-
Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.
New GTA member
- Thread starter BldrJ
- Start date
Yes for sure! Your work is spectacular! Would love a shop tour…Welcome from Etobicoke! Looks like we have some things in common, I work for a custom lighting shop near Islington and Lakeshore.
Exactly! It rewinds larger spools of yarn onto cones or spools. Mostly for rewinding before and after dying.
Lots of parts to make things and the drums are interesting how they neatly guide the yarn. I have another version that guides the yarn mechanically, and another two for thread.
Looking for another use/home for some of the parts.
Good eye.
You and @Dan Dubeau need to compare notes. His wife is into yarn and he is constantly making stuff to make her life easier.
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
That's just to offset the other ways I make her life harder
.She's not yet at the point where she'd need a winder quite that big, but the one I made will do 6 skeins with both arms on, although we really only ever run it with one, as the in feed gets a bit unwieldy , and the downtime untangling stuff isn't really worth the headache, or extra throughput. Winding yarn is sometimes tricky business. She wouldn't have much use for a multi head cone winder like that though, those are for the mills themselves. She primarily buys blank yarn on the cone usually, and will dispense from there by weight/yardage depending on product or what she's dying. Some she gets delivered already skeined, just depends on the type/weight. She does use a powered ball winder though (a few actually). I did not make those ones, as she grew tired of waiting for me to get to it and just bought them
. I don't just procrastinate on MY projects......I have some smaller self- contained units that could be powered by a small motor or drill. I’m not sure if it would work for thicker, or how thick a yarn, they were originally used for yarn for sock knitting. I’ll dm you a picture next week. I have most of the machines apart, if you’d like some parts, some of the drums are teflon coated…That's just to offset the other ways I make her life harder
She's not yet at the point where she'd need a winder quite that big, but the one I made will do 6 skeins with both arms on, although we really only ever run it with one, as the in feed gets a bit unwieldy , and the downtime untangling stuff isn't really worth the headache, or extra throughput. Winding yarn is sometimes tricky business. She wouldn't have much use for a multi head cone winder like that though, those are for the mills themselves. She primarily buys blank yarn on the cone usually, and will dispense from there by weight/yardage depending on product or what she's dying. Some she gets delivered already skeined, just depends on the type/weight. She does use a powered ball winder though (a few actually). I did not make those ones, as she grew tired of waiting for me to get to it and just bought them
I’d love to see the machine you made.
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
This is the powered skein winder I made her. There is another arm for the other side too, but it rearely get's used. Mostly only when she'd skein from cones for dying, not for finished product.
Nothing too special, but it works pretty good for her needs, and was fun to design and machine all the parts. It's powered by a wiper motor and PWM speed controller, although I had initial plans for a programmable controller (still do), but lack the knowledge for that. Certainly not industrial quality, the original plan was to make one and work out a bunch of bugs on this one, then make them to sell to the small Indie Dyer community (hence the flat pack nature of the design for shipping). After talking to some other manufactures at shows, and getting to know the market more over the years, it seems pretty saturated with established players, and I'd probably only be able to sell maybe 10 at a price I needed to make money so I moved on to other stuff. I honestly had no desire to create a business out of this, and was just looking for supplemental products for hers, but she does well enough now that that's not needed, so I have no interest in pursuing it farther. Decent quality Cake and cone winders are so damn cheap it's not worth trying to make them, although I have added a motor to one, and she's wore out a few over the years. She's not yet over that cusp of business volume to justify industrial quality stuff, or the price and space they require if she were to try and scale up. Child labour is currently filling that labour gap nicely. I do have another machine she wants me to make for a part of her process that nobody else does, but when I'll get to that I don't know. Too many of my own projects to work on.....
Do you work in the fiber/mill industry, or just salvage industrial equipment? I've been in a few mills, and always found the equipment fascinating.
Nothing too special, but it works pretty good for her needs, and was fun to design and machine all the parts. It's powered by a wiper motor and PWM speed controller, although I had initial plans for a programmable controller (still do), but lack the knowledge for that. Certainly not industrial quality, the original plan was to make one and work out a bunch of bugs on this one, then make them to sell to the small Indie Dyer community (hence the flat pack nature of the design for shipping). After talking to some other manufactures at shows, and getting to know the market more over the years, it seems pretty saturated with established players, and I'd probably only be able to sell maybe 10 at a price I needed to make money so I moved on to other stuff. I honestly had no desire to create a business out of this, and was just looking for supplemental products for hers, but she does well enough now that that's not needed, so I have no interest in pursuing it farther. Decent quality Cake and cone winders are so damn cheap it's not worth trying to make them, although I have added a motor to one, and she's wore out a few over the years. She's not yet over that cusp of business volume to justify industrial quality stuff, or the price and space they require if she were to try and scale up. Child labour is currently filling that labour gap nicely
. I do have another machine she wants me to make for a part of her process that nobody else does, but when I'll get to that I don't know. Too many of my own projects to work on.....Do you work in the fiber/mill industry, or just salvage industrial equipment? I've been in a few mills, and always found the equipment fascinating.
That’s really nice work on the winder. My landlord was in the dying and sock knitting business and I acquired some machinery from him that I couldn’t see go to scrap. I have an appreciation of old machinery and the artistry that sometimes went into the smallest of parts, like the designers were putting their marks on it.This is the powered skein winder I made her. There is another arm for the other side too, but it rearely get's used. Mostly only when she'd skein from cones for dying, not for finished product.
