New winder in progress plus a question

wilser · #1 02-20-2007, 05:18 PM

Hi guys,
I've been working on a new pickup winder for the last week or so. It's got a hall effect sensor triggered preset counter that shuts off the motor when a pre-programmed count is reached and a 90v high torque DC motor with a nice speed control circuitry that is also programmable.

Now for my question ...WHERE THE HECK CAN I FIND A KNOB FOR A 3/32" (2.4mm) SHAFT POT?!?!? I just can't find it anywhere!

mollin man · #2 02-20-2007, 05:22 PM

Why not turn a sexy wooden knob for it

SirBass · #3 02-20-2007, 08:08 PM

ah yesss.....da wood iza very sexxy

Bryan316 · #4 02-20-2007, 08:16 PM

Hire a little chinese boy from Martha Stewart's factories and make him hold onto that 3/32" shaft?

pilotjones · #5 02-20-2007, 08:31 PM

You might give these guys a call:
http://www.ehcknobs.com

I didn't spot anything with that small a shaft on the site, but they very well might have it. If you look at no. 509 on this page:
http://www.ehcknobs.com/audio.html
the shaft size is not given, but it's got to be tiny- the OD is only .27!

pilotjones · #6 02-20-2007, 08:34 PM

BTW, great job on the winder! The company I'm working for has a winder machine on the floor right now that's giving me ideas-- but only vague ones: this thing winds auto solenoids, four at a time, using 24 gauge wire, and probably costs about a quarter mil.

wilser · #7 02-21-2007, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotjones

BTW, great job on the winder! The company I'm working for has a winder machine on the floor right now that's giving me ideas-- but only vague ones: this thing winds auto solenoids, four at a time, using 24 gauge wire, and probably costs about a quarter mil.

yeah, originally, I was going to try and buy one, but even a stripped down version, with just the motor and counter, no auto off or traverse or anything else, was in the 10 - 15 grand range ...that's WAAAAY off from the couple of hundred that this baby is costing.

I'll check out the guys you recommended and see what they have.

Thanks!

erikbojerik · #8 02-21-2007, 06:32 AM

I've been having a good think for awhile now about doing something similar. I guess your hall probe triggers on the magnet when it sweeps by, so does that mean it counts twice for every turn? What's the response time of the probe?

I was thinking of using an optical counter, but have no idea yet about the specs.

Ray Holt · #9 02-21-2007, 06:57 AM

Hey Wilser what's the shaft configuration? Do you need a set screw or will it just push on? And you only need one right?

wilser · #10 02-21-2007, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erikbojerik

I've been having a good think for awhile now about doing something similar. I guess your hall probe triggers on the magnet when it sweeps by, so does that mean it counts twice for every turn? What's the response time of the probe?

I was thinking of using an optical counter, but have no idea yet about the specs.

Hey Erik, I was also thinking optical for a while, but it's way much more complicated than this, since you would need a driver circuit for the optical components. The component I'm using as a trigger is a hall effect sensor, response time is instantaneous. The counter has a ratio programming screen where you can tell it to count once for every 2 triggers, in that case I would use 2 magnets instead of one, but I need to put the whole thing together and see what works best.

EDIT: Oh, I should have let you know that I'm using a magnet on the back of the faceplate. For the bobbins, I'm using unmagnetized alnico5 rods. I don't magnetize them until the pickup is wound and wired. This facilitates handling while building. So the bobbin itself is not triggering the sensor, a magnet (or 2) on the back of the faceplate is. Hope that clears it up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Holt

Hey Wilser what's the shaft configuration? Do you need a set screw or will it just push on? And you only need one right?

I'm using a precision machined shaft from mcmaster. It's 1/2" diam x about 7" long. On the old machine I had used a brass plain bearing that was 'deformed' a bit so that it was push fit, and that worked well. But for this new machine I got a bronze bearing that's a little thicker and will probably do a set screw.

