A cable winding machine for winding transposed cable from multiple serpentine subconductors such as in particular Roebel cable from such 2G HTS tape, without damaging the tape through edge-wise bending, comprises a conductor supply stage carrying subconductor supply spools to move the supply spools about a machine axis and maintain the supply spools in a common orientation as the subconductors unwind and move through the machine in a machine direction, and a cable forming stage after the conductor supply stage in the machine direction, arranged to bring together the subconductors and at which the subconductors interleave to form the transposed cable.