CNC Guitar Pickup Mini Coil Winder – MK6

4th December 2024
OUT OF STOCK

Sorry to say we are out of stock again and due to moving to new premises and a back log of work we are not going to start assembling a new batch of machines until the 2nd Quarter of 2025

If you would like to be placed on the waiting list and informed when they are back in stock, then please feel free to email info@ukcnc.net

About

The Mini Coil Winder has been designed to mainly do Guitar Bobbins (Pickups) that use very small wire.
We do have customers use our Mini Coil Winder for doing other bobbins that use small wire also but we do not support this and the focus while developing this machine was mainly to do guitar pickups!.

We have been meaning for a couple of years now to update the Mini Coil Winder to give it more speed and introduce some other enhancements such as ballscrew on the traverse and mini wire guide, but we have been so busy with building larger custom machines and keeping up to date with building our other stocked machines that time and resource has just not been on our side. So every time we ran out of the Mini’s we just built another batch to keep people happy.

But now we have designed the Guitar Pickup Mini Coil Winder MK6 !
All the enhancements and improvements are based on customer feedback on what they wanted to see in a new design to improve previous models.

We will be adding videos and more examples when we get time and as usual we try to supply as much information on our machines as we can, rather than just having a picture and a couple of sentences !

We have kept the Bobbin Plate which has multiple spacing of M4 threaded holes on the Bobbin Plate, to accommodate most Guitar Bobbins out there and also pockets for magnets.
We no longer supply the magnets, but for anyone wanting to fit their own, the pockets are 10mm diameter and 2mm deep.
The magnets are handy if re-winding a pickup that already has the slugs inserted.
If none of the centered hole measurements allow you to mount your pickup then you can simply make a acrylic, 3D printed or wooden mounting plate which has the hole sizes you need and also holes to suit mounting it onto the bobbin plate.
Please check out the FAQ which shows examples of customers that have made their own adapter plates.

It can be used for semi automatic winding of Guitar Bobbins by just using the bobbin motor and guiding the wire by hand or you can use the fully automated feeder arm that has a incremental resolution of 0.0025mm

If you want to do manual winding and guide the wire by hand then we have supplied a nylon spacer that can be mounted on the felt pad screw.
Simply jog the feeder to the line the spacer up with your pickup and choose Manual Winding from the software tab. Now set the amount of turns and the speed you require and click the Activate button.
Speed control is now handed over to the dial on the side of the machine that controls the winding speed.

On the side of the machine you have the Status LED that is used to show connection status for the controller, limit triggers and manual mode.
The switch will place the machine in Running Mode (R) or Firmware Update Mode (F).
Speed can be controlled using the small dial and used for Manual Winding or Calibration.
USB B socket for communications back to the PC.
Power is supplied via the USB lead for the controller and the green LED will light up when it is plugged in.
The power for the motors is supplied by the onboard power supply inside the machine.

We did a quick test and wound 5000 turns of 0.05mm wire on a 6.2mm height pickup at 2000 RPM and then we decided to push the machine to 3000 RPM and do another 5000 turns. This was using just the felt tensioner pads and not a Magnetic Tensioner.
The results of the 10000 turns can be seen in the pictures below.

Below is a video showing the machine in action winding 5000 turns of 0.05mm wire at 2000RPM.
Examples in the video show using a tensioner and just using the felt pads to apply tension.

As you can see by the pictures, the machine is rock solid and weights a massive 9kg even though the foot print is only 210mm x 210mm.
We have gone for a Three Tier approach on this machine:

Base Plate.


First Tier which is the base plate keeps all the power and control circuits in one place and separated with a 10mm thick plate above it to keep any interference from the motors above and has the following components attached:

• A high quality Meanwell power supply.
  This complies to safety standards UL60950-1, TUV EN60950-1, EN60335-1, CCC GB4943 approved. as well as EMC Compliance to EN55032, GB9254, Class B, EN55014, EN61000-3-2, – 3 Compliance to EN61000-4-2,3,4,5,6,8,11; EN61000-6-2 (EN50082-2), heavy industry level, criteria A.
  Protections: Short circuit / Overload/ Over voltage/ Over Temperature.
• Also we have another protection Shunt Circuit that protects the power supply from any high voltage spikes caused by the servo motor.
  We learnt our lesson while testing and destroying a number of power supplies when pushing the motors to their limits and this circuit was a must.
• Then we have our latest ARM Controller MKIII.
  This has been developed on over the last 10 years and firmware features and configuration improved to suit our coil winding machines based again on customer feedback on what they would like to see in the software.
  We use a unique way of creating our pulse trains to run the motors by using dedicated DDS generators and a powerful ARM processor.
  This allows us to run our machines at high precision and near perfect interpolation between each Axis. Also we can create very fast pulse trains at resolutions that most embedded processors can not produce.
• And finally a fuse protected IEC switched AC input socket. We stick with the recommended grounding star configuration which stops any ground loops and offers the safety needed.

