First pickup

Pickups, Diy Electronics, Stompboxes, Guitar wiring...
Bent
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First pickup

Post by Bent »

Well, I got it done. Not bad for a first but oodles of room for improvement, not the least understanding better how electronic/magnetic fields work..what constitutes a "hot" pup, that "scatter winding" can make a difference in tone as opposed to neat winding.
Some things I wish to change on my winder:
-The speed control... It goes from 0 to about 350 RPM with nothing in between. 350 is PLENTY fast.
I would like to rig up a step-less control..like a volume control...this makes for gentler starts and easier winding the first few laps for a newbie. What do I use, folks? This is of course a 110 V motor...
- I need to get a straight mandrel. The shaft I found in my junk is off by a hair and shows itself by a slight throw on the bobbin wheel.

The counter proved to be awesome! Thanks to Georg and his advice to move the magnet closer to the shaft. This worked somewhat better. Once I stuck a rare earth magnet to the wheel(stronger) it counted without a glitch...as long as I never went above the first stage-300RPM

I wound the pup to 17.75K which took about 9100 turns. The process took about 2.5 hours. Again, not bad for a newbie.

Here is the drilling rig. I simply clamp 2 pieces of maple together(no glue)...see the crack. Then I use double sided tape and tape the bobbin pieces together. I have the holes for the pole pieces center punched (11/32" apart) in the top piece. Then I center this over the center line of the wood and drill the holes thru everything.
STILL it is a pain to get everything lined up and held steady while I glue each pole piece into its hole with Krazy Glue. What other glue can someone recommend??? (basically gluing steel to plastic)
pupwinder 001.jpg
pupwinder 001.jpg (170.84 KiB) Viewed 7469 times
pupwinder 003.jpg
pupwinder 003.jpg (234.85 KiB) Viewed 7469 times
pupwinder 004.jpg
pupwinder 004.jpg (134.8 KiB) Viewed 7469 times
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21 BenRom pedal steel guitars, a Nash 112 and a 1967 TOS Milling machine with many cutters making one hell of a mess on the floor.
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Georg
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Re: First pickup

Post by Georg »

Put a gear on the winder ;)

Find someone with a Gator, and make a small version of its auto-gear. It's just wheels and a belt - just like your winder :lol:

(...I have a Gator, but no PU winder...)
Last edited by Georg on Thu Feb 18, 2010 11:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Allan
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Re: First pickup

Post by Allan »

Hey, that PU looks the biz!. OK, speed control, the thing is this, a motor is an inductive load (it has windings and generates 'back EMF'). They keep these things cheap by having tapped coils in the motor for speed control. Most sewing machine/food mixer types of unit are controlled by switching these coils and rely on the load to 'soft start' the machine. Since you have almost no load in your application it starts with a jerk. What you need is something that works in the zero-crossing/chopper mode. You are in luck! these things are available as router speed control units. Do you have 'Harbor Freight Tools' outlets in Canada? They do sell on the net but it's easier just to walk into the store. They have loads of great stuff! Have a look HERE
Another thing you could try is a light dimmer. Now, there are a couple of different principles of operation used in these things too. So, there would be a bit of 'suck it and see' if you wanted to try that approach. You may strike luck and get the right one.

I would say that the router speed control is probably the way to go if you want an easy solution.

Best regards, Allan.....

(edit coz I can't spell for puddin'!)
Only nuts eat squirrels.
Keep yer tools sharp! That way you can use more of your strength guiding them AWAY from your body rather than forcing the cut!!!
Allan
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Re: First pickup

Post by Allan »

I just had another look at your pics and I think I see that your motor only has two wires coming out of it so much of what I said above doesn't apply. It is not a tapped coil motor in your case so I guess that the foot pedal that comes with it works resistively.The rest of the above post still applies though. As long as the motor has brushes the router control approach should do all that you need.

Allan.....
Only nuts eat squirrels.
Keep yer tools sharp! That way you can use more of your strength guiding them AWAY from your body rather than forcing the cut!!!
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Georg
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Re: First pickup

Post by Georg »

As Allan said with other words: it's a DC motor, and they rely on mechanical resistance/load to start softly. Your winder doesn't provide much of a load.

My questions are:
• what would you say is the top speed of the winder with that gear-reduction, motor and regulator as it is?
• what is the max speed and speed range you want?

The simplest, and I think best, way to control your winder reliably is to make the gearing reduce the speed so much that the highest possible speed you in practice can work with the winder on is only 35-50% below what you get with the motor at max speed. That will give you a reasonable wide speed-range downwards and a slow enough start for comfort.

So, if 300 RPM on the winder is max what you can work with, max speed - motor at full throttle - should be no higher than 400 - 450 RPM. An extra 2-diameter wheel and a belt between motor and winder should get you within range, and also add a tiny bit extra mechanical resistance to reduce the "jerk".
Allan
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Re: First pickup

Post by Allan »

I don't think it is a DC motor, just not a tapped coil motor.

Bent, the next stage is dependent on what matters most to you. You can carry on experimenting with gears, pulleys and loads and stuff, or, you can buy a motor speed controller and wind pickups. :P


Allan.....
Only nuts eat squirrels.
Keep yer tools sharp! That way you can use more of your strength guiding them AWAY from your body rather than forcing the cut!!!
Eldon
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Re: First pickup

Post by Eldon »

Bent, that looks first class - keep it up my friend!
Music is what feelings sound like!

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Georg
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Re: First pickup

Post by Georg »

To avoid any confusion and misunderstandings: I think Allan and I are just using different terminology - language, education and previous jobs related maybe.
To me - in daily job-talk, any electric motor that isn't following an AC frequency - synchronously or asynchronously, is a form of a DC motor. I'm pretty sure Allan and I would agree on how to categorize and control various electric motor types/constructions if we discussed them and made sure we talked "the same language", if that was the point of this thread.

Bent, just control the speed the way you find most convenient with what you have access to :|
Allan
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Re: First pickup

Post by Allan »

If anyone wants to take this any further there is a really good description of the principles involved in the vast number of different motor types in Wikipedia. George, you are probably right about you and I using different words for the same thing. The whole thing was a little bit off topic anyhow so I don't intend to chase it.

Yeah, control it any way that works for you. Seriously, I would even consider putting my thumb on the larger pulley as a brake to allow for a slow start. (I may only do it once!)

Here is a more serious thought however. A fan blade. Fan blades are used as brakes in things as different as music boxes and air brakes for practice parachute towers. A small fan blade from a heater for example could be adjusted to supply a slowing load by twisting the vanes to an angle that does what you need. Just a thought.

Allan.....
Only nuts eat squirrels.
Keep yer tools sharp! That way you can use more of your strength guiding them AWAY from your body rather than forcing the cut!!!
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Georg
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Re: First pickup

Post by Georg »

Allan wrote:A small fan blade from a heater for example could be adjusted to supply a slowing load by twisting the vanes to an angle that does what you need. Just a thought.
Good thought too - why didn't I think of that... :oops:
I have used what amounts to "paddle-wheel air brakes" on several constructions. Keep the fan well balanced, and mount it on the fast motor - not the slow winder - for max effect.
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