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Magnets & Copper Wire: A Pickup Building Thread

#861
Hi folks, I have some questions for all the pick-up winders here...

I am interested in winding my own pick-ups; I have been reading a few books on the topic, following the relevant threads, etc... It seems a lot of winders are building their own winding machines (including some people in this thread); so here are my questions...

1 - Am I missing out on a major part of the experience if I do NOT build my own winding machine? The issue is that I own my own business so I have little time off and the time I do have I might rather spend practicing the craft, instead of trying to cobble together a winding machine, which (for me) could take many months...

2 - I am interested in the MojoTone winding machine; does anybody have experience with this machine? I know it is a bit spendy, but less so than a couple sets of boutique pick-ups!

Thanks in advance!
 
#862
BishopJP said:
Hi folks, I have some questions for all the pick-up winders here...

I am interested in winding my own pick-ups; I have been reading a few books on the topic, following the relevant threads, etc... It seems a lot of winders are building their own winding machines (including some people in this thread); so here are my questions...

1 - Am I missing out on a major part of the experience if I do NOT build my own winding machine? The issue is that I own my own business so I have little time off and the time I do have I might rather spend practicing the craft, instead of trying to cobble together a winding machine, which (for me) could take many months...

2 - I am interested in the MojoTone winding machine; does anybody have experience with this machine? I know it is a bit spendy, but less so than a couple sets of boutique pick-ups!

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Yes, you are missing out on losing a hunk of money if you don't build your own machine. I have no experience with the MojoTone machine.
 
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#865
The mojotone winder looks fine. I don't like the wire guides, that open style of guide tends to let the wire jump. I prefer a small eyelet that can be pushed side to side.

It also has no tensioner. Having "hand wound" many pickups and then wound many with a tensioner that has a screw adjustment, an adjustable tensioner is a big help in consistency and also avoiding issues like broken wire or other problems.

Those would both be easy to add on yourself.
 
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#867
If you are cash-rich but time-poor then I see no shame buying one. It's winding pickups you are interested in not tinkering with motors etc. I've been looking into it as well as I don't really have the time, or know how to make one myself.
 
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#868
Slidlow said:
Schatten sell a winder in kit form.
Click to expand...
I had not seen that, seems like possibly a good compromise!

Flying B said:
If you are cash-rich but time-poor then I see no shame buying one. It's winding pickups you are interested in not tinkering with motors etc. I've been looking into it as well as I don't really have the time, or know how to make one myself.
Click to expand...
More like time-poor and cash-not-so-poor, but yes! :)
 
#869
A quick comment:

Those commercially-available machines are basic-level designs. Not much more than a powered spindle with a counter. They are intended for repair shop use: occasional hand rewinds of standard pickup bobbins. If you want to get into real pickup R & D, custom bobbin configurations, or some low-level production, then you are going to want to build and add other features to the machine.

Where do you want to go with pickup making? Buying one of those machines will help you get started quickly. But, if you intend to dig deeper into the mystical world of pickup making, you'll eventually end up building your own special machine.
 
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#870
@Bruce Johnson My initial interest is to make pick-ups for myself and the occasional instruments that I build. To that end, a basic machine would be fine to wind a few coils.

However, I know how I am and once I get interested in something I tend to go all-in! 2 years ago I thought it would be fun to build a bass from a kit...
I could easily see myself winding pick-ups just to try new/different things.
 
#871
I don’t have too much add, although I think I could emphasize that what you’d get for $700 with a pre-made winder is not very much. You’re basically paying for a motor with a counter on it. If time vs. money constraints make that the best option for you, then I’d say, “do it.” However, keep in mind that @mapleglo built her own super awesome winder using an old sewing machine and a calculator. One could argue is functionally the same thing as a StewMac winder.
 
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#874
I agree that there's no shame in buying a prebuilt unit or kit, it is definitely a shortcut. When I started making pickups, I spent a LOT of time screwing with my home-made winder, and I ruined a LOT of coils because of problems with my home-made winder. An off the shelf winder will be a much easier way to start, and if you ever decide you want a complete DIY winder, you'll have something that works to compare to your design, and then you can (maybe?) sell your commercial winder to recoup some of the cost.

I will repeat what I said above though: get or build something to tension the wire, at least. Even if you keep the guides that come on that machine, you really, really don't want to be learning to hand tension wire at the same time as you're learning everything else you need to do. Consistent tension is half the battle of getting consistent predictable outcomes and avoiding problems. It strikes me as kind of crazy that most of these commercial winders don't address this.
 
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#876
If you are computer/code savy, Jeff Siddall posted information on a cnc driven winder on page 41. I think the cost is fairly modest. If you just want something that spins a bobbin a specified number of times, you could mount a stepper motor with a platten mounted on a board and drive it with an arduino/motor shield for about $50. You could expand it or make a wire feed later. If not code comfortable, go with a kit to save money. Well, there's my two cents.
 
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#878
Some thoughts:

I built my own winder and am really happy with it. Commercial fully automated winders are usually 4 figure things and if you are careful with part selection you might be able to build one like I did for 2 figures. Every coil I have wound has been a success, though admittedly I have only done three so far. I built mine from off-the-shelf parts so no need to tour local thrift shops to find a donor sewing machine. A bunch of clicks and then just wait for the parts to arrive at your door. I won't lie, it took a lot of time to write the software since I am mostly a hardware guy, so my experience largely lines up with others that wasted a lot of time on designing their own. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it if you don't seem to want to spend a lot of time on it. However, if you are interested in building one like mine I already published the code here:

Custom fully automated pickup winder build

and you are free to use it or modify it as you see fit. I could also add a parts list and some assembly instructions too. Assembly is probably a couple of evenings work and is mostly about cutting and drilling some holes in some wood, soldering some wires, and downloading the software to the Arduino.
 
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#879
41hzthunder said:
If you are computer/code savy, Jeff Siddall posted information on a cnc driven winder on page 41. I think the cost is fairly modest. If you just want something that spins a bobbin a specified number of times, you could mount a stepper motor with a platten mounted on a board and drive it with an arduino/motor shield for about $50. You could expand it or make a wire feed later. If not code comfortable, go with a kit to save money. Well, there's my two cents.
Click to expand...

Hah! Beat me to it!

You make a good point about the option to start with just the bobbin motor. It would work without the linear actuator assembly, and would be a lot cheaper to build -- under $50. Adding the guide later would be trivial.
 
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