Middle Plate

On the Second Tier we have the working mechanics, keeping them away from fingers and keeping things neat and tidy.
Closed loop motors were a big step up for this little machine and one of the reasons that the price jumped up, but after testing we are so happy we did as what a difference this makes.
With a closed loop system the motors have a built in encoder that tracks the position of the motor and corrects any missing steps which makes it very accurate even at higher speeds and prevents stalling of the motors when tension is applied.
Also opting to use a closed loop servo motor to drive the bobbin plate assembly has made the machine so much quieter and much higher speeds can be reached without loosing torque.
We wanted to keep the motors enclosed on the new design and to go away from the bobbin plate being mounted directly onto the motor shaft. Using pulleys and belts allowed us to do this and adding a tensioner pulley allows fine adjustments to get it to run even smoother.

• Closed Loop Servo motor that is has a pulley and belt setup that drives the upper bobbin motor.
• Closed Loop Stepper motor that has again a pulley and belt setup which connects to the ballscrew.
• The 12mm ballscrew and support bearings are high grade C5 with zero backlash and superb repeatability.
  While assembling we have packed the ball nut with grease and made sure the ballscrew is also well greased.
• All mounting plates are 10mm thick plates to again keep everything rigid and reduce any vibration.
• There are also two limit switches that have been setup in the correct positions while assembling to give protection and homing features.

Top Plate

Finally the Third Tier is the top plate. This has the working components that the end user has access to!

• Four Low profile miniature rails that we have not greased and left dry to keep things clean, but supply a small pot of grease with the machine and recommend that you apply the grease when receiving your machine.
  
  
• The rail setup for the feeder allows the adjustment of the pulley, felt pad and ruby tipped nozzle that will act as the wire guide when winding.
  These will need to be adjusted to the correct height to suit the pickup you are winding and we have mounted the pulley and nozzle holder with knurled adjusters. Also we supply a 10mm spanner to allow adjustment of the felt pad.
  
  
  The feeder is connected to the ballscrew on tier two via a link plate that goes through the cover.
• The bobbin plate is used for mounting your pickup and is connected to the servo motor below via a belt. You can adjust the tension of the belt with the two set screws if any stretch occurs after a lot of usage.
  We supply a couple of M4 x16 screws for mounting your pickup, but you may have to source longer ones depending on what pickup you need to mount.
  
  
• The revolving tailstock is mounted on another rail that allows it to be pushed against a pickup and give extra support.
• Finally we have the covers that are made of solid 1.6mm aluminium and laser engraved, giving detailed information on what connections plug in where. Also we have a small cover over the bobbin assembly that can be removed when adjusting the belt tension.

The picture below shows all three tiers before the covers go on.

The cover has multiple screws to keep it in place and stop any unwanted vibration.
A small cover has also been added to the bobbin assembly to keep it all neat and tidy.

SPECIFICATION

We may be repeating some of the above that we have already listed, but better to have too much information sometimes!

The Machine has a small footprint of 220mm x 220mm.

