JCH
El Nacho
I looked at quite a few different winder designs before I built this one. It's was my first attempt at one of these. The mainshaft is driven by a roller on to the 5" wheel on the right side (when viewed from the front), which in turn drives the other 5" wheel at a 10/1 ratio to the mainshaft for the counter. It only counts every tenth turn. I did this to keep the cyclic rate down low enough to use a cheap proximity switch like those used for home alarm systems. I wrapped the shaft with electrical tape to get the proper diameter, and calibrated it it by trimming the tape about 1/8th inch at a time I was able to to get it accurate within a couple of turns per thousand. The counter itself I made out of a pedometer. They have a small inertia switch inside which triggers the step counter. I removed the switch, and soldered my leads to the contacts.
My goal was to build it cheaply, and out of things commonly available at a hardware store. Most of the winders I looked at utilized belts and pulleys that weren't readily available, so in a rare epiphany I had the idea to use a capstan and roller versus a drive belt, and it worked out great. Along with helping to keep the unit compact, it really simplified taming the 10,000rpm sewing machine motor to usable speed with plenty of torque.
The mainshaft Is a 3/8" rod supported by cheap cage bearings. The motor is mounted on a common door hinge that I cut down to fit. It's positioned so that only the weight of the motor leaning on it is what drives the 5" wheel. The other wheel is for the counter only. It leans on the mainshaft where I built up the diameter to 1/2" for the ten to one ratio. I mounted a small alnico rod magnet on the counter wheel to trigger the switch.
I had to do some fine tuning to the drive wheel. It was a bit out of round. I fixed that by truing it with a sharp scraper. Once it was complete I balanced it by drilling material away from the roller wheel. It turned freely enough that it was obvious where I needed to remove weight because the bias would find bottom.
I power it with my variac.
The wire guides are allthread wrapped with shrinktube threaded into little locking collars. I cut a screwdriver slot onto the end.
The white thing next to the counter is a felt pad with talc on it. Yes talc.
I put it on my fingers that guide the wire.
My goal was to build it cheaply, and out of things commonly available at a hardware store. Most of the winders I looked at utilized belts and pulleys that weren't readily available, so in a rare epiphany I had the idea to use a capstan and roller versus a drive belt, and it worked out great. Along with helping to keep the unit compact, it really simplified taming the 10,000rpm sewing machine motor to usable speed with plenty of torque.
The mainshaft Is a 3/8" rod supported by cheap cage bearings. The motor is mounted on a common door hinge that I cut down to fit. It's positioned so that only the weight of the motor leaning on it is what drives the 5" wheel. The other wheel is for the counter only. It leans on the mainshaft where I built up the diameter to 1/2" for the ten to one ratio. I mounted a small alnico rod magnet on the counter wheel to trigger the switch.
I had to do some fine tuning to the drive wheel. It was a bit out of round. I fixed that by truing it with a sharp scraper. Once it was complete I balanced it by drilling material away from the roller wheel. It turned freely enough that it was obvious where I needed to remove weight because the bias would find bottom.
I power it with my variac.
The wire guides are allthread wrapped with shrinktube threaded into little locking collars. I cut a screwdriver slot onto the end.
The white thing next to the counter is a felt pad with talc on it. Yes talc.
I put it on my fingers that guide the wire.
I'd recommend giving it a go.