Cheap, safe alternative to drilling bigger tuner holes

[Zaman]

After speaking with a rep at Warmoth who recommended I NOT use a drill press, I bought this at Sears tonight:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00940884000P

I was able to mod my vintage holes to 25/64 Schaller holes in an hour and a half. I went slowly and took great care to make sure the reamer was grinding the hole straight. What I did was grind it a bit, then pop in the tuner to check the fit and then repeat as needed.

Sears also had this which I found AFTER I had reamed the holes (doh!)

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00999024000P

In hindsight the screwdriver handle might have made things easier. Yet, I can vouch for the first one that I did use that it works like a charm. Good luck.

 

[dmraco]

I had the same question for my neck that had 11/16 and I wanted 13/16.  I simply used a drill!!! 

I drilled from the back while placing the headstock on a level surface.  My drill has fore-and aft level indicators and I let it rip.  I first used a bit slightly smaller than 13/16, then finished with the 13/16.  I double checked the width of the bit to the width needed for my plant waves machine heads.  I think the final hole was .389 inches and the machine heads were .386 inches. 

It worked perfect.  The bit went thru like a hot knife thru butter since I was taking out so little material.  the entire process took about 15 minutes.

I lines up the tuners and they were perfect.

While drilling in to a $200 neck was a little stressful, it seemed like the best alternative.  Many on the board recommended against this.  I say if you are not taking out a lot of material, this works fine.

 

[stubhead]

If you have reason to trust your ability to hold things straight up and down and do stuff like this:

I went slowly and took great care to make sure the reamer was grinding the hole straight. What I did was grind it a bit, then pop in the tuner to check the fit and then repeat as needed.

- you can do this with a rattail file, even sandpaper wrapped tightly around a dowel.... if you consider the quality of work that used to be done before there even were power tools, spending a lot of money on a power tool that will remove a few cubic centimeters of wood, that you'll use one every five years... :icon_scratch:

 

[RockStarNick]

I've tried a rat tail file, and a drill.

The rat tail file: it works, but if you're not careful, the holes aren't going to be centered anymore.

The drill: Every time I've done it, I've had disastrous results.

The reamer: Worked PERFECTLY, keeps the holes centered, and there's no risk of chips and cracks.

 

[dmraco]

just curious...what happened when you drilled that was a disaster...

Agree that a drill press is not the way to go to enlarge a hole...it would have to be PERFECTLY centerer for it to work...

 

[stubhead]

...if you're not careful, the holes aren't going to be centered anymore.

Exactly! You have to first think your way through a procedure whereby the holes will be centered.... I'm not recommending this for anyone who can't figure out how to make it work. In the past, many holes have been successfully enlarged this way while remaining centered, is all. Like, you could stick something in the hole that would allow you a scribe a circular guideline exactly the diameter of the hole you needed. If it wasn't big enough, you could wrap it with tape... or, you could lay down blue tape and white masking tape on top of it and draw the right size holes.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

- you can do this with a rattail file, even sandpaper wrapped tightly around a dowel.... if you consider the quality of work that used to be done before there even were power tools, spending a lot of money on a power tool that will remove a few cubic centimeters of wood, that you'll use one every five years... :icon_scratch:

No doubt a power tool has the subtlety of a bull in a China closet in some hands, but with any tool you must know how to use it.  With power tools, most people don't realize that they are variable speed and there is a right and wrong way to use them (a small caveat, I get so frustrated watching shows like American Choppers, seeing them praised for there awesome work when all I see is them buchering things, using the wrong tool for the wrong job).  I work in construction and see drill bits burned up by people left and right, drilling as fast as they can.  I go up and drill slowly with steady pressure and use the same drill bit for months.

Sir, you are true craftsman and artist.  Working with handtools is a lost art and most of us, for whatever reason, lack the tools or knowhow to do this correctly with handtools.  If everyone could do what you do, you'd be out of a job.  A power tool in my hands may do less damage than a handtool, for no other reason than I'm familiar with it.  There's more than one way to do things.

 

[mayfly]

Sir, you are true craftsman and artist.  Working with handtools is a lost art and most of us, for whatever reason, lack the tools or knowhow to do this correctly with handtools.  If everyone could do what you do, you'd be out of a job.  A power tool in my hands may do less damage than a handtool, for no other reason than I'm familiar with it.  There's more than one way to do things.

That was incredibly well put.  I bow towards your insightful command of the English language (not to mention your command of power drills).

 

[stubhead]

BIGGER BETTER FASTER HARDER LONGER.... sigh... America... if you have a "Warmoth" search installed on Ebay (as NO ONE I know does :toothy12, you'll quite regularly come across these horribly-butchered guitar bodies - "Gee, the router just FREAKED OUT, man..." Like, you can spend a couple of hours doing some woodwork by hand, or you can spend FIVE DAYS working to make the money to buy a body and the tools to ruin it with in thirty seconds...

BTW, I snatched up one of those hand reamers on Ebay about thirty seconds after I saw the post... :hello2:

 

[GoDrex]

BIGGER BETTER FASTER HARDER LONGER.... sigh...

that's what she said