How to make a string winder small enough for mandolin tuners
Just before teaching her session at Galloup Guitars' 2013 Northwoods Seminar, Mamie Minch showed us this do-it-yourself Trade Secret: making a string winder small enough for mandolin tuners. With just a few tools and some epoxy, you can make your own custom winder.
Video Transcription
Mamie Winch: Right. One of the tools I find myself reaching for the most in my shop is this really handy little string winder insert that you put into your hand drill, saves your wrist, saves you some energy and some time. I was always sad that there wasn't one that would fit onto mandolin buttons. Mandolin buttons are quite a bit smaller, try to use this, it's not going to work. It's going to knock into the other buttons next door to the one you're looking at.
So we decided to modify one of these to fit over mandolin buttons. So this is just about two thirds as big, smaller than that, more like half as big. So what I did was soften the plastic on this one with some warm water, went in and sliced it into three sections, sort of diagonal, there and there. Took the two side pieces away, flipped them around, and set them inside the remaining piece. So these are the two side pieces that are set into the collar of this third piece. And you keep the curve on each side that you had here and here, and then epoxy the whole thing together. Gonna use it all the time.
