Woolwinder Plus

The parts

First of all, the parts needed. 

All the build parts here are from me, I have not included the gear parts which you can download from the original author.

You need from his model:

N17.stl
N63.stl
Spool_Top.stl
Spool_bot.stl
Gear.stl
Gear_top.stl
Gear_bot.stl
TInner_bot.stl
TInner_top.stl

These are the mechanical part on top of the device which are not included here.

YarnGuide.stl was redesigned here so don't use the original part.
House.stl was completely rebuilt so this can't also used here.
 

Next are the components you need to buy.

From the original author's page these parts are still be needed (I add all the links where I got it, no affiliate links):

2 x Ball Bearing 30x42x7
1 x Ball Bearing 17x30x7
1 x KY-040 Rotary Encoder (mine was not available anymore so this is a search page. Choose the one you want as long as it is a KY-040)
1 x Arduino Nano (choose any source you want, this is just an example)
1 x Yarn Tensioner
1 x OLED 128x64
1 x BLDC 57BLF01 (the motor): I got mine from here as bundle with the below mentioned 8015A-5 driver. Unfortunately it shows “Currently not available” as of 02.10.2024. So you need to find another vendor for these parts. Compare the specifications as there are many similar looking parts on the market but with different voltages, dimensions and so on. The presented Wool Winder was made in size for exactly these parts.
1 x DC-DC 12V/24V->5V5A (25W)
Some M4, M5 and M6 screws and nuts

Additionally for the new version:
1 x BLDC driver 8015A-5 (see above)
1 x E38S6G5-600B-G24N
1 x Power Supply 24V (3.75A 90W)
1 x Power Plug (30V 10A DC)
1 x Power Switch
1 x VPulley disc aluminium
1 x Arduino Screw Terminal (there are many vendors, choose the one you want)
2 x Clips
Some wire conductors to avoid soldering (soldering only needed for power plug and power switch). I recommend this type. Quick and easy to assemble and disassemble.

Printing

For the smaller gear parts I strongly recommend to print them with 100% infill. I already had the case that one was broken after the yarn stucked in the device.

I printed all with PLA+.

I used OrcaSlicer so the 3MF file above is a 5 plate file which contains all the parts as single plates (I hope with all the settings, I'm not sure as this was my second try with OrcaSlicer).

The design file was made with Sketchup 2017 Make, so anyone should be able to use it. I have additionally exported all the files as STL.

The top plate (green part in the photos) should be printed with supports because of the T-slots. I forgot that and needed to add some “help supports” using a foam which I added during printing. It kind of worked but of course a real support would solve that better.

It took me more than a kilo of PLA+ to print all. :)
Because of that the part began with green and ended in black…

Assembling

I found that I have used the original size for the hole for the power plug. The used power plug which is able to stand with higher Ampere is a bit bigger and doesn't fit into the model's hole. So either change the hole in the model or simply use a drill to make the hole bigger - it's no problem due to the thick walls and that the plug will be screwed in.

For the T-slots I found that it is a bit hard to push the parts together, could have done the slots or the T a bit more different in size. But it works if you sand the parts a bit and carve the corners a bit more round. I also used a bit graphite oil spray which makes the assembling easier.

You need to assemble the parts in a specific order to be able to get all in. It's still not much room for all the parts in it but at least everything is fixed.

First, the motor should be inserted as it can't be inserted later (the middle wall will close it's housing). Two screw holes of it are also used to hold two of the holes of the yarn guide so add it also at the same time. Make sure the cables are oriented to the open side.

You can see that in the photos in the orange part (this was my first test print with the original plate which is smaller).

Screw the DC/DC converter at the wall and make sure the cables are oriented to the bottom of the device. (In the middle wall there is a rectangular hole to pull the cables through it to insert them into the Arduino).

Screw the BLDC-8015A (the big black driver) with the cooling fins to the outer side. At the left and right wall there are rectangular long holes which are to get air into the device as the BLDC-8015A has also air holes at the same place. These can be used to get a screw driver through it for easier assembling.

