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Homebrew winder and IR heater- 54"

Gene@mpls

New Member
This has been a work in progress- but I think is is done and I am
satisfied. Not only am I cheeep- but I like to customize things to my
tastes. The winder is a rotisserie motor (50 or 100$) with a homebrew
brass adapter to turn a closet rod with various plastic plumbing fittings
to get to the right size to slip a 3" core on. The plastic has some slip
when fit to the rod and coro strips screwed to the plastic has tension/slip
to the core. To load a core you lift the left side of the rod and slip it on-
same to unload- to transfer the core to a wall mounted post leading to
a 12ft table and then to the laminator. I don't think this is common- but...

I also like that I don't have to stoop, as my stooper does not work as it
used to. The winder is turned on/off by a motion detector/relay that also
runs the IR heater. The snorkel picks up the print carriage and triggers
the winder and IR- and shuts off after no motion for 4-5 min. This has not been a problem as the winder will slip for this interval and the IR does not overheat the vinyl before turning off.

The IR I bought is an add-on unit meant to add to an existing heater
on a stand- cheaper and I didn't want the stand. I tried it on top of the
vinyl but it is very clumsy so switched to the bottom with a stainless
'grill' to keep the vinyl off until it is attached to the winder. IR heats from
the inside out so I get good drying. When the vinyl is attached to the
winder the vinyl is pulled taut- the distance can be adjusted with the
large wing nuts which come with the unit.

I am sure a lot of purists are puking on their shoes but it works for me
and has made me a millionaire (joke- but multi-thousandaire). Gene
 

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rjssigns

Active Member
Ultimate hack!:thumb: Need to post a drawing for those of us that want to DIY. I take it the motion sensor detects movement of the printhead?
Very slick too with the IR heater.
 

phototec

New Member
It looks similar- here are the specs for the BB heater I have (120v 54")

http://www.bbcind.com/digidri.aspx

You did an excellent job on your DIY take-up device, I love when people like yourself (and me), go MacGyver and create something like you did, anyone can order something with a credit card, however it takes a special person to go down this road, you get 1000 ata-boys from me!

:goodpost: :notworthy: :rock-n-roll: :clapping:

So, what did you pay for the Digi heater?

Thanks
 

rubo

New Member
Nice job! How hot can you go? Can you control the heat? I'm looking to retrofit my home-brewed flatbed - running SepiaX in it - so far with no heat, but would like to eliminate priming.
 

anotherdog

New Member
nice! has me looking at my roland and wondering.

I like the barbeque motor!

What stops the motor from turning once the material is taken unto the roll? Does it just keep trying to turn until the motion detector turns it off?
 
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