CNC coil winding machine

This is a normal CNC milling machine with a custom made coil winding attachment. It uses Gcoil (part of Gsuite) to generate the G-code. The coil being wound is an ignition coil. The wire is very thin: 42 AWG, or 0.063 mm diameter. It breaks easily so the source bobbin runs on bearings. Some back pressure must be applied to keep the winding nice and tight, hence using my fingers to do this. I have yet to make an automated system for that. All layers are insulated from each other with a special mylar sheet to prevent flashover.

This is just a test run to adjust some settings for the machine but it shows that it works.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• CNC coil winding machine
• coil winder
• ignition coil

[kahlito72]

too slow the process, what would you do if i need 1000pcs in a day?

[flyboyqw]

@kahlito72

If you need 1000+ pcs a day you would need to buy a fully automatic coil winding machine. These start at around $4000. I only need a few coils and I cannot wind 30.000 windings per coil by hand. So I made a coil winding machine using equipment I already had (cnc plotter). The result is a semi automatic coil winding machine at a extra cost of about $20 (some brackets, and bearings). That is a factor of 200 cheaper. Don't spend money on things you don't need.

[nadinka007]

what a crap..

[flyboyqw]

@nadinka007

Please elaborate.

[superemposed]

wht do you need to add mylar if the wire is enameled?

[flyboyqw]

@superemposed

This is an ignition coil which will output about 50.000 volts. The voltage rise between each winding is maybe 0.5 volt so the thin layer of enamel is sufficient for insulation. However, the voltage rise between each new layer is about 100 volts and that can cause sparks flying between the layers which will destroy the coil. Hence the mylar insulation layer. Take apart any ignition coil (which is not vacuum potted in epoxy) and you will see that they all have insulation layers.

[kahlito72]

thanks, your comments are so good.

[flyboyqw]

@ZmajSnoshaj

I am glad you like my coil winder. There was no cheap off the shelf system available so I decided to make my own. Indeed, it can probably rewind your coil as well. It runs on gcode so you can pretty much generate any pattern. Most homebrew winders you can find are inaccurate setups using a modified hand drill or so. But this is precision engineering, made using a milling machine and a lathe.

[ZmajSnoshaj]

Sir.. you have my utmost respect... this would probably be the only way to re-wind the antenna loading coil on my 1929 Westinghouse WR-5. It has the RCA Radiola 80 reproducer/tuner. The coil would have to be rewound on the original phenolic form. Still thinking of ways to rewind it....

Beautiful setup you have here... I am thoroughly impressed.

The women of the Westinghouse coil-winding sweat factory back in the 20's would laugh at this.. ;)