View attachment 59878
View attachment 59881
Nothing too special, but it works pretty good for her needs, and was fun to design and machine all the parts. It's powered by a wiper motor and PWM speed controller, although I had initial plans for a programmable controller (still do), but lack the knowledge for that. Certainly not industrial quality, the original plan was to make one and work out a bunch of bugs on this one, then make them to sell to the small Indie Dyer community (hence the flat pack nature of the design for shipping). After talking to some other manufactures at shows, and getting to know the market more over the years, it seems pretty saturated with established players, and I'd probably only be able to sell maybe 10 at a price I needed to make money so I moved on to other stuff. I honestly had no desire to create a business out of this, and was just looking for supplemental products for hers, but she does well enough now that that's not needed, so I have no interest in pursuing it farther. Decent quality Cake and cone winders are so damn cheap it's not worth trying to make them, although I have added a motor to one, and she's wore out a few over the years. She's not yet over that cusp of business volume to justify industrial quality stuff, or the price and space they require if she were to try and scale up. Child labour is currently filling that labour gap nicely
Do you work in the fiber/mill industry, or just salvage industrial equipment? I've been in a few mills, and always found the equipment fascinating.
I’m mostly in construction/design and integrate some of the pieces into my work to give them a second life.
As you say, the reality of making your own machines is eye opening. I would think a stepper or servo driven winder would be more practical on a hobby level where speed is not an issue.
The machines have been a great source of parts (bearings/shafts/bolts, etc) but they are mostly taking up space now. Plus, it’s often cheaper to buy a ready made tool.
You should see the sock knitting machines…
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
Tell me more about these sock machines......
It's a shame these old machines get scrapped. As much as I always hate to see machines get picked apart like the carcass of dead animal, I realize it's the circle of life. There are still smaller mills in Ontario still making a go of it running older equipment. Not big enough to justify the cost of commissioning new, but still chugging out a living running the older stuff and keeping it going. Wife had some fleece spun by one last year, and some more to send in this year. It's fascinating seeing how movement was controlled mechanically, and how fickle and finicky some of the timing can be. And tension......
Stepper drive for hers was part of the plan, but just never got to it. Wiper motor worked fine, and I never got to figuring out the controller stuff. At the rate things go around here my Son (12) will probably figure out the programming before I do, and he'll just hand me a print and tell me to go build the motor mount lol. Actually looking forward to that day.
It's a shame these old machines get scrapped. As much as I always hate to see machines get picked apart like the carcass of dead animal, I realize it's the circle of life. There are still smaller mills in Ontario still making a go of it running older equipment. Not big enough to justify the cost of commissioning new, but still chugging out a living running the older stuff and keeping it going. Wife had some fleece spun by one last year, and some more to send in this year. It's fascinating seeing how movement was controlled mechanically, and how fickle and finicky some of the timing can be. And tension......
Stepper drive for hers was part of the plan, but just never got to it. Wiper motor worked fine, and I never got to figuring out the controller stuff. At the rate things go around here my Son (12) will probably figure out the programming before I do, and he'll just hand me a print and tell me to go build the motor mount lol. Actually looking forward to that day.
It really pained me to strip the winders down. I have one larger section left. These were all mechanically controlled, and yes the tension…I have a bucket of tension regulators. It was interesting that there were these pucks of parrafin wax that would help.Tell me more about these sock machines......
It's a shame these old machines get scrapped. As much as I always hate to see machines get picked apart like the carcass of dead animal, I realize it's the circle of life. There are still smaller mills in Ontario still making a go of it running older equipment. Not big enough to justify the cost of commissioning new, but still chugging out a living running the older stuff and keeping it going. Wife had some fleece spun by one last year, and some more to send in this year. It's fascinating seeing how movement was controlled mechanically, and how fickle and finicky some of the timing can be. And tension......
Stepper drive for hers was part of the plan, but just never got to it. Wiper motor worked fine, and I never got to figuring out the controller stuff. At the rate things go around here my Son (12) will probably figure out the programming before I do, and he'll just hand me a print and tell me to go build the motor mount lol. Actually looking forward to that day.
I thought at the time a multi belt sander would be just the thing for finishing / polishing, but haven’t got to it yet.
No matter what I seem to make it always seems I’m short just one size or part, which makes the machine design or jig take a different tack.
Learning how to machine and turn has been really helpful, but I’m still a complete newbie and approach most of my projects with the end goal in sight. It’s really hard with machining though not to enjoy the process and the individual pieces.
I should post what I have parts wise if anyone needs/wants some parts, but it does seem like a lot.
The thread winders are really something. High speed machines to take a large spool and rewind to serger size spools.
600v and some of the DIN rail connectors are brittle so I never plugged them in, but used some of the blowers out of them. Nice cast aluminum housings and Swedish motors, albeit 600v.
The sock machines are something else really. Mess the timing up on that one… looks like a music box with the cams.
We’ve been here for over 20 years it has changed a lot. I’m still optimistic and feel that there are so many great places in Brampton. Lots to offer and having a shop/studio close to home is a plus.
I had considered a move to Burlington…