Pickup winder

[Bent]

Well, here she be. Just thought of a name for it. You know the old song: The Wayward Wind(er)
This thing was made totally from recycled materials: Sewing machine motor w/ speed control from Eldon, scrap maple wood from the last steel project a couple of bearings I had laying around plus the shaft.
The only 2 new things are the reed switch and magnet (from a window alarm) and the calculator. Both from the Dollar Store.
The way the counter works: See the magnet fastened to the pulley...when it flies by the reed switch, it makes contact. This in turn shorts out the = sign on the calculator, which has been punched 1+1 before starting.

pupwinder1.jpg (60.61 KiB) Viewed 3881 times

pupwinder2.jpg (50.57 KiB) Viewed 3881 times

pupwinder3.jpg (60.53 KiB) Viewed 3881 times

[Allan]

What can I say? Well, actually I can say all sorts of things, like 'aspidistra' or 'fenercatabin' but that doesn't matter! Bent,( ) another fine piece of work. There, that's what I meant to say.
I love the counter idea too.
OK, so when does production start?

Allan.....

edited to add -
p.s. Just a quick thought - this is REALLY petty but if you start the 'counter' with 0+1 it won't be counting 1 too many!

[Pat Comeau]

That is very cool and genius Bent , pretty soon you'll be able to start productions of a 100% frabricate made pedal steel of your own .

[Georg]

Looking good.
Hope to be able to test that tapped coil next month.

[Bent]

Yeah, Allan, that was really petty I'm sure that one winding will make a huge difference on the OHM meter! Seriously, nice to see you are on your toes and paying attention to details. Thanks for your kind words my man.

Pat, thanks for the vote of confidence. But really the wind was somewhat taken out of my sails last night when I just happened to read some of this section
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=135450
All I can say it will be fun to try and who knows, maybe I'll chance upon some weird and wonderful Bigsby type of sound in one pup and an old Fender 1000 in another

Georg, better still, Why don't I set you up with the materials, winder and a bottle of Gibson's Finest and let YOU get'er done?

[Georg]

Georg, better still, Why don't I set you up with the materials, winder and a bottle of Gibson's Finest and let YOU get'er done?

Sure, why not. One never knows what may come out of that...

[Bill Ford]

Bent,
On #1-(backside of pup)-"A"= centering hole in backside for registering pup
"B"= holes drilled and tapped in backside of pup to mount onto part #2
#2 is pup mount to attach to wheel on right side of calculator.
(that is where you are going to mount pup?) for winding.
#2 to be centered on winder wheel, mounted with appropriate screws/fasteners
You could make a plug/dowel of sorts to mount in part #2 that would extend into
winder wheel, and pup for easy setup. Appropriate holes for the pup wire(s) to be drilled where needed.

ABIFF....Bill

[Bent]

I'm not sure I follow you here Bill.

"B"= holes drilled and tapped in backside of pup to mount onto part #2"... "Backside of pup" I take to be the lower plastic plate of the bobbin. This plate is 1/16" thick and does not lend itself to tapping very well.
I was thinking of mounting the bobbin directly on the wheel with the help of a locating pin like you suggest and then just hold the bobbin in place with a torsion type spring on both sides...something like a mouse trap type of hold down

[Bill Ford]

Bent,

You said..("B"= holes drilled and tapped in backside of pup to mount onto part #2"... "Backside of pup" I take to be the lower plastic plate of the bobbin. This plate is 1/16" thick and does not lend itself to tapping very well.)

How about if you made #2 out of steel, and milled a slot with a locating pin for the pup, would the magnets be strong enough to hold it (pup) in place?
We used 1/8" plastic for the pups we (Charles) made, that was strong enough for threads to hold it in place. Also FWIW, we used 1/4 pound spools of wire for each one, don't remember what size wire, or the impedance that was the end results. I disassembled a 12 string MSA pickup that was a two row magnet type and used the magnets to make two pups. Sounded good to me, and was told be different people that it sounded good, also that was when all you used was PSG/VP/amp, no toys,sound altering devices,etc.

Hmmmm, still thinking, let us know what you decide. Bill

[mac639]

Here's some pictures of my pickup winder. It's really hokey compared to yours Bent.....but it works. Just an old cordless drill I had laying around. I run it from a large 12 volt gel cell battery that I charge up occasionally. The speed control is an old rheostat that was the dash lights dimmer on a spare 85 Eldorado I bought for parts for my "good" one. The counter is an old counter from a treadmill...also a found part. Take note of the aluminum bracket (adjustable) that determines the side to side limits of the winding. The wire starts out in a coffee can on the floor. It has to feed off the end of the roll. Just stand it upright in the can and away you go. Then the wire goes through a clothespin with a small section of felt, You need something like this to apply some tension to the wire. Then it goes through a broken off end of a fish pole with the glass bead tip. This swivels back and forth by hand to more or less create a level winding. Then past the aluminum bracket to the bobbin. The windings tend to want to be more slack on the sides of the bobbin and tighter over the ends, That's why you need the tension thingee with the clothespin.
Just thought I'd throw this stuff out to you guys.
Mac