selecting a transformer winder

Hi,

I want to dabble into the old art of transformer winding.

I'm looking into machines that are under $400 USD.

I see a few on ebay, but I've never had to select one before.

Do you guys have any suggestions? I want to be able to make tube or solid state power transformers, audio output transformers, and audio input transformers. Being able to make chokes, inductors, guitar pick ups, and line level transformers would be nice too. I don't need an industrial machine, something with a counter that can do quadfiller EI style transformers is fine.

What do you guys this of this machine:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Manual-Hand-Winding-Winder-Machine-NZ-2Coil-Electric-Dual-purpose-Counting-/331222519228?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d1e668dbc

I can't tell if it's a good machine for winding or not because I've never used one. Can it hold the style bobbins that I want to use? like the ones from edcor?
https://www.edcorusa.com/bobbins

I want to know how many spools of magnet wire it can hold at one time.. I can't really tell.

Specs say - http://www.feizhi.com/product/showproduct.php?lang=en&id=65 :

wire diameter 0.06-0.50mm

coil diameter 12-150mm

coil width 6-110mm

The one linked I belive is a good choice. I own a similar type. Fixing the bobbin straight is no probs as long as you wind square stack with a square hole bobbin. To get rectangular bobbins to fit is more of a struggle and I have not yet come up with a good solution. Becasue you want it TOTALY straight for the wire to align side by side.

gyraf said:

Specs say - http://www.feizhi.com/product/showproduct.php?lang=en&id=65 :

wire diameter 0.06-0.50mm

coil diameter 12-150mm

coil width 6-110mm

Click to expand...

Thanks man!

And thanks landins for the heads up about rectangle bobbins.

it seems like it can make a pretty good sized coil. about 4.3 inches wide max, by about 5.9 inches round max.

The wire size handling capabilities sound a bit weak to me.. can anyone help me clear this up? I've never messed wire magnet wire before. They seem to measure in decimals of a milli meter instead of by gauge. I have no point of reference to start with for comparison.

I wonder how thick the wire might be in an average sized tube power transformer.

and comparatively how thin it might be in a typical audio transformer. 

Check out an awg conversion table. They are available on web and in apps. In the best of worlds you want no dcr. But as we live in this there will be dcr. Transformer winding is a game of compromise, less dcr = thicker wire, thicker wire = bigger core, bigger core = longer magnetic path length, longer mpl = higher dcr etc etc. The current draw is determining your gague, first and formost in pt pri and sec and ot pri sec. What kind of tube application? Guitar? Mic preamp? Audio transformer spans from line level, isolation, to high z with 10000 turns of 0.05 mm.

And watch this. Several times. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UvHCQswnjEg