Little help

[Jeremy D]

Hi guys,

I have made my first major mistake (cant believe I got this far) and I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice and where to go from here.

I drilled the tuner holes for my slotted headstock this morning. I knew the day was going bad as I woke up with a stinking headache. Anyhow I got myself right before I went into the shed. All went well on the first side. The holes are a bit tight so I decided, stupidly to drill them out a bit by hand. I still had the tape on the bit to make the depth, unfortunately what I didn't realise is that I had set the depth for the top of the doweling jig that I am using. Anyway long story short I drilled right though on the center hole .

I am thinking that maybe I can buy some dowel to plug the hole before I drill the holes on the other side (I have already drilled the top hole, see pic). Any other suggestions?

Thanks a lot guys I appreciate it.

[kiwigeo]

Plug and redrill...

[kiwigeo]

Hi guys,

I have made my first major mistake (cant believe I got this far)

If you got this far before making your first mistake then youre doing well.

[Jeremy D]

Plug and redrill...

Thanks a lot Martin.

Sorry for the questions, I am a real noob. Should I just use tight bond? Also whats the best way to make the plug? I was just looking at a tutorial where they just kept rounding a square piece off with a block plane.

Cheers

[Jeremy D]

Hi guys,

I have made my first major mistake (cant believe I got this far)

If you got this far before making your first mistake then youre doing well.

Haha yes it was just a matter of time. I finished carving the heel yesterday, man that was a fun process.

[Gizmo]

Don't ask me why I know how to fix something like this, I just know.

What I would do:
Use a slightly oversize hole punch to chop a circular plug.
The plug should be out of a slice of wood that matches the grain of the hole, and about 6mm thick.
Rough sand across the circumference of the plug till it fits, sitting a little proud of the surface.
The rough sanding will soften the join line.
Glue the plug in place.
Plane and/or sand the plug back to the surrounding surface.

[Jeremy D]

Don't ask me why I know how to fix something like this, I just know.

What I would do:
Use a slightly oversize hole punch to chop a circular plug.
The plug should be out of a slice of wood that matches the grain of the hole, and about 6mm thick.
Rough sand across the circumference of the plug till it fits, sitting a little proud of the surface.
The rough sanding will soften the join line.
Glue the plug in place.
Plane and/or sand the plug back to the surrounding surface.

Cheers for that gizmo. The tuner plate will actually cover the hole on the top. the thing I am more worried about is inside the slot. I am currently trying to make a plug about 35mm long to go half the way through the headstock, but i really have no idea what i am doing

[Kim]

Could you not just drill up to the next appropriate dowel size and glue some in place? Even though it will show on the inside of the slot, the roller should obscure the worst and if anyone picks it after that they will need to get their head in close to do so offering a wonderful opertunity to distract their gaze with the sting of a thick ear.

Cheers

Kim

[Jeremy D]

Could you not just drill up to the next appropriate dowel size and glue some in place? Even though it will show on the inside of the slot, the roller should obscure the worst and if anyone picks it after that they will need to get their head in close to do so offering a wonderful opertunity to distract their gaze with the sting of a thick ear.

Cheers

Kim

Haha I like it Kim. So when you say Dowel do you just mean the garden variety from bunnings etc? Once again I will reiterate total NOOB

[kiwigeo]

Don't ask me why I know how to fix something like this, I just know.

What I would do:
Use a slightly oversize hole punch to chop a circular plug.
The plug should be out of a slice of wood that matches the grain of the hole, and about 6mm thick.
Rough sand across the circumference of the plug till it fits, sitting a little proud of the surface.
The rough sanding will soften the join line.
Glue the plug in place.
Plane and/or sand the plug back to the surrounding surface.

If the plug is going to end up covered by a tuner plate then no need to match grain.

[Kim]

So when you say Dowel do you just mean the garden variety from bunnings etc?

Yep, that's the stuff. They sell fluted and plain dowel, go with the plane. That is how I would go anyhow its for personal use. Check the fit of the dowel against the drill in scrap first. Depending on whats sized bit you used in the headstock you may even be right to go with the hole you have already made. If not, the main thing to watch is that you use a good sharp bit and have a close, but not overly tight fit. Then its glue on and quickly in the hole before things start to expand. Epoxy will fill gaps and give you more time to drift things home if required, but if you have the hole drilled to the appropriate size before you start, that should not be an issue.

