Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on December 16, 2018 at 6:52am

Two ways to fix this.

1. Fill in the hole with appropriate size dowel rod and glue, trim flat to surface, sand smooth and re-drill.

2. Find or make a bushing for the tuner post to take out the slop.

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on December 16, 2018 at 7:32am

I've done the dowel rid thing. It's fast, easy and a true fix. 

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on December 16, 2018 at 8:02am

Both of Paul's fixes work well and are easy. But.......

Does the tuner post really wobble once the guitar is strung up?

The top grommet should keep the tuner post from wobbling up top and if the tuner is installed correctly with the brass gear in front of the worm shaft, then string pressure will pull the tuner post against the gear down below and prevent wobble there.

I'm not saying to not fix the hole, but you may find that there is negligible tuner shaft movement on a strung up guitar.

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Permalink Reply by ILL GREEN on December 16, 2018 at 8:38am

This happened to me last month. But I was installing ferrules. I drilled a small 1/8 hole for the strings and wanted the ferrules to be in the wood only up to its rim. I don't know what happened but the drill ripped through the body and through the 1/8 hole.  I used apoxy sculpt to get the hole fixed and used bits to sculpt the sizes and passages.

But I like the idea of the dowel. Thats a good one!

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Permalink Reply by BrianQ. on December 16, 2018 at 9:05am

Brent, the best way is to fill the hole & start over. I can tell you how to avoid this next time though? Buy yourself a stepped drill bit, the one I use is 1/16-7/8 size. 1/4 & 5/16 are right next to each other so it makes it easier to not have to change bits? Good luck

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on December 16, 2018 at 9:46am

Ooopps, I remember my answer to a similar question some time ago about stepped holes, maybe you missed it, is easy.

Three ways to overcome/prevent your problem: One, use a drill press with depth stop, two, as Tom says drill right through with one size drill, or three, and what I do and mentioned before. Centre pop the post position, drill a 1/16 hole right through the peghead and then with proper wood drills (bradpoint drills) follow that hole with the final drill size, one from the back and one from the front.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on December 16, 2018 at 9:52am

We're on the same page today. Haha

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on December 16, 2018 at 9:43am

When your using a hand drill, the drill can be drawn into the wood quick if there's a soft area. Hard to stop that from happening. It's more easily controlled when working on a drill press with a depth gauge and the wood is clamped.

I've have done this before(hand smacks forehead) and the dowel fix works great. Just be sure to use good glue or the dowel will start spinning in the hole when you re-drill. Don't ask me how I know this. Original Titebond glue is fantastic. I used to use Elmers Wood Glue Max - not anymore.

Some places sell dowels with grooves to help the slippage from happening when re-drilling, just glue and hammer them in, wait for the glue to dry and go for it.

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on December 16, 2018 at 11:24am

Hi, you just reminded me I forget to mention. I've noticed that my expensive top quality drills are less likely to grab in a pre-drilled hole, whereas my cheaper (but well known brand) does.

Pauls correct, even with a depth stop set the work piece will ride up the drill bit if not held down firmly or clamped, causing the same problem.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by mitch jones on December 16, 2018 at 12:57pm

I agree with Tom, string it up first & see how much wobble there actually is. Some of my holes have been pretty average in the past, but once everything is strung up tight, you woudn't even know.

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Permalink Reply by Kigar on December 17, 2018 at 1:56pm

Has anyone plugged just half way?  Half the hole is correct after all.  Just wondering.

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on December 17, 2018 at 6:14pm

Hi Kigar, yes I do that, sort of.

In the photo of the two six string pegheads with  4x2 a side tuners have standard holes in the peghead, the face plate on the front has smaller holes for the smaller posts. No problems. 

They did look like the six in line peghead at the top.

Taff

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