🚀 go-pugleaf

I need to find or build a device to unwind and wind a 500 ft reel of 20
guage bare wire. It needs guide rollers to create a straight length of wire
6 to 12 in. long where we will use a flame spray nozzle to apply a coating
to the wire. The general layout would look like a reel to reel tape
recorder, with the flame replacing the magnetic heads.

The wire needs to move at a constant speed past the flame, at rates ranging
from 1 to 60 in/min. The wire needs to remain under tension to keep it
straight between the guide rollers. The drive mechanism cannot gaul or mark
the wires surface, since this would disrupt the coating.

I hope to find the whole device off the shelf, but if that is not possible,
I would prefer to by some sub assemblies such as the guide rollers so that I
minimise the portion I must create from scratch. If I have to build it
myself, I need some advice on the motion controller to drive it. I would
prefer one that can monitor an encoder that measures the shaft speed of one
of the guide pullys, and adjust the spindle speed to keep a constant wire
speed and tension as the wire pays off the reel. Can someone recommend a
motion controller that can do this? I would prefer to use a stand alone
controller and send it a 4-20 ma signal to set the wire feed rate, but I am
using Labview and could use a Valuemotion board in the PC to drive the
motors.

Thanks in advance for any tips,

Doug Danielson
Atlanta, GA