting tensioning system. Is the adjustable portion the one pictured on the 1x2(??) that has the U or J shaped black bracket?

Glad you got the machines working again. These are great machines and should last forever with proper maintenance and lubrication. Congrats.

Jim

[Beef Coon]

Thanks Joe!

Cams too - all are made of steel or cast iron. Basically, keep them oily. I store such things in ziploc freezer bags, with some way oil (Vactra #2) in there, but any oil will work.

Another trick is to coat the gears with lanolin. Dissolve lanolin in solvent, dip gears, allow to dry.

Yet another alternative is LPS Rust Inhibitor, which is made for the purpose, being the modern-day cosmoline:

LPS 3 Premier Rust Inhibitor, 11 oz Aerosol: Power Tool Lubricants: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

[Beef Coon]

Tensioner...

Jim, Thank you for all your advice! I've got one adjustable cam that'll do just under .25" to just over .5" I need to take it to a machine shop to have an identical made; haven't had a need for anything else yet.

Yes, the adjustable portion of the tensioner is a piece of neoprene fixed to the small wood block & that bracket has another piece of neoprene fixed to it. The wire goes between and the screws are used to adjust tension. The other parts covered with neoprene add a bit of tension as well.

I had worked something similar out with my hand guided winder: Spool on the floor. Bit of 2x4 from floor to table with the same screw down/neoprene tensioner. Winding machine is mounted to a wood base that's probably 2" thick. I took another piece of neoprene and wrapped it around the 2" edge and have the base hanging over the edge of table a little bit. Wire goes up through tensioner, & makes contact with the edge of the base covered in neoprene and through and over some other "things." This allowed me to have very consistent tension from bobbin to bobbin. Tried felt and it was much more of a hassle.

Bob,

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Having the right cams for different coil heights and all those gears for various TPLs make all the difference in getting the sounds you are after AND consistent results. Did you end up getting adjustable cams made or did you decide to go with various fixed cams for different coil heights? Make sure you use plenty of grease on the cams and cam followers.

Interesting tensioning system. Is the adjustable portion the one pictured on the 1x2(??) that has the U or J shaped black bracket?

Glad you got the machines working again. These are great machines and should last forever with proper maintenance and lubrication. Congrats.

Jim

[Jim Darr]

Jim, Thank you for all your advice! I've got one adjustable cam that'll do just under .25" to just over .5" I need to take it to a machine shop to have an identical made; haven't had a need for anything else yet.

Bob,

You are welcome...glad you contacted me when you were buying the CS. Hopefully, I offered some value to you during the process. Thanks again for sending the info on the Gear Tables. I agree with Joe on the gear storage. I keep mine lubed and on 3/16 rod. A lot of my gears appear to be brass or a brass composite which doesn't seem to rust. I've found it helps greatly to keep the teeth clean and the tooth count stamp legible.

Did you end up using the geared motor? Also, did you get the counter figured out?

Let me know the cost of having the adjustable cam made (PM me when you get a quote). I am considering modifying my Model W -- not sure if it is practical, but at least thinking about it.

I am intrigued by your tensioning system. Are you sure you are not getting any "burn through" of the magnet wire insulation from the neoprene? As I recall, I sent you some pics of my dereeling and tensioning system. I use felt clips and they seem to work fine. Felt seems like a good alternative to neoprene which, I would think, could cause a lot of friction and heat --- anyway, my two cents. But, if it is working for you, why change it ? !!!

Continued good luck. Keep us in the loop.

Jim

[Rick Turner]

I have a CoWeCo "Laboratory" winder, and it just keeps clacking along. I like TriFlo for lubing the cam setup as well as the gears, and I have more cams and gears than I'll ever need in a lifetime. Fantastic machine, though. It nails the turns with a two turn overshoot, and with felt tensioners, I can hold to + / - 1% on DCR if I make a dozen or more North and a dozen or more South coils and then read the DCR when they're all calm and at the same temperature. I alternate N & S winds. I suppose I could set it up to wind more than one coil at a time, but I just don't need to with current production; I only wind for my own guitar and bass building, so that's less than three dozen pickups a month. No big deal.

[Rick Turner]

Oh, I have the original manual with a lot of added info from the original owner who did a lot of self-supporting RF coils where the turns had to lay exactly side by side and then switch back at exactly the right point. I think he did aerospace work...his shop was not far from some of the big boys in that industry in the San Fernando Valley. RocketDyne, etc. Maybe SkunkWorks.

[Beef Coon]

Did you end up using the geared motor? Also, did you get the counter figured out?

Let me know the cost of having the adjustable cam made (PM me when you get a quote). I am considering modifying my Model W -- not sure if it is practical, but at least thinking about it.

I am intrigued by your tensioning system. Are you sure you are not getting any "burn through" of the magnet wire insulation from the neoprene? As I recall, I sent you some pics of my dereeling and tensioning system. I use felt clips and they seem to work fine. Felt seems like a good alternative to neoprene which, I would think, could cause a lot of friction and heat --- anyway, my two cents. But, if it is working for you, why change it ? !!!

Continued good luck. Keep us in the loop.

Jim

Hey Jim, That gear motor maxes out @ 50 RPM, so useless... I still need to get a motor for it. I'll let you know when I get $ figures on the cam. The neoprene is covered with some type of woven fabric, though I don't think it's nylon. It is tough stuff and stretchable/flexible. No burn through, and I've no evidence of significant heat. I originally had that whole thing mounted on a thin piece of plate steel - the idea was to make the whole thing like a dancer. I couldn't get it to work so abandoned it.