Official Luthiers Forum!

Any of you ever shimmed up the tuner holes to accomodate slightly smaller ferrules? I purchased some nice open back tuners but the press in ferrules are about a millimeter in diameter too small. I thought of two ways..(a) Cut and roll a thin piece metal and insert it to take up the slack or..(b) Wooden plugs and re-drill, but lining up and centering the drill might prove difficult. I'm at the last stage of my concert parlor i.e buffing, glueing on bridge etc. The holes were drilled for a different set of tuners but I really like the look of the open backs.

Any other ideas?

Bill S.

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Dream to be a luthier

An easy way to shim an over-large hole is to use a plane shaving of wood. Find one to give you the right thickness, spread a little wood glue in the hole and place the shaving in place, then press your bushing into place. Easy cheesy.

Bill: I would plug and redrill. Mark the centre accurately and redrill with a bradpoint drill. But that is just me.Good luck.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Bill, I'd probably plug the hole with a plug made from matching wood using a plug cutter.
But I like Barry's solution, and as he does stellar work, would probably advise trying his idea first.
Either option should work.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

The problem is, if you use hex bushings, whichever repair will be visible. You could use adapter bushings.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Tuner_parts/Tuner_Bushings/3_8_Conversion_Tuner_Bushing.html

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Thanks guys..... decisions, decisions.

Bill

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Dream to be a luthier

+1 on the adapter bushings...

Your too nice Steve. Thanks!

The reason why the plane curl works well is that it is side grained wood so it adheres very well, and it is automatically centered in the hole. A plug is end grain and when drilled out it becomes quite weak. When you install the bushing, the grain of the plub will often crumble. This should not happen with the plane curl. Also you can use a good hardwood for the curl instead of some mystery wood dowel.

So long as your plug is covered by the flange on the bushings, it's actually better if you don't drill perfectly on center for your plug. That way you are less likely to strip out the plug when redrilling it. The greater danger is that you drill out of round. A forstner bit if you can find one small enough will help with that. I think they are available down to 1/4" or so.

Cut plugs are better than dowels for this job if you go the plug route. Also less likely to strip when redrilled.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Well, if you use a plug cutter (as opposed to a cutting a piece of a dowel) you can cut a plug with matching wood and grain direction to your headstock. In fact, if you have a leftover piece of the headstock with veneer and all, you can cut a plug with all the same layers as well. That said, I'd try oversized bushings first, myself.

Joe

If there are metal bushings available I think it's a no brainer...! Learn something everyday..!!
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Yup...plug cutter...that's what I said, no? And I like the idea of using the same material as the head itself. Just might end up invisible, with no appreciable weakness.

That said, I like the larger bushing idea.
Or hey--why not try different approaches in each hole and report back which one actually works the best?

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I agree with Barry,
If the plane shavings would hide under the lip of the bushing I would go that route. Especially where you are dealing with finished work. Plugging and redrilling often doesn't go as nicely as we hope it will.
It's mostly the redrilling!

That is why I turn and drill the plugs in a lathe before installing them. For the most part, I turn them with the grain parallel to the center (like a dowel) and it works fine. When converting from 3/8" or 10mm holes to a smaller hole with a bushing counterbore, the thin edge can be delicate, but the dowel style grain orientation works OK.
I prefer standard bushings rather than oversize, and as long as the holes are no bigger than 10mm, the flange on the bushing should cover the plug.

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John