Aumann Coil Winder

[Sean Williams]

A lucky find on Gumtree has netted me a benchtop Aumann Coil Winder.

I have a manual with it, and a couple of wire feeders as well.

Ive had a quick play with it earlier, and other than being seriously gummed up from years of sitting idle, it seems to work.

Does anyone else have experience of these machines?

Cheers
Sean

[Diabolical Artificer]

Nice find Sean, that'll outlast you and probably your heirs too. Looks sturdy enough so you could turn the odd bowl on it : )

Andy.

[Sean Williams]

It's not bad - I've got some noisy bearings in the motor and tailstock to deal with, and it needs a new set of belts.

The bearings are a simple thing to sort - all off the shelf items, the drive belts are a little more tricky - there is a toothed belt that drives a Hengstler counter that does not have a standard pitch belt fitted to it.

1/4" wide, and 1/4" pitch with 67 teeth - very strange!

I think I will change the pulleys on the counter and headstock to allow a modern toothed belt to be used - sadly the original has a split starting in it, and will fail very soon.

Will get some mandrels made up as well, then go searching for bobbins and lams.

[trh01uk]

Sean,

I don't have experience of any coil winding machines, but presumably the manual you have tells you what it can do - and how to do that?

Richard

[retailer]

That's a good find, I was after a commercial coil winder for years but never managed to snag one, so I'm just a bit envious. I'm sure it will serve you well.

[Sean Williams]

Richard, The manual isnt actually that useful from an operational viewpoint - it explains what everything does, but does not give any indication of wire gauge limits, or recommended winding speeds and that sort of thing.

What the manual and other documentation is great for however is maintenance - full engineering drawings showing dimensions and bearing types, a good electrical schematic.

I will get the winder overhauled mechanically - the noise from some of the bearings is indicative of it having worked quite hard over the years, once this is completed, I will have to learn by experience I think

[karesz*]

Dear Sean,
I think your belts specs aren't so strange, but it is more a typical timing belt and you have lot of sources for it, with UK-delivering adresses too...

Best wishes with your nice find!
Karl

[joebog1]

Er perhaps some belt guards too?

Or buy some steel fingers.

GOOD SCORE!!!

Joe

[Sean Williams]

Hi Karl,

Thanks for the links, these are all for current standards - either 2.5 or 5mm pitch - I have already ordered these, and they certainly do not match.

I am going to machine a couple of 2.5mm pitch pulleys to fit the winder - these will then replace the odd belt and pulleys.

Joe,

Don't worry, it has the belt guard - I had removed it to get some lubrication to the various bearings, and to measure up the belts for replacements.

It's currently in bits now, having a good clean, and pretty much wholesale replacement of bearings - they are all worn, or noisy, once that lot is done I think it wil be good for another 60 years of winding.

Whilst dismantling the headstock I found a date code stamped into the mainshaft - 10/63, so I would say the machine dates from around this time.

Cheers
Sean

[Sean Williams]

A little more progress on the coil winder.

The main source of noise was from the motor bearings - for some odd reason the original design called for a partially shielded bearing at the commutator end, and an open bearing at the drive brake end.

What this means is as the brushes and commutator wear, all the resulting dust and muck combine nicely with the bearing lubricant to create a fantastic grinding paste!

I have swapped both of these bearings out for sealed for life types - at less than a tenner a pair fro SKF bearings, the inability to relubricate is of little concern.

Likewise the tailstock bearings were also replaced, the open end of the tailstock bearing being an open design as well, with the rear bearing being of the "Magneto" type - replacement of these has resulted in a silent running tailstock, and the slight spring loading of this part being returned to operation.

A bit more cleaning is needed - I am not going to repaint the machine - it is a workshop tool, and not for display - added to this the requirement for lubrication on a lot of exposed rotating parts, the original stove enamel finish is much more oil resistant than anything I could apply.

Some further testing has shown a huge improvement in the slow speed capability of the motor now it can spin freely.

A new set of belts are also on hand, this will mean that I can take advantage of the different ratios that the pulley system can offer - meaning that I have a much greater control of the winding speed.

Quite surprisingly, everything has come undone without any problems - and sourcing bearings and belts (other than the counter belt) has been a simple exercise.

Hopefully will get it all back together over the next week or so, and maybe have a go at doing some test winding.