Assemble the big gear of the top mechanic with the two ball bearings and the smaller gear on top of it and then screw it to the top plate as it would be hard to do that later..
As it was not easy to find out how to assemble the gear parts I've added some photos how they need to be assembled which should it make easy to do that.

Anything else from the top can be assembled later as the screws are all outside.

I've not made a wiring diagram, you can find one on the original website. I only use a different driver for the motor, no pullup resistors as that can be done with the Arduino with a setting in the program with internal pullup resistors. I've also added a power switch for easier handling.

The wiring should not be problematic even with the “little chaotic” photos of the wiring.

For the measurement rotary encoder pull the cable through the hole of the back wall (which is of small height and as thick as the 8015A, it belongs below it). Make sure that you push the back wall in the right direction, the back of the back wall must close with the side walls. If it is in the wrong direction you'll see that. The hole needs to be on the right side, looking from the front (because the holder for the rotary encoder on the top plate is here).

In my case the end of the preassembled cable was a biiit too thick for the hole. I opened the isolation (heat shrink tubing), then it fits and assembled a new one after pulling the cable through.

Now, assemble the power plug and the power switch (first one needs to get screwed, second one simply press into the hole). Both needs cables attached with soldering, you should also use a heat shrink tubing on the contacts. Then they can simply be assembled using the wire conductors mentioned above.

If you have these parts in you can connect the electric parts with the wire conductors externally, then screw the Arduino screw terminal onto the middle wall (make sure the Arduino is oriented so that the USB port looks to the front side of the device - otherwise you cannot plug it after all is assembled). The Arduino can be connected to all the needed cables. 2 and 3 are the pins used for the external rotary encoder, 7,8,9 for the KY-040, described in the code:

const byte pinENCODER_PIN_A = 2;
const byte pinENCODER_PIN_B = 3;
const byte pinKY40_DT       = 9;  // Connected to DT on KY-040
const byte pinKY40_SW       = 8;  // Connected to SW on KY-040
const byte pinKY40_CLK      = 7;  // Connected to CLK on KY-040

The power supply for the Arduino is also made with wire conductors so the pins into the Arduino can be screwed in with the typical cables for Arduino and the cable through the rectangle hole can be pulled during assembling and then the wire conductors do the rest. On this way it's easier to access these cables.

IMPORTANT: You need to disconnect the Vin pin for Arduino while you are testing/uploading the code with connected USB cable. Put that into the wire conductor if you are ready with all and the USB is unplugged and you want to close the device.

If you have all connected and you've plugged in the Arduino into the screw terminal (and also connected the front display and the front rotary encoder KY-040) You can move the middle wall into the device, where the DC-DC converter cables can be pulled through the rectangle hole on the wall side and the cables from the motor can be pulled through the other hole to screw them into the BLDC8015A. There is also enough room to guide them at the outer side of the middle wall if your cables are long enough.

At this time it's a good idea to test if everything works. Plug the USB cable and load the Arduino with the attached code files. Libraries you do not have in your Arduino IDE can be downloaded inside the IDE.

Then switch the power switch and you should get a “Woolwinder+” in the display for one second. (Handling described below.)

Caution: To assemble the display be extremely careful! At the lower end of the used display there is a flat cable going to the display. This can be easily broken if you assemble the display to the front with too much pressure. I have broken one on this way.. :)

The original idea was to fix it with the red “bone” you see in the picture. I pressed it down too hard and the display was broken…
So best is to only put it into the hole, put the red bone onto it without pressure and then use a good adhesive tape on the back over the complete hole and make sure you do not press the bone too much.

Don't forget to remove the plastic foil from the top of the display before assembling it to the front plate.

The rotary encoder is simple to assemble, remove the nut from it, pull it through the hole and screw it from the outer side. The hole on the inner side was made that large that a standard Arduino cable (with the black long plugs) can be used to plug them to the device.

If anything is assembled you can finally simply push the front plate into the T-slots. If it doesn't fit at the first time, trim the borders of the top plate and the front plate a bit.

