There are many approaches. One is to drill a hole radially through the dowel with a drill bit sized to the width of the slot, then use a saw to cut from the end of the dowel to the tangent points of the drilled hole. Clamping the dowel vertical and drilling into the bottom of the slot (with an appropriate fixture, like a drill press) makes the space for the pip.
If you have (or have access to) a large router, then choosing a router bit that will cut the slot and using a benching fixture (which can be as simple as 3/4" (19mm) plywood with a cutout for the bit to pass through, holes to mate bolts with the plate of the router, and a fence claimped the right distance from the bit) is the fastest and cleanest way to make the slot. Drilling the hole for the pip before routing the slot may be easier than trying to do it afterwards...or may not, depending on the availability of a drill press. There are other ways, like making two parallel cuts for the slot sides, then using a coping saw to cut across from one cut to the other, or using chisels to chunk out the waste, etc. They rise in tediousness as you get further from the router approach. I haven't seen the design of your friend's peg turner, but if you want the slot enclosed (so the peg doesn't slip out the sides) a best bet is a router with a template to allow moving the router to create the slot. This is standard router operation, and with the proper bits, could be done with two templates, one for routing the slot and another with a deeper cut to make the hole for the pip. It is very possible that any cabinet making shop has the tooling you need, and with a little chatting you could find a cabinet maker who would take it as a challenge, and do it for little more cost than the materials. ray On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 11:54 PM, Herbert Ward <[email protected]> wrote: > > A friend has a peg turner which was made from a dowel with > a slot cut in one end to accept the peg handle. The bottom > of the slot has a small hole to accept the pip (this keeps > the winder from sliding off the peg). > > The winder works very well, much better than the crank-type > string winders available at a usual music store. > > I'd like to make one myself, but I don't know what tool > would be best to cut the slot. Is there a good way to > do this without buying some expensive power tool? > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
