Ratchet Strap Winder / Tie Down Strap (Spanngurt Wickler)

Want to keep your ratchet straps neat and tidy and not tangled all over the place, especially in your van / truck?  Then this is for you!

I too was looking for something and I came across @Verender's excellent design which I printed, and it worked great. 

The Original

Firstly, credit where credit is due, the things I liked about the design were:

1. It was sturdy
2. The spindle had a nice tight fit but without any resistence when winding up
3. The addidion of the “stop” in v2 was a great idea
4. It did actually tension the straps when the hook hit the strap guide at the bottom
5. You could slide the spindle out nice and easy leaving just the wound up strap

But for my exact need it had 3 drawbacks:

1. It was too big and bulky, especially if it was going to take up space in my van
2. It had no fixing holes to attach to my racking
3. It required a drill to wind up the strap

The Redesign

So I've set about redesigning the original to meet my needs.  

Tensioner (main body)

The redesigned tensioner now has 2 countersunk fixing holes to attach the winder to van racking or similar and comes in 2 different sizes:- original and “mini”

Manual Spindle

The redesigned spindle can be used to wind up your straps without the need for a drill and now comes in 3 parts:

1. The spindle with attached arm
2. The connecting pin
3. The knob which attaches onto the connecting pin with a satisfying ‘click' and then rotates freely upon it

The Result

This is now all mounted in my van and works a treat. 

The “mini” version is more than big enough for all the ratchet straps I own, most of which are ≤ 10m and rated ≤ 5 ton.

The winding handle works great and the tollerances mean the pin is secure in the spindle and the knob clicks into place securely whilst allowing it to spin freely when turning.

NOTE: If like me you are going to mount the tensioner you will need to drill a hole through your racking large enough for the spindle to fit through.  The “stop” on the spindle is 26mm in diameter so you will need a hole larger than this.  I used a 30mm forstner bit and it worked perfectly.

Future Improvements

Upon first testing there are 2 things which I'm going to change in the future:

1. I've made the head of the countersink holes a little too big, nothing major and it works fine as it is.
2. I want a way to keep the 2 parts together so that the spindle / winder doesn't go missing.  I have an idea, which I'm going to try.

So click the follow button at the top of the page if you'd like to be kept upto date when v2 is uploaded.

Printing

I'll upload more detailed instructions soon together with adding a PDF download, but for me everything was printed in PLA+ with default settings in my slicer.  

• 0.2mm layer height
• 0.4mm nozzle
• 15% grid infill
• Tensioner - No Supports necessary
• Spindle and Knob - No Supports necessary
• Connecting Pin - I drew my own supports which will be in the 3mf file

This model, especially the Tensioner would be a good candiate for a 0.6mm nozzle with a larger layer height.  Though I have only tested how the connecting pin and knob click together with the print parameters listed above.

Constructing the Winder

Hopefully the design of the spindle / winder makes puting it all together intuitive.  I'll add some detailed photos and a downloadable PDF later.

1. The connecting pin goes through the spindle arm from behind and fits flush into the ressess.
2. The knob then clicks into place over the connecting pin.

NOTE: The connecting pin should be an exact fit and does NOT spin around.  The knob should spin freely upon the connecting pin once it's clicked into place.

As always I welcome any feedback, comments or suggestions for adaptations which I'd be happy to consider for future releases.

Greenacre3D