coil winder

[Rick S]

Carl,
This gives me alot of new ideas on building and improving my own. Good post. Thanks Rick S

[Carl]

Re: coil winder

Let me know if you make any improvements. I threw mine together one weekend using whatever was lying around so it's not optimal.

I saw another coil winder that uses a high-speed stepper motor. The motor shaft accepts a sandwich of 3 aluminum plates, the middle being smaller. The motor is programmed to wind the exact number of turns, then stop. It was really fast, about 15 seconds for an 8-inch coil. This would be an good solution for a production line. You could also probably make oval or "D" shaped sandwiches.

- Carl

[Rick S]

Re: coil winder

Carl,
I have made a coil winder using acrylic sheets of plastic. It is easier to use with common tools available around the house. I used a surplus motor from a copier machine which I had otherwise any other motor will work that is geared driven. It is a 12vdc motor that I attached to my power supply and I was almost ready to go. I used a circuit to make the the motor variable speed. It works pretty good. I have the tork necessary to make a tight wound coil. Like you mentioned there are three pieces of plastic sandwiched and the middle one is of smaller diameter. I used nuts and bolts around the paraimeter of the circle. This whole form has to be able to come apart and reassemble. Also, the middle piece were cut into four pieces so these parts can be removed without destroying the coil made. With different thicknesses of plastic you can adjust vary closely to the width of the coil design wanted. I hold the coil of magnet wire to create the tork for a nicely wound formed coil. At the same time with my other hand I use enamel clear fast dry paint socked in a rag to lightly spread enamel on the wire to glue some what the coil, so when the form is disassembled the coil will stay together until I can tape the coil. I have made a 10", 8" and a 8" DD coil forms. I don't have a digital camera or I would be posting this message with pictures. I will post something to give a pictorial of the coil winder I built soon.

[Carl]

Re: coil winder

If you're interested, I'd love to post your winder on this site. If you can write up a text description and make some photos, I'll scan them and make a web page and/or PDF file. Just let me know...

[Rick S]

Re: coil winder

Carl,
That sounds good. My working schedule is form hell right now. I am working all hours of the day and 10 days at a stretch. Money is nice, but no time. I will get on it as soon as I can. Rick S