# Solid Steel Yarn Winder -- the most overkill yarn winder I could build



## Badabinski (May 17, 2021)

Over the past few months, I've been working on a present for my girlfriend. She does quite a bit of crochet and has always wanted a yarn winder. I wanted to get her one, but I wasn't happy with the plastic/wooden ones that were commercially available, so I decided to make her one.

I have a pretty in-depth blog post about the build process here: http://www.fos.tech/posts/the-solid-steel-yarn-winder/

I'll also post a couple of pictures and the main video here:

(This will be the only full-res picture posted out of deference to those with slower internet connections. The rest are thumbnails or have been reduced in size on my blog.)


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## jbobb1 (May 17, 2021)

Nice!
I'll have to let my daughter see this, because she's an avid knitter,


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## macardoso (May 17, 2021)

Beautiful work! Looks like it might need a counterweight


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## Badabinski (May 17, 2021)

macardoso said:


> Beautiful work! Looks like it might need a counterweight


That's definitely on the agenda! I'm trying to source some tungsten that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Copper might also work, but it would need to be a pretty large piece. The sorbothane washers and bumpers are doing okay for now, though.

EDIT: I've also considered getting a local machine shop that can do EDM to pop some holes in some tungsten carbide, since that stuff is also quite dense, and might actually be cheaper than pure tungsten.


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## talvare (May 17, 2021)

Very nice ! But since I know absolutely nothing about crochet or knitting, what is the purpose of re-winding the yarn from the ball that it was already on ?
Ted


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## Badabinski (May 17, 2021)

talvare said:


> Very nice ! But since I know absolutely nothing about crochet or knitting, what is the purpose of re-winding the yarn from the ball that it was already on ?
> Ted


The most common case is to divide a ball up into multiple smaller balls. That makes it a lot more manageable when you have a bunch of different colors you're working with. There's a few other use-cases in the blog post, but that's the main one my girlfriend will be using this for.


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## Badabinski (May 17, 2021)

TIL about copper-tungsten. 75/25 copper-tungsten is still almost double the density of steel, while being about half the cost of regular tungsten. Picked up a 0.5"x0.75"x8" bar for $109, so I'll be able to get a counterweight on this thing.


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## Cadillac STS (May 17, 2021)

She could put it in her will. It should last several lifetimes!


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## hman (May 18, 2021)

Wowsers - what a fantastic piece of kit!

I have vague memories (10-20 years old) of a yarn winder that a friend of mine had.  She would frequently buy yarn in large skeins - think of a 1 foot diameter donut of something like 1 or 2 inch minor diameter.  Definitely in need of winding into manageable balls!  The skein would be placed on an expanding-spoke spindle something like the bulk wire measurer/winder at Home Depot.

I also seem to recall that the yarn winder had a guide loop for the incoming yarn, so the strand would align with the center of the winding stem.


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## Lo-Fi (May 18, 2021)

hman said:


> also seem to recall that the yarn winder had a guide loop for the incoming yarn, so the strand would align with the center of the winding stem.


I remember that of the one mum used to use. There was also a funky shape roller guide thing you could use that had notches cut in it, but my memory of that is somewhat vague. 

Lovely work!


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## Badabinski (May 18, 2021)

hman said:


> Wowsers - what a fantastic piece of kit!
> 
> I have vague memories (10-20 years old) of a yarn winder that a friend of mine had.  She would frequently buy yarn in large skeins - think of a 1 foot diameter donut of something like 1 or 2 inch minor diameter.  Definitely in need of winding into manageable balls!  The skein would be placed on an expanding-spoke spindle something like the bulk wire measurer/winder at Home Depot.
> 
> I also seem to recall that the yarn winder had a guide loop for the incoming yarn, so the strand would align with the center of the winding stem.


Ah, sounds like a swift. I went out and purchased one of those (they seem like a real headache to build), but I might replace some of the wooden components with steel in the future. In particular, I really dislike that the screws and clamp are all wood, and I think a hard chrome-plated shaft might look really cool for the central pivot. Might give it that "hydraulic cylinder" vibe.


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## hman (May 18, 2021)

The name "swift" definitely rings a bell!  ... wood lath origami


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