• A combination of 4mm to 10mm tough aluminium plates that have oxidisation treatment applied make up a solid frame.
  This stops any unwanted vibration or flex.
  Stainless Steel A2 screws used all around except for the black natural coloured button heads that secure the hood.
• USB controlled using software written for Windows (WinXP to Win10). Uses built in HID drivers that come with Windows.
• Branded Power supply is now built into the machine and powered by a switched IEC socket on the side of the machine. AC input 90-264V 50/60 Hz.
  Please note that we dispatch with a UK mains plug on the lead. If outside the UK then you will need to cut this off and put a suitable plug onto the lead.
• The controller is now also built into the machine and covered for protection, the USB port, Manual dial and LED status LED’s are accessible through the side panel of the cover.
• New mini wire guide setup that can be adjusted in both horizontal and vertical positions.
• On the bobbin plate assembly and motor, it has now been replaced with a closed loop servo motor and closed loop stepper motor on the feeder/traverse which now drives a C5 ballscrew. No fear of missing steps and smoother/quieter motion, not to mention increased torque.
• Speed of the Bobbin Servo can go over 3000+ RPM. We recommend a max speed of 2000 RPM.
• Built in motor shunt circuit that protects the electronics if a motor stall occurs.
• The mini wire guide can be adjusted to use the felt pad to apply tension or can be moved out of the way to allow an external tensioner.
• Ruby tipped nozzle addition like our bigger machines used to the most requested modification that has been requested for years the ability to bring it closer to the pickup being wound. We have listened to this and now it is here!
• For those that want to still manually guide the wire for some pickups, the nozzle and pulley can be dropped down out of the way and a extension can be bolted in place of the felt pad setup.
• As you can also see it uses high quality low profile rails/carriages for the feeder arm and also the revolving tailstock.
• The tailstock can be slid and secured against the bobbin without any flex or movement, securing it in place.
• Built in Left and Right limit switches for safety and homing features of the software.
  When homing make sure the nozzle is back, clear of the bobbin plate or else you will break it due to the large torque !
• Feeder has 40mm travel plus a little bit more to allow for homing seek and offset.
• The maximum pickup diameter we state as 120mm but you could go to 130mm at a push as shown in the pictures below.

More details on the software is further down on this page, but the main screen most people will be interested in is under the Automated Coil Winding Tab and the Switch To Pickups Button.

In this section of the software you can click the Populate Default Pickups to populate the drop down box.
There are 28 pickups already defined in the software and these parameters for each pickup was supplied by experience pickup winding guys.
1950-1951 Tele Bridge
1950-1960 Tele Neck
1951-1964 Tele Bridge
1954 Strat
1955 Strat
1956 Strat
1957 Strat
1958 Strat
1959 Strat
1960 Jazz Bass Bridge
1960 Jazz Bass Neck
1960 Precision Bass
1960 Strat
1960-1970 Tele Bridge
1960-1970 Tele Neck
1961 Strat
1962 Strat
1963 Strat
1964 Strat
1965 Strat
1966 Strat
1967 Strat
Di Marzio Super Distortion
Gibson 1959/60 PAF
Gibson P90
Ibanez Super 70
Rickenbacker 4001 Bridge
Rickenbacker 4001 Toaster Neck

You can edit these pickups and re-save to update their settings.
Also you can save your own pickups to the database.

Extra Options

The Mini Coil Winder comes with felt pads that are used for applying tension to the wire as shown in the picture above, but if you want constant tension then using a tensioner such as the MTCS is an option.

The MTCS covers wire sizes of 0.04mm-0.14m and has a tension range of 10g-120g.
It uses Permanent magnet and tension is generated to the damping wheel.
The non-contact mechanism design provides stable, consistent and precision tension to the wire. Great for both high and normal speed winding.
It also has back tension adjustment for the arm to keep it at the optimum position.
Comes complete with custom weighted stand.

Software

All of our Coil Winding machines are controlled via the USB port of a PC running Windows, along with our custom software that is supplied FREE.
We have no plans in the future to charge for the software and all updates will remain FREE!

We have been asked why we do not offer a dedicated built in touch screen to run the machine and the simple answer is that we can add more features by developing for a dedicated computer and it is easier for our customers to update new releases as our software is always being updated and kept upto date.
We have customers that have mounted a low cost tablet to their machine that is running Windows OS or loaded the software on a Single Board Computer (SBC) along with a touch screen. Then simply connected a USB lead to our controller.

The software has been written to run on a PC with Windows operating system. It will happily run on low spec systems and will work on windows XP and up to Windows 10.
Minimum Screen Resolution for the software is 1024 x 768 or larger.

When starting the software you’ll select the coil winding profile for your machine. This will change certain parameters within the software to match the machines resolution. Below is a short list of the different settings.

