Watch winder ideas

#1

Okay, so looking to make a drawer that contains about a dozen watch winding compartments at some point in the future.

Anyone have any suggestions about the best way to make 12 material covered foam cylinders rotate very slowly either constantly, or timed to spin for an hour at a time a few times a day? Thinking arduino here, but biggest challenge will be what motors to use, or how to make 12 spindles rotate from one motor and some rubber bands? Also needs to be pretty silent and economical.

Thoughts?

#2

Something like this, minus the plastic domes…though that could be a late addition if not too difficult!

#3

I think I still have a watch winder at home somewhere, I will have a look and if I find it we can reverse engineer it ,

It had auto reverse, timers on it and totally silent

#4

Top stuff. Nice one. Interested to see what type of motor they use. Give us a shout if/when you find it. Cheers.

#5

Cheap steppers?

McIgIcM 1 sets 5V 4-Phase Stepper Step Motor Driver Board ULN2003 with drive Test Module Machinery Board Free shipping
http://s.aliexpress.com/JBZRZ7bE
(from AliExpress Android)

Servos would do but likely to be noisy.

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#6

Assuming a stepper is a revolving motor?

Would it require one motor per watch, or would it be possible to have one rotating multiple bands that would in-turn rotate spindles attached to the watch cradles? Would it be powerful enough? Or would one with that kind of torque be too noisy?

#7

Given the very low cost I’d go for one per watch.

Buy one and see! You could probably find them on eBay from a UK supplier for a little more than AliExpress if you wanted one in a hurry.

#8

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-5V-Stepper-Motor-28BYJ-48-With-Drive-Test-Module-Board-ULN2003-4-Phase-200-/372031243198?

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#9

To be honest it’s probably design overkill - you could do the same with a DC motor and gearbox - but these things are so cheap nowadays it’s worth considering - especially if you want to control with some kind of microcontroller.

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#10

Thinking one motor might do a row of watches.

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#11

Thanks for your input. Will do some research on these units. Really appreciated.