Posted by Jerryrig240 on August 19, 2009 at 10:07pm
Most of the time I have everything I need in my little back yard shop to make what ever I want. But machine heads are the road block for me. I really want to make my own. I have seen some made out of wooden dowles, I would love to do that, but how do you get them to lock the string, that is, stay in tune so well. Also, what is some of the favorite things to use for strings out there. I just use guitar strings from wal-mart, I have (or had, in parts on the work bench right now) a diddley bow that had stainless steel welding wire for strings, but I really like that beefy gritty sounds, so I would like something not so twangy and tunable.
You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!
That's why the pegs and holes are tapered; to allow for wear. A good, stable plastic like acrylic might work; kind of depend on it's frictional coefficient (doesn't that sound scientific?) with the wood.
Just wondering, but I also make pens, and turn acrylic blanks on occasion. I wonder how a material like that would work. Never tried it, maybe someday I will just to see. At least they wouldn't swell or shrink with the weather, however the hole they were in would change a little.
Amen to the above. I've played regular guitar for many years, and there's nothing more annoying that tuners that are imprecise, sloppy, etc.
I've seen all sorts of improvised tuners...Friction pegs, tuners made from eye-bolts and such.... Some very clever.
Still, this is one area where the factory-made item just makes life easier for the musician.
although Friction pegs look Cool i would not consider using them myself , as i know a bit about wood and how it shrinks over time , wood always shrinks accross the grain over time which means a taperd peg which was round when made will become oval over time which will create a tight spot on the tuner which is not ideal for a tuner as also mentioned weather alters the wood also when its hot it expands and when cold contracts sure they have been around for many years but way back then that was the only form of tuner available today we have geared machine/tuners i'd stick with them myself but hey no rules go with them if you want just my opinion
juju.
I've built fretless banjos with friction tuners.Its not that hard to do ,but as was said earlier ,they can be a pain in the neck sometimes to tune.
Something we dont deal with a lot is weather, weather changes can effect the neck and the tuners causing problems with the tuners sticking etc.
My suggestion is to just stick with regular tuners as you know their always going to work. Another problem I had was people not understanding how old style friction tuners work and not being able to get their banjos tuned after I sold them the banjo.
Friction pegs are a pain, my tip to tune with them, is to use a pegwinder for a leaver, and fit violin fine tuners at the other end. best of all buy geared machine heads,
Tam
There are friction pegs on my granddad's banjo. The peg is tapered and there is a string hole thru the peg to catch the string. I don't think they would be too tough to make if you can turn them. To maintain friction I would use violin rosin, made some dust on a sheet of sandpaper and applied to the peg before inserting it into the hole. I still found it a real pain to tune and keep it there. I'm sure someone here has a few tips for friction pegs. No doubt you would have something authentic there.
I like the walmart (first Act) strings myself, can't beat them for under 4 bucks!
Replies
I've seen all sorts of improvised tuners...Friction pegs, tuners made from eye-bolts and such.... Some very clever.
Still, this is one area where the factory-made item just makes life easier for the musician.
juju.
Something we dont deal with a lot is weather, weather changes can effect the neck and the tuners causing problems with the tuners sticking etc.
My suggestion is to just stick with regular tuners as you know their always going to work. Another problem I had was people not understanding how old style friction tuners work and not being able to get their banjos tuned after I sold them the banjo.
Tam
I like the walmart (first Act) strings myself, can't beat them for under 4 bucks!