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What's a good method for building that up a little without plugging and re-drilling?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Plugging and re-drilling..... either that or custom pins

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Well, you can go partway between plugging and redrilling by:

1) coat a bridge pin in wax, really, really well.
2) form a small cone out of very thin veneer (I have some lacewood that's about 0.003" thick that works well) and insert it into the bridge pin hole. Try the fit with a bridge pin, and add veneer layers until it fits tighter than you want for the final fit.
3) put a few drops of CA glue on the veneer, insert it in the bridge, and hold it in place with your waxed pin. Wiggle the pin while the glue sets to be sure you don't glue it in place, despite the wax.
4) re-ream the bridge pin hole carefully to get your desired fit.

This is still a 1/2arsed fix; making a plug out of the same wood as the bridge, plugging and redrilling is better. But, it's an option...

Thanks. I guess I'll heed the advice here and plug it.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

LMI or StewMac — I don't remember which — sells oversized pins.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

If you only very slightly over did it you can further countersink the top of the hole and it should give you a bit more room to press it in.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

A variant of the method outlined by Pat, is to substitute the veneer with plane shavings (from the same type of wood as the bridge), and use hide glue instead of CA. I learned that from a violin maker, as they have to do this all the time on peg boxes as the holes wear or go out of round. I've done it a few times in repair situations on guitar bridges, and it works wonderfully.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Well, it's only loose when the string isn't in there. Once I put a string in it held fine. I may fix it somewhere down the road with a plug but, this guitar isn't going anywhere and I'm satisfied with it holding the string for now. Unless... problem????

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I'm with Arnt on this, I've done this very same repair on a number of period lute peg boxes, where after three hundred years the pegs holes get rather worn! 19 pegs on a 10 course lute gives 38 worn holes to repair, shavings from a plane and HHG are the traditional repair and can be built in layers if needed and the recut with a reamer. Much more reliable than plug and reream.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Wipe some titebond in the hole with a toothpick .Let it set up and re-ream.Works great.
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

I use medium viscosity CA instead. If I am in a hurry, I use accelerator.

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John