Where can I get an inexpensive hand winder and do you need different types of tooling fixtures to wind various pickups?
I have found very effective hand winders at Sewing Machine repair stores. They have motors and foot controls to adjust the speed while winding. The motors have to be firmly mounted for winding. The tension and winding angle need to be stable and free of any uncontrollable movement. The shaft on the motor has to be modified to hold the bobbin or coil form. In the early days Fender used a threaded screw on the winding fixture to hold the bobbin while winding. Look at the bottom of old Fender vulcanized fibre bobbins and you will see the hole between the D & G poles are threaded (6/32). When winding many types of pickups you need to make custom tooling for each bobbin shape. Some bobbins like humbuckers should be wound with an automatic winder because you need to match the two coils perfectly with equal turns per layer. You need to examine the shape of each bobbin and figure the best way to mount the pickup. Winding speed should be watched with extreme care as the bobbin could fly off the
