E strings sliding off the nut

[smokinfiddler]

what can I do to keep the E strings from sliding off the nut when I am trying to tune them and they will stay in place while playing it?

[Dale Ludewig]

More info please. Where are they going? What kind of mandolin?

[smokinfiddler]

More info please. #Where are they going? #What kind of mandolin?
Dale

they are slipping off the nut going off the neck, it is a old Hickory A style mandolin

it seems as if the grooves are not filed deeply enough into the nut
I tried filing a little more at the top of the nut with a needle file but did not help enough to keep them from slipping off so I quit before I did more dammage than good.

[Dale Ludewig]

Well, it sounds like the slots aren't cut deep enough except for the fact that they don't come out when you're playing. Do any of the other strings pop out when tuning? It would seem to me that the strings would be way more likely to come out when playing than tuning if there were a nut slot depth problem. Holding off before going deeper filing sounds like a wise idea to me. If you go too deep, you're in for some more work, and we won't get into that right now. I don't know the headstock shape of this instrument. Can you post a pic? I'm going to ask a really stupid question, but this could possibly explain it and please take no offense. Are the strings going around the tuning pegs in the right direction? From the centerline side of the headstock. If for some reason they're wound the other way, from the outside edge, I could see where that "could" cause such a thing. Also, has this just started and was OK before?

[smokinfiddler]

its a brand new mandolin I
first time ever tuned or played
the strings are wound around the pegs properly


I was able to get the outside string tuned but the other one broke before I was able to get it tuned
would a heavier guage E string hold better? I am sure what came on the mandolin was cheapies???

I picked around on the E string to make sure it would hold and this far it is still holding.

[Gibson A5]

Could you post a picture of the nut and tuning head? You might get some replies that can help to correct the problem if we could see a close up of it. Right now everyone is guessing what it looks like and trying to help.
Bill