Controlling a stepper driver to do a fixed task like that isnt difficult, just need to be clearer on your requirements. Some controllers have limited stand-alone capability but i doubt they'll be flexible enough for your needs.

If I understand your requirement you want to program the number of steps (distance) and the rate of traverse (steps per second) and have this cycle back and forth (step direction) as the pickup bobbin rotates presumably. I guess the traverse is linked to bobbin rotation, ie 1 traverse = 1 rotation? How do you plan to do that synchronisation?

Happy to help with design of a suitable solution.

Quote Originally Posted by timellis View Post
I am in the process of building a guitar pickup winder and have a few issues with designing a traverse mechanism to guiide the pickup wire onto the pickup as it spins.

I need the ability to have a guide which automatically moves from left to right for a given distance - anything from 10mm to not over 20mm and at speeds of no more than 1 cycle per second (adjustable speed and adjustable distance)

I am looking at a linear stepper motor and linear guide rail - my issue is with controllers - I dont want to hook up a PC just to control this motion - looking at controller boards they have the small switches to adjust the stepper amounts - would this suffice?

Thanks to anyone in advance who can help me with this - I just hope I am not wasting time on a design idea that wont work.