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So, I've been using one of the original Schatten winders since March 2006. At he time it was a convenient way to get a winder, since I didn't have a workshop handy.
It did the trick, but the motor was very under powered, I could pinch the wire and stop the motor! And it wasn't that fast.
In 2009 the motor started running very slowly. So I contacted Schatten and they wanted me to send the whole winder to them. I didn't want to do that, so instead I bought a new motor. That worked fine for a while, but then started running slow again. Actually the motors were fine, but the speed control, which appeared to just be a voltage regulator and a potentiometer, was the culprit.
Since I have pickups to wind, I just chucked my old DeWalt drill to the left axle and used it that way. It was more powerful and faster, so I didn't bother to change it.
I took a year off from winding, but then wanted to fix the winder up. (I have plans, and parts to build a CNC winder, but needed something in the mean time).
So I gutted the Schatten, and installed a new motor, speed control, and a larger counter. I will say the Schatten had a lot of hand work involved in putting it together. If they had just used a better motor and a real speed control it would have been a much nicer winder. I suppose the new ones are along those lines.
The winder was belt driven, which while increasing torque, reduced the speed. I decided to just go with a direct drive setup.
I bought a Mabuchi 555 12V DC Motor. It runs at about 4,500 RPM. It was $7.95. Figured that was more than enough! I got a Pulse Width Modulation DC motor sped control from EachBuyer.com, for $6.53. And a new counter and reed switch was given to me by a friend... but they cost like $15.
To power the winder I have a 12v power supply from an external hard drive.
Here's the original and new motor, and the various parts by the carcass.
And here you can see the old vs. new counter and the original guts. The pot and toggle switch were added by me when the original switched pot broke.
It did the trick, but the motor was very under powered, I could pinch the wire and stop the motor! And it wasn't that fast.
In 2009 the motor started running very slowly. So I contacted Schatten and they wanted me to send the whole winder to them. I didn't want to do that, so instead I bought a new motor. That worked fine for a while, but then started running slow again. Actually the motors were fine, but the speed control, which appeared to just be a voltage regulator and a potentiometer, was the culprit.
Since I have pickups to wind, I just chucked my old DeWalt drill to the left axle and used it that way. It was more powerful and faster, so I didn't bother to change it.
I took a year off from winding, but then wanted to fix the winder up. (I have plans, and parts to build a CNC winder, but needed something in the mean time).
So I gutted the Schatten, and installed a new motor, speed control, and a larger counter. I will say the Schatten had a lot of hand work involved in putting it together. If they had just used a better motor and a real speed control it would have been a much nicer winder. I suppose the new ones are along those lines.
The winder was belt driven, which while increasing torque, reduced the speed. I decided to just go with a direct drive setup.
I bought a Mabuchi 555 12V DC Motor. It runs at about 4,500 RPM. It was $7.95. Figured that was more than enough! I got a Pulse Width Modulation DC motor sped control from EachBuyer.com, for $6.53. And a new counter and reed switch was given to me by a friend... but they cost like $15.
To power the winder I have a 12v power supply from an external hard drive.
Here's the original and new motor, and the various parts by the carcass.
And here you can see the old vs. new counter and the original guts. The pot and toggle switch were added by me when the original switched pot broke.
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