Assemble the top parts now, this should be easy enough. In case of the spool my recommendation is to add two little tapping screws because in the original design it's only plugged to the big gear. If anything stucks or the speed is too fast it can be thrown out of the device - better to screw it.

For the tensioner: The device fits into the holder, but it turns easily so the wire cannot do it's job. To fix that, either use a screw through the holder or, like I have done, simply attach a thicker adhesion tape (I only needed ½ of the tensioner, then it stucks into the holder just because of the device is now a bit thicker.

The outer side of the spool is usually a bit rough. You should definitely sand it until it is smoot to not damage the yarn. It also makes removing the final yarn cake easier.

Handling

Feed the yarn from the front side. Pull it over the wire of the yarn tensioner, then to the front around the disc, from there over the aluminium disc you hopefully not forgot to assemble at the top of the rotary encoder, pull the yarn 360° around the disc for better friction and then attach it to the spool.

While the machine is running, make sure that the yarn you are feeding does not stuck. The wire of the tensioner should move slightly to the front side but not reaching it's right side, otherwise the yarn can stuck between the discs of the tensioner.

Don't forget to clamp the device to the table. Although it's heavy enough for lower speed to work without when the yarn stucks it can fly through the room.. :)

Remember that you can always click the knob at the front to immediately stop the motor and resume later. You can also switch it off at the side but you loose your current length and you need to enter everything again. The Arduino has no possibility to save any values except adding an SD card device (feel free to add it and the desired code..).

Software

The handling is very easy. The target was to have an easy way to enter the target length of the yarn and control the speed while it's running.

After the splash screen showing “Woolwinder+” for a second you see the screen to enter the step size. Default is 100. Turning the knob at the front changes this value from 1 to 1000 in 10 steps.

If you press the button, it switches to Length mode. Now turning the knob adds or subtracts the step value you entered before to the target length of the yarn. So if you have a step of 100 you would add 100 to the default length of 500 if you turn the knob in right direction and subtract 100 in the other direction.

Clicking again switches back to Step mode. On this way it's fast to change the desired length value. The maximum value which can be entered is 2,500m.

If you are satisfied with the length value, click and hold the button in either mode, a progress bar appears at the bottom and if it is filled completely it switches to run mode. From here on you can't switch back to setup.

Now still nothing happens, you see a motor speed of 0, you see the maximum length value you have entered before and an empty progress bar with the current length.

If at motor speed 0 you see a value in current length, rotate the aluminium disc counter-clockwise until it is 0. Now you are ready to run it.

Simply turn the knob clockwise to increase the motor speed. (I recommend not to go over around 40 - the device can use up to 127, but I would say that is not practicable.)

Turn it counter-clockwise to slow down the speed.

To quickly stop, press the button and the motor speed is 0. Then you can still go on by again increasing the speed.

You see that the progress bar fills and the length value increases. When it reaches the desired length the device shows “Ready” in the display and the motor speed is stopped to 0.

This is the end of the program, nothing can be entered anymore. To start again, switch the power switch off and on again.

Have fun winding your yarn comfortable.. :)

Christian

Additional links

These external models I've added to my Sketchup model to make it easier to design it.

Display: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/ud25dcc77-5463-4c5b-87b9-35857a29de96/096-Inch-I2C-IIC-Serial-128-x-64-OLED-LCD-LED-Display-Module

KY-040: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/ed735203-7bc9-4aec-93d6-a71e545eec27/Rotary-Encoder-GIAK-KY-040?hl=de

Screw Terminal Adapter for Arduino Nano: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/bc961adf-4338-4b12-bbca-f43306c02f47/Nano-Terminal-Adapter-for-Arduino-Nano

Rotary Encoder: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/863bb979-1dd4-4dcf-8180-e43a07463274/Rotary-Encoder?hl=de

Other links used in the code are documented there.

Licence
 

As the original device was created with the attached licence I needed to use the same.

For me personally you can do whatever you want with it including commercial use as long as the names of all who participated in building the device are not removed.

But you need to ask the original author because of the licence.