Purpose The difficulty in winding coil-based electrical and electronic devices manually lies in the fact that it takes so much time and effort to perform. Furthermore, it is difficult to achieve accuracy manually, as it is possible to lose count of the number of turns being wound. The purpose of this paper is to detail the design methods and calculations used to achieve a cost-effective, significantly accurate and more efficient method of winding coils. Design/methodology/approach A program flowchart was designed as a guideline for writing the program. An AT89C52 microcontroller was used to control the movement of the two direct current (DC) motors used in the construction of the machine. The circuit design obtained was then simulated using Proteus to test the functionality of the components together. Findings An electromechanical automatic coil winding machine for the coiling of simple, small-sized, coil-based electrical devices was successfully designed and fabricated. The machine was tested by winding a 1 kVA transformer. Diagrams, calculations, results and observations obtained during the design and construction are detailed in this paper. Originality/value This machine solves the problem of tediousness in coil winding, stably and precisely winding 60 turns/min at a 24 V supply and providing a keypad input method. Although portable automatic coil winding machines have been rendered previously, most have applied the use of stepper motors. The application of brushed DC motors alongside an AT89C52 microcontroller is a variation to the pool of renditions, offering better controllability and a sustained output.