How to make wire Hurdy Gurdy tangents.

Recently made my first Symphonia and just used 2mm wire in the keys as tangents. Metal tangents are pricey, wood tangents are difficult to cut, but some makers use twisted wire and it seems to work fine, they are screwed to the key and can be rotated to tune the contact with the string sharp or flat.
Use round nose pliers to make a loop on the end of the wire, centre the loop, hammer it flat, bend it at right angles to the wire and screw it to the key carefully having drilled a hole large enough that the screw will not split the wood.

[@goblinpiper]

This is fantastic thank you - i am making a gurdy right now and have been a bit daunted about making wooden tangents!

[@MaxEnloe]

I've only ever seen these tangents used by Sedo Garcia in Spain. Really interested in seeing them in real life. They seem like a really good idea. Nice hybrid between metal and wood tangents. If you have to twist them to tune them, you can then bend them forwards or backwards to make sure they hit the string at the proper distance. I'd cover them in heat-shrinking tube (rubber tubing) to protect the string before using them though!

[@Pau1fc]

Hi Max thank you for your kind comment, there is a vid on here by Sergio Gonzales ua-cam.com/video/EgeHZZDiYyQ/v-deo.html in which he credits Sedo Garcia in a reply. The image he shows is very clear and it was from that which I stole the idea. You are of course correct that turning the tangent sharp or flat would pull it away from the string but bending it forward a touch would cure that. It must also be the same with a wooden flag style tangent, the metal ones with the grooved base plate can of course slide to compensate. As to sleeving them, those in the video do indeed look as though they have heat shrink tubing on them.
I have looked at your videos and you do play extremely well. I particularly like An Dro.

[@MaxEnloe]

@@Pau1fc yessir you are right about wood tangents. Something interesting about them - if they are extremely well made you can actually twist them and have them still hit the string at the right time, because the curve of the end of the tangent can match the arc of the pivot.
Most luthiers seem to make them like a stick so you have to shave them down or tack on filler wood to the end. Very annoying! If they are cut right wood tangents are amazing, but most luthiers I think skip this level of percision (understandably).
Thanks for the compliments! I haven't uploaded in quite a while, and I feel I've gotten much better since I made any videos!
Good luck to you in your progress building and playing! It sounds great, especially for a first build! :)