• Mini Coil Winder MK4/5 – Belt system pitch is 0.0125mm resolution steps with a minimum pitch of 0.0250mm recommended.
• Mini Coil Winder MK6 ballscrew model resolution of 0.0025mm with a minimum pitch of 0.0050mm recommended.
• 200mm Coil Winder – 0.0003125mm resolution steps with a recommended minimum pitch of 0.005mm recommended.
• Quad Coil Winder – Belt system pitch is 0.0005mm resolution steps with a minimum pitch of 0.005mm recommended.
• 600mm Coil Winder & Custom – The resolution will be set within the required specification. Contact us for more information.

Automated Coil Winding Tab

As you can see above it has a dedicated database and GUI for Bobbins/Pickups where you can load and save your own. You simply enter the width, number of windings and wire size.

The software will then calculate the nearest layer count based on the pitch you choose so you can see how close you are to the original.






For the Guitar Pickups section the software comes with a populate button that will load the built in database with a default set of common guitar pickup bobbins.

For Scatter Winding, please Click Here

Standard Scripting Tab

The Scripting Engine allows us to have more control over the coil winding process by allowing you to create a series of commands to control bobbin windings and feeder movement.

These commands can be built up and saved as a script for later use.

Creating the commands is very simple by using the GUI interface to choose the options you want for each new command and press the Add Command button

Absolute Scripting Tab

The Absolute Scripting Engine takes advantage of the Flash Memory that comes with the Coil Winder ARM Controller MKII/MKIII board and can be used for buffering loads of small commands.

This removes any small delays that can be caused by the USB communications latency.

Unlike the Standard Scripting Engine which is Incremental positioning for each command, this is absolute positioning on each command.

It can be used for doing variable pitches not only down to turn level but down to degree level.

Please Click here for more information on the Absolute Scripting

3D Coil Winding Simulator

We have also added a 3D Coil Winding Simulator to the software.

Sorry to say this simulator will only run on Windows 10 but the rest of the software will work fine on Windows XP and upwards.

The simulator allows you to check your coil shape before winding.

Manual Winding

Here you can use the dial on the controller box and manually control the speed of the bobbin motor while guiding the wire by hand. This allows the machine to be used as a traditional winding machine.

But also you can now manually control the speed of both the bobbin motor and the feeder motor by using the Automated Coil Winding tab controls.

If using the Manual Controller from the Automated Coil Winding Tab then it is not recommended to run the machine full time with the manual speed controller. This is just to be used as a calibration tool, which will let you determine the best speed for winding the particular bobbin with wire you are using.

Once you have found a speed that suits the bobbin and wire combination then you should switch to automatic mode for full winding.

Below are some more screenshots of different areas of the software and the standard scripting engine. There is a video further down showing the capabilities of scripting with a variable pitch being wound.

You are welcome to download the software and install from our website in the download section

Windows 10/IoT UWP Application

This UWP application is currently in BETA and as so is limited to only the automated winding for the time being.

But the beauty of this software is it can be deployed to a SBC Board running windows 10 Core such as the Raspberry pi, this completely removes the necessity of having a full computer rig to communicate with your coil winder.

All information regarding the UWP Application can be found here – UWP Software

Coil Winder ARM Controller MKIII

We have developed a new controller board that uses a fast Arm Cortex M4 processor and brings many enhanced features to the machine.

All machines dispatched from September 2022 onwards will be supplied with the new Arm Controller MKIII.

The new ARM Controller MKIII controller still has all the features of the original MKI/MKII controllers but with the following enhancement’s:

• Manual controller dial now built in on PCB.
• Support for 3rd Axis
• 8 Inputs with 3 of them dedicated for Limit/Homing and Emergency Stop.
• Higher speed pulse trains.
• Opto Isolated inputs can be switched to use 5/12 Volts.
• On board Flash memory that can be used to buffer upto 130000 commands. This allows for very small movements to be sent to the  controller with no delay between them from the software’s new Absolute Scripting Engine and build up some fancy windings.
• Fram memory also on board for Flash memory optimization algorithm.
• Firmware now upgraded by flicking a switch and existing USB port. No more JTAG programmer needed. 
• JST sockets for each dedicated wiring loom to plug into that makes for better contact and keeps things tidier.

oLDER eDITIONS

Follow the link below to view information about our original Mini coil Winding Machine.

Mini Coil WINDING mACHINE – mk5

Examples

Here are some pictures of a wound pickups using our previous Mini Coil Winder, but new pictures of ones created on the MK6 coming soon.

And some pickups wound by our customers: