For their time, Geo. Stevens coil winders were some of the best available anywhere.
They were used to make radio and TV electronic tuning coils (inductors), and Gibson
and other instrument makers also used Stevens winders to wind their pickup coils.
Here is a 1950's ad showing their possibilities.
I bought these two George Stevens electronics coil winders years ago on Ebay.
When I bought them I had an interest in antique pinball machines, and needed a machine
to rewind solenoid coils for them. I had no idea I was missing too many parts to restore them as they were.
The big one on its own board is a 1954? Stevens 120M gang winder
originally factory set up to wind four pinball machine solenoids at once.
If you look closely, the coil arbor is still mounted in the machine with some
partially wound pinball solenoids on it!
The small one by itself is my 1940's Model 20 winder.
It was basically stripped for parts to keep the 120M running over the years.
Today, I am studying electromechanical engineering at my local technical college,
where I learned about robotics and the Arduino microcomputer. I decided that since the missing parts
for my winders were impossible to find, I would use my own Arduino and a servomotor to convert
my Model 20 into a modern CNC controlled pickup winding robot. After all, if some of my
classmates could design 'battlebots' using them I could use the same tech to make my pickups.
Looks hopeless... doesn't it?
It's not. The castings are all there, the shafts are good, it still has its original wire feeder
(hanging down on the traverse feed rod), and best of all, the 'clock' wire turns counter
actually still works! I will have to make some parts, but there's a lot of potential here.
If you're interested, you can read about it as it happens if you click on the links below.
The Missing Link (and gears, cams, etc)
Winder Theory (how it works)
Arduino