machine tuners

 The uke's tuning pegs are frustratingly coarse when it comes to tuning, so I'm exploring replacing them with machine tuners.  Machine tuners put a reduction drive between the person who's tuning and the instrument, making more turns of the knob equate to a smaller change in pitch.

 I used the lathe to shape some brass into a taper that approximates that of the original tuning peg.  I made the middles thinner to add a bit more mechanical advantage to that reduction drive I was talking about earlier.

 These are the beginnings of the blocks that will hold the worm (screw) against the gear on the tuner.










---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update: 3/16/12

I never actually got around to finishing this for a couple of reasons.
1, I made the machine tuner pegs too short.  They didn't slide all the way into the head of the instrument..

and 2, I got over it.  Wood tuning pegs are more than sufficient for this lightweight uke.  I reshaped the ones that were giving me trouble and applied a bit of resin (epoxy minus hardener) to them.  After the resin dried out a bit, they got good and sticky.  Everything's cool now.

Also, I looked at a real violin up close the other day.  They're beautiful!  A truly fit design.