The invention relates to a winding machine to wind a continuously fed thread on a spool; wherein the thread is guided into a cross-winding device consisting of a pre-cross-winding unit and a grooved roller located downstream from the path of the thread. The winding machine has a thread deflection device in order to change the thread from a full spool clamped on a spool spindle to an empty spool clamped on another spool spindle by rotating a winding turret. The thread deflection device consists of a guide plate which is guided parallel to the periphery of the grooved roller and a thread guide which can be positioned parallel to the axis of the spool spindle. By pivoting the guide plate, the thread can be thus guided from the cross-winding device without substantially changing the winding.
