Tuner holes off

[Rickd]

Really did a boneheaded move. Do not own a drillpress so I drilled my tuner holes by hand. Well, as you can imagine, a couple were noticeably off. So I reamed them out to get them aligned and looking decent. Now what? Do I fill in the gap around the tuners with epoxy? They need to fit tight right?

[Kevin Sjostrand]

How far off are they? The washers under the nuts may hide a repair if it is slight. You can use the same wood as the headstock, cut a slice and glue it in the hole where it is off and when dry carefully ream it. On the surface, fill any void with sawdust and AR glue. You may not be able to notice the repair when done and the machines are installed.

Kevin

[darren]

Another option, again, depending on how far off, plug with hardwood dowel and re-drill.

I made the same mistake, plugged and redrilled, and ended up replacing the headplate because the fix was just barely noticable with tuners installed. If it bugs you now it will drive you crazy in 6 months... I really liked my headplate too. :(

yes, they need to fit tight.

[Rickd]

One of the holes is pretty big. The washer does not cover it, though it doesn't miss by much. I may try glueing some wood in the hole. I also have rosewood dust that I have saved.

[enalnitram]

Really did a boneheaded move. Do not own a drillpress so I drilled my tuner holes by hand. Well, as you can imagine, a couple were noticeably off. So I reamed them out to get them aligned and looking decent. Now what? Do I fill in the gap around the tuners with epoxy? They need to fit tight right?

Refill them and re-do. I did it on my first guitar. I was hating life while I was working on it, but now I never think about it. I used a big pencil sharpener, the kind that elementary school kids use, to make circular rosewood pieces to fit in the holes. I cut a small rough circle of rosewood, glued to the end of a small dowel, and then cleaned it up with the pencil sharpener.

[Tony_in_NYC]

Wow Martin. Thats a great save! I cant even see it!

[Rickd]

Thanks for the pics, looks good. Always helps to see something, rather than just read about it.

[darren]

Nice save Martin. I was not able to match the koa in my headplate like you did, so off it came with a hot knife.

Rick,
What is your headplate? ebony, rosewood?

[Rickd]

It's rosewood. I saved sanding dust and just remembered I do have 2 small rosewood pieces I saved from the back.