Official Luthiers Forum!

Wow, is this thing sweet! Absolutely the best string winder ever. Smooth, precise, easy on the wrist and virtually no chance of marring an instrument. True pro quality. All thanks to Frank Ford.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Sure looks like a nice tool. I'm not sure I understand how that round white fitting works do you have an edge photo on that?

Coincidentally I just ordered one a few days ago!

I made a simple adapter that goes into a cordless drill. On full speed no one is going to beat me.

Is there info about ordering one on Frank's page? I couldn't find it.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Here's the link to the order page.
https://shop.gryphonstrings.com/products?utf8=%E2%9C%93&view=&taxonomy=accessories&grid=grid&sort=up&price_sort=down&type=accessories&filter%5Baccessory_type%5D=121911

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Franks tool is natural to use but more important , I got this at ASIA Symposium and every time I use it I will think of Frank. Thanks so much. I am sure Brian will do the same.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I'm on the list for one and I want one because Frank made it. It will likely never get used, we use drills and adapters too for speed and convince.

I was so very impressed with Frank's Jack The Gripper and use it on every guitar that has a jack that comes into our shop - that's a LOT of guitars and I've yet to finds an input jack that is not loose.

The design of this winder is excellent and he covered all of the bases with the no damage possible to the peg head being very high on that list.

A masterpiece of design and engineering and a tool that's likely to last far longer than any of us.

Thanks for the good words, guys! I made my first crank 50 years ago when I wanted one to fit my mandolin tuners - a simple thing cut from a chunk of walnut with a fixed handle.

Since those days, I've made more tools for myself along the way, including a variety of string winder cranks. Now with a repair staff of six all borrowing each others' tools, my cranks became the subject of some "when are you going to make more for the rest of us?" talk. So I finally did it, and we've all been using them daily around here.

I've also made some more stylish ones (a few are shown on a one-page Web site I still haven't done much with: Frank's Cranks. ) I gave one to Richard Hoover last year, and his guys immediately asked, "How can I get one - how much are they?" The same question came again and again from other folks - most recently at the ASIA Symposium, and I continued to answer with "I don't know - I have no idea how long it takes to make them."

So, partly just to address the question of "how much," and partly to have something new to present on our redesigned site, I set about making a serious stab at coming up with an answer. To do that, I made hundred (actually 112, to be precise) and kept track of time and materials. As with guitar repair, I was surprised a which operations took a long time and which were comparatively quick and easy.

As long as I make these things myself from raw materials, I suppose they'll be pricey and necessarily very limited in number.

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

So far it's been an interesting project. When I showed the cranks around at the A.S.I.A. Symposium, it seemed that there was more interest in a crank to fit full size buttons. Now that they've been up on the Web site for a while, it's clear that the "medium" (Waverly, etc.) size is favored 2:1.

At this point, that size is sold out. Still haven't started the "small" ones for mandolin. . .

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

Frank, the only improvement I can see for this little gem of a tool would be interchangeable heads to fit the different size buttons. I truly love using mine every day, thanks again for making these available.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Plus, it looks old-timey cool as all get-out!

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I have played around with the idea of interchangeable sockets, flip-over heads, and more universal fittings such as cross-shaped holes.

The result always seems to diminish the aspect I like the most - the solid fitting and reliable usage of a single-purpose tool. I think of it sort of as a nutdriver in a world of adjustable wrenches and socket sets. It's the right thing for a specific use at the repair bench.

Air or electric driven units are best suited for production work, and I have a thought on the back burner to make sets of hex-shank heads for plugging into electric screwdrivers. As with cranks, there are cheap "all purpose" heads available, but they rattle around like crazy much of the time and really don't fit anything very well.

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET