This is in response to Claudia's request that I post information about the skein winder I made. I am posting it as a separate thread because I think I can post photos this way and it did not look like I could if I just responded to her comment. I hope I am not making the forum more confusing.
The goal was to create an inexpensive vertical skein winder that would make re-skeining yarn my friend Kathy and I dyed with natural dyes easier and faster. We designed and built it so that we could add a belt and a sewing machine motor to make it run electrically, but it works so well the way it is, we never took the time to "electrify" it.
The arms are pieces 1/2" PVC pipe that protrude from a 4-way attachment in the center. Each arm ends with a three-way attachment. We added a short length of pipe and an elbow to the front opening of each attachment to keep the yarn from sliding off the arms. One arm is actually made up of two shorter pieces of pipe joined with a three-way attachment to which we added a short piece of pipe and an end cap to serve as a handle for turning the winder. All the pieces of pipe are glued together with a special glue for PVC, except the elbow on one arm (we chose the arm with the handle, just so we would remember). That elbow remains loose so we can slide it off to make it easier to remove the finished skein from the winder.
We drilled a hole through the center of the 4-way connector to attach it to the upright. The hole has to be right in the center and straight through from front to back in order for it to work. It took us a couple tries. Good thing the connectors are only a few cents!
When you cut the upright, make it a length that allows you to hold your arm at a comfortable height when you are winding.
We took the winder and the upright to the local hardware store and tried out different combinations of hardware until we found a set up that would work. We ended up with a plastic spacer to hold the winder away from the upright (we also added an extra square of wood for the same purpose). There is also a plastic tube that goes through the hole in the upright to help the winder spin more smoothly, by allowing the screw to turn smoothly inside the hole. Behind the upright we have a plastic disc that acts as a spacer to keep the pulley wheel away from the upright, then the pulley wheel and a nut to hold it all together. The pulley wheel is for the belt to attach the motor. For a manual winder, I would just use the disc and the nut Don't tighten the nut too much or the winder won't spin!
Finally, we attached a length of 2x4 as a base. I still have to put a foot on the base if I really get it spinning. The base will also be where I attach the motor if I ever get to that.
I have added the photos as attachments, because there is no button to upload photos. I hope this works!
I hope this helps! If anyone has any questions, let me know.