The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #93595   Message #1803473
Posted By: Grab
07-Aug-06 - 10:39 AM
Thread Name: String winder needed for fiddle
Subject: RE: String winder needed for fiddle
Get a regular guitar-peg winder, remove the spindle, and replace with a 2" bolt or threaded rod of the same diameter. Fit nuts (and washers) to get yourself the spacing you need. 4mm bolt/rod should be plenty strong enough.

With this extra distance, it'll be difficult to do the winding. Get a bit of tubing to fit over the exposed part of the bolt/rod so that you can hold it vertical while you wind without the bolt/rod chewing your finger up.

You may find that the spindle is another bit of plastic that's part of one side of the winder. If so, just cut it off and drill a hole in its place. You may also find that the spindle is a pushfit, or circlip attachment, or some other daft arrangement. If it is, the nut/bolt may scratch the peg, and may even prevent the peg engaging in the winder's slot. The solution in that case is probably to dispense with a nut and epoxy the threaded rod in place. If you can get a nut/bolt in there but you can't get a spanner in, you can epoxy the nut/bolt in place. Oh, and (from sad experience) if you're going to epoxy a nut in place, make sure you insert the bolt *before* you add the epoxy, because filling the hold in the nut with epoxy is not a very clever thing to do... :-)

Graham.