Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey Guys,

I'm building a little torres copy and decided to go with pegs for the first time. Any tips / rules of thumb to note before I get reamed?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Charles

Shape the peg shaft to your particular reamer, crucial to obtain good bearing surfaces. Easily done by carefully setting the peg shaper blade to your reamer. Decide on the projection of the peg (on scrap wood) and place tape on your reamer to act as a depth guide. Even if you drilled your pilot holes accurately you can still end up with pegs veering in all sorts of directions, go slowly and keep checking the reamer in relation to the guitar head. You are aiming for 90 degrees in both planes. Clear the waste from the reamer frequently.
Check the peg fit and that it projects the requisite amount. Don't put any lubricant on the peg until you are sure that it needs it. On some wood combinations it isn't required. Remember that once you lubricate a peg it will sink into the head a little further.
File across the string holes with a half round needle file.

If your pegs slip, you can use peg dope to fix. I use it in the shop on violin pegs and it works great. Check your local mom/pop music store that sells violins and they will help you. They will have another product if you need to ease the fit.
Michael

hey charles, i've been carrying around some pegs i took off a flamingo git many years ago, and would love to send them to somebody that would take em. they are ebony, a little brown in there, and would need some sanding.
want em?
alan