On the original machine I had 2, one on each end, but then I read about how humbuckers really work and they don't need to be 'reverse' wound, just reverse wired. So for this new machine I'm only using one.

I'll post pics of the parts when I'm a little further ahead in progress.

pilotjones · #11 02-21-2007, 09:06 AM

wilser
I think Ray was asking about details regarding the potentiometer shaft.

wilser · #12 02-21-2007, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotjones

wilser
I think Ray was asking about details regarding the potentiometer shaft.

aww, crap! don't I look like the class donkey now!

I think it would have to be a set screw since it's a smooth shaft. Although if the push on fits tightly over it, it should work just fine as well. Yes, I need just 1

Greg Johnsen · #13 02-21-2007, 02:48 PM

can't you buy a pickup winder w/ a counter from stew mac for $350? Or is this something totally different...

Greg

wilser · #14 02-21-2007, 02:58 PM

There are several things that make this design better than the stew mac winder:

- higher speed/higher torque motor
- programmable auto stop
- tailstock support
- programmable soft-start for the motor (can be programmed to go from 0 to full speed in .5 secs increments from .5 to 3 secs)
- high visibility large LED display as opposed to the small LCD the Schatten winder uses

These are the main reasons why I decided to build this myself and not get the stewmac winder. Actually, my first winder did exactly what the stewmac winder did, it had the same specs, a similar counter, same bobbin support system ...but it didn't work well for me.

BTW, since you're building you should know by now that DIY is better than off the shelf

Phil Mailloux · #15 02-21-2007, 03:23 PM

That's one serious piece of gear your building yourself Wilser. Gets me envious

Quote:

can't you buy a pickup winder w/ a counter from stew mac for $350? Or is this something totally different...

The stewmac winder is way overpriced. I made myself a copy for less than 100$. Granted it looks like crap right now but it works. I just need to invest another 10$ to buy a nicer and bigger alluminium box and stick it all inside.

You can see here the on/off switch, the wall wart socket, the speed controller system (made from a kit) with its pot. The counter is a Red Lion CUB3 and is activated by hall effect sensor and magnet. I do wind my pickups pre-magnetised and have had no problems with the switch.

Here's a pic in action and a pic of an end result. A musicman 6 string pickup.

Greg Johnsen · #16 02-21-2007, 03:23 PM

heh, seeing that I work in a shop where pretty much everything is built and not bought (like router tables, extentions, sleds, etc...) I'm sure you're right about that.

Not sure if I'd want to go through the hassel, even though your's looks like it turned out great

Greg

Suburban · #17 02-23-2007, 05:17 AM

VEry interesting, wilser! Thanks for sharing.

And fix that knob DIY, too!

Rogier · #18 02-23-2007, 05:31 AM

Nice! Very neatly done.

iamlowsound · #19 02-23-2007, 06:33 PM

Hmm, you could easily modify a sewing machine into a pickup winder. Add some sort of counter and you would almost be done.

lowsound

#include <MK> · #20 02-23-2007, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilser

There are several things that make this design better than the stew mac winder:

- higher speed/higher torque motor
- programmable auto stop
- tailstock support
- programmable soft-start for the motor (can be programmed to go from 0 to full speed in .5 secs increments from .5 to 3 secs)
- high visibility large LED display as opposed to the small LCD the Schatten winder uses

These are the main reasons why I decided to build this myself and not get the stewmac winder. Actually, my first winder did exactly what the stewmac winder did, it had the same specs, a similar counter, same bobbin support system ...but it didn't work well for me.

BTW, since you're building you should know by now that DIY is better than off the shelf

DIY is great and you've done some good work there, as has Phil, and nice to see you've added some extra features. I'm in the process of building a couple of winders also. But, just a question on the programmable auto stop function. How will it work? I assume the motor will not come to a complete stop at x number of turns - or will it? At what point will the auto stop kick in and power the motor down to the x count taking account of the programmable motor speed control circuitry?