Best string winder on the market

[John]

Makita TD020DSEW

I now own 2 of these, if you change a lot of strings this thing rocks.....2500 rpm, hammer kicks in before most string breakage and it's good for driving and removing screws. Anyone else got one?

[Mike Kolb]

I'll pass. Had 2 or 3 electric winders of different persuasions and decided (for me) they're more trouble than they're worth. Maybe if a person is manning the string installation station at Fender or wherever but short of that, no thanks.  My winders of choice are the $1.99 plastic cheapies (sometimes free with minimum string orders)... and, besides, I like the "manual feel" of a string cinching-up. 

Having said that, the Makita unit looks like a whole lotta' fun for a bunch of other stuff :) 

[John]

I used a power winder for years and then went back to winding by hand for a few years. Golfers elbow (from cutting frets and strings) and arthritis ( that was aggravated by winding) prompted me to look for this tool and a pair of side cutters that have a slot at the hinge, it makes cutting strings about 40% easier.

[David Collins]

I've never felt the need to get a dedicated string winding motor, but rather have always just chucked the winding tip in my regular cordless drill. 

[Paul Verticchio]

Wow, you guys that don't use power winders must never have two 12 strings & 4 six strings waiting to be restrung when you get to the shop (:  With the vintage dealer I provide service to, that's not an uncommon occurence.

I use a combo of the ubiquitous string winder (for mandolins & resonators) and a modified Black & Decker 6v battery powered unit.  The stock B&D unit is s-l-o-wwwwww (130 rpm) and the batteries are shot after 3 guitars. 

I reworked the battery compartment to accept a 12VDC@1amp (1000ma) wall wart with an 8' cord and now it runs at about 250-300 rpm.  That's fast enough to get the job done quickly & with care and it only weighs about a pound. The best part: Wal Mart sells these for under $15 and most of us have the wall wart in our parts boxes.

I know...the voltage is way higher than specified but I've been using it every day for 2 & 1/2 years with no problems.

That little modified tool has saved my wrists on many a really busy day and makes life so much nicer everyday.

BTW John, if it was in my budget, I'd snag one of those Makita's today (:  THANKS for turning me on to it (:

 

[John]

Every now and then they go on sale at Princess Auto for $80.

 

This is what Taylor uses http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Tools/SuperDriver/superdriv...

 

Have you seen the modified manual winder for double necks?

[charley erck]

re: Frank's visit to Taylor and taking apart the drill. Combine this gear modification with Paul's elecrical soup-up and you could rout saddle slots with the thing!

[Kerry Krishna]

 I have a buddy Instrument Repair guy in Winnipeg who swears by his White Makita. He showed me how well it worked my second last time in his shop. Neat and fast , and it's done! I wish I had one! 

[Frank Ford]

Not on the market, but here are two views of a project I put on hold in favor of hanging around the cardiac unit of Kaiser Hospital earlier this year.  It's a sort of "steam punk" approach to string winding.  This one is Mark III - brass, stainless steel and tropical hardwood, with a "chuck" made of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene.  You may notice that the handle is ten degrees off axis to accommodate natural wrist action. I had hoped to get it into the Neiman-Marcus Christmas catalog this season.  Well, maybe next year. . .

 

With a real full length bearing in the handle and a slightly resilient chuck milled to fit the tuner closely, this

crank does the job smoothly and quickly with little probability of nicking the peghead finish.

[Tim Mace]

Is this a Frank Crank Prank?

 

[Hesh Breakstone]

Very nice Frank and Neiman-Marcus clearly missed out.... ;)

 

Here is what I use and David Collins gets the credit (or blame...).  It's a Dunlap string winder available from Musician's Friend (what an odd name for a business...).  I'm so very original I even copied the exact drill that David uses too... ;)

 

Anyway these work great IMHO with the only draw back(s) being that the drill really needs a holster of some sort on the end of my bench since it's unstable and it is kind of heavier than something needs to be to wind strings.  But, OTOH, I'm never searching or walking to find my drill either.

 

[Kerry Krishna]

Hesh, this can't really compare to John's Makita. His Makita  weighs ounces and is tiny. Yours weighs pounds and is probably 6 times the mass. I could use John's all day and never were out the battery or my hand get tired....

 Your Hitachi sure would make an excellent screw gun though! 

[Hesh Breakstone]

Agreed - actually Kerry my photos were mostly intended to show the Dunlap winder since it had not been pictured in this thread prior or mentioned.  It, the winder, of course may be placed on far less wimpy drills although wimpy is fine for string winding.  It also came with a hand crank for those times when the power is not available such as doing a stringing clinic in a park, etc.

 

For about three years a couple of days a week I traveled about one hour each way to work in another Lutherie shop so I had to have tools that moved with me.  That's why an inexpensive drill came in handy since it does double duty including being a drill when need be.