Could pay to wait off because we have some clever people here who may jump in with an even better solution.

Cheers

Kim

[Jeremy D]

So when you say Dowel do you just mean the garden variety from bunnings etc?

Yep, that's the stuff. They sell fluted and plain dowel, go with the plane. That is how I would go anyhow its for personal use. Check the fit of the dowel against the drill in scrap first. Depending on whats sized bit you used in the headstock you may even be right to go with the hole you have already made. If not, the main thing to watch is that you use a good sharp bit and have a close, but not overly tight fit. Then its glue on and quickly in the hole before things start to expand. Epoxy will fill gaps and give you more time to drift things home if required, but if you have the hole drilled to the appropriate size before you start, that should not be an issue.

Could pay to wait off because we have some clever people here who may jump in with an even better solution.

Cheers

Kim

Thanks a lot guys. This may be the route i go down. I have been fiddling around this method with limited success http://www.youtube.com//watch?v=dwDjede ... ature=user. As you say though you would be hard pressed to see a normal dowel and as its my first and for me, it could be a nice battle scar

[Jeremy D]

I just wanted to say thank you to all who posted replies. I ended up making a dowel with the method in the youtube video above, seems to have worked well.

[kiwigeo]

Nice fix Jeremy. Now youre ready to handle a really big &&&*** up.

[charangohabsburg]

Nicely done!

I had a similar issue when I had drilled the holes to the right depth and at the right place, but missed that the distances between some posts of the custom made tuning machine differed up to nearly 2 mm from what it should be!

I didn't want go through the hassle of sending the faulty item back to Germany (not really far away from Switzerland, but it goes through customs anyway) and decided go the faster way, to plug two holes and drill the other row according to the the tuning machine, not the theoretical distances.

I decided to use cross grain dowels because I was concerned that someone could look at the inside of the tunerslots like I do...

And this is how I made the cross grain dowels (30 - 40 minutes each )











As you can see I even forgot to align grain direction of the first dowel (at the right)!

[Nick]

Why is it even your tools look like masterpieces Markus? The vice looks it belongs in a gallery!

[charangohabsburg]

It is in the Jigs & Fixtures section.

[Nick]

It is in the Jigs & Fixtures section.

What's that? hardly use that area, I like to invent things myself Cheers Markus, I'd forgotten all about that post! Ain't getting older greeeaaat! NOT!!

[Jeremy D]

Nice fix Jeremy. Now youre ready to handle a really big &&&*** up.

Wont be long

Marcus i cant believe how accurate you got those dowels with a block plane, turned out great. I tried to do cross grain a few times but it kept breaking being only 6mm and the crude way I was going about it. I think it will be hard to spot when all is said and done and I am happy I can now move on. I tell you what #1 is really exciting.

Cheers

[charangohabsburg]

Marcus i cant believe how accurate you got those dowels with a block plane, turned out great.

Thanks!
I think it's a matter of doing it fluidly and not interrupt the process in order to not forget where there are left high spots. I even set up two planes with different blade settings so I only could swap the plane as I needed thinner shavings instead of getting distracted by adjusting the blade.

I think it will be hard to spot when all is said and done and I am happy I can now move on.

I agree. "Wrong" grain direction will be hard to spot an moving on is very important (it's my weak point).

Btw, i checked out the YT channel of this Japanese. It's incredible. He presents about 10 methods of how to make a dowel, 10 methods of how to make a sphere - all without a lathe. Just amazing! Thanks for that link.

[charangohabsburg]

What's that? hardly use that area, I like to invent things myself

Yeah, that's a good idea. Without people like you we still would bend over a puddle to shave with a sharp stone!

[DarwinStrings]

A set of these are a great tool for any type of woodworker.

plugcutter1.jpg (7.3 KiB) Viewed 17858 times

I use these ones that cut a tight tapered plug.

plugcutter2.jpg (2.49 KiB) Viewed 17858 times

Jim

Life is good when you are amongst the wood

[Kim]

Without people like you we still would bend over a puddle to shave with a sharp stone!

You mean there's another way???

[charangohabsburg]

Without people like you we still would bend over a puddle to shave with a sharp stone!

You mean there's another way???

I shave with a CNC Laser.

[Lillian]

Who wrote the script?