PVC Pipe Machine Puts a New Spin on Coil Winders

Winding wire can be done by hand if you’re willing to invest a significant amount of time. You can use a rotary tool if you’re okay with it potentially being a little messy. Do this more than once or twice, however, and you may be searching for an alternative approach – i.e. a machine that takes care of it for you.

Although DIY coil winders projects aren't particularly rare, few if any can match the simplicity of Tuenhidiy’s Grbl-based water pipe system. The device, as implied by its name, utilizes a series of PVC piping sections, along with associated connectors, to form a machine structure that could be duplicated in short order.

It uses two steppers to advance the spool, while moving the feeder guide back and forth to produce row after row of neatly organized wires. An Arduino Grbl setup provides control for the device.

The movable guide assembly is made out of a PVC tee and cross. A shaft keeps it in the proper alignment, and a nut embedded in the cross allows it to be pulled back and forth via a lead screw. The wire is precisely guided by former pen parts, and the wire source spool is arranged either vertically, or horizontally using a PVC elbow.

A summary of the build is found in the video below, and you can see it producing very good results around the 1:50 mark. Lots more info, including Grbl parameters and a setup spreadsheet, can be found in Tuenhidiy's project write-up.