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Lynn Dudenbostel

L

Lynn Dudenbostel

Joined
Mar 2, 2022
Messages
60
Likes
49
Location
Maryville, TN
Hi folks.... been looking at this forum for several months and finally joined AAW last week. I'm located near Maryville, Tennessee and have been doing some small spindle turning for about 25 years. I'm a full time luthier building mandolins and guitars and a couple of years ago got the urge to learn old time banjo. It wasn't long before I wanted to build one. My 12" Rikon lathe was really too small to turn a 12" segmented rim for the instrument I wanted, so I found a 16" shortbed lathe on Craigslist in Knoxville and bought it. A good friend near Atlanta asked if I'd like to learn to turn bowls and I told him I'd always wanted to try that. So, last spring he came up on a Saturday and needless to say, I'm hooked! The only problem is staying focused on instruments during the day until I can get to the lathe to turn in the evenings and weekends. Turning has been in the back of my mind for a long time and it's good to finally get serious about it. I'll attach a photo of the small pegwinders I have been making for years along with a "pick bowl". It's just a small bowl to keep picks/capo/etc in and help keep them from getting scattered around and lost. These are curly maple (my favorite) and also have a sunburst finish like I usually apply on my mandolins and sometimes on guitar tops. They are finished with a few coats of satin nitrocellulose lacquer. I'm looking forward to trying many other things in the future including hollow forms. Also looking forward to learning more on this site. Looks like a wonderful community. Thanks.
Lynn

PXL_20220306_180702841.jpg
 
Thanks Seth. It was a hobby that was getting out of hand and fortunately fate intervened and I was laid off from my job of 16 years. 25 years later, it appears that was a good move. Now I'm going down the turning wormhole!
 
The pegwinder is to help wind the string on the post when changing strings on an instrument. Guitar and mandolin tuners usually have a gear ratio of 1:16, give or take depending on the brand. So, without the pegwinder, you could be sitting there turning the tuning buttons very slowly by hand. It speeds up the process. There are very serviceable plastic winders for guitars for just a few dollars, but winders to fit mandolin tuners are almost non existent. Once I started making these, I found a lot of people wanted them for their guitar as well. It's just been an excuse for me to do some turning for years. I make my living mostly by building new instruments, a much lesser amount doing repairs, and even less making winders. But I do enjoy it.
 
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