Increasing tuner hole size...

TIGEREYELASER

TIGEREYELASER

New member
Hello ladles and jelly spoons!!!

I have a question, I want to increase the size of the tuning peg holes on a neck I own. I saw a reamer on Stewart-McDonald for a little lessa $20 in the size I need. Is there anything I should know going into this as this would be my first modification of this type and REALLY don't want to screw it up. Or should I just take it to my local guitar shop and have them drill it out from 8 mm to 10 mm? Any ideas? Thoughts? Hate mail? Post them here!!!

Edited to add: I would really like to do this myself as I want the satisfaction of creating with my own hands something I can play, I'm mainly looking for tips on how NOT to mess this thing up and how to do it the right way!
 
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Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

main suggestion is to go slow and check often... really easy to take too much wood away..
 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

Brandenburg said:
main suggestion is to go slow and check often... really easy to take too much wood away..
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Yes go slow..in fact, go very very slow, as if your life depended on it. Stop and try the tuners often, because you can always make the hole bigger, but you cannot make the hole scmhaller.
 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

I always use drill bits sized accordingly

start the drill from one side go about half way

then finish by going thru from the other side

this prevents the wood from splintering as it exits the hole

but drill bits have been used for enlarging holes for decades now

its a big wood working secret
 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

here is the reamer i use.. not sure where i bought it... might of been amazon.com.. yes.. the tape serves a purpose.. lol to keep the hamdle from sliding out AND to make it easier to keep track of the turns

 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

ehdwuld said:
I always use drill bits sized accordingly

start the drill from one side go about half way

then finish by going thru from the other side

this prevents the wood from splintering as it exits the hole

but drill bits have been used for enlarging holes for decades now

its a big wood working secret
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NEVER use a drill bit on a tuner hole unless you have a drill press and experience with clamping and everything like that. It'll tear the hole to shreds otherwise.I wrecked a nice Jackson neck by trying to use a hand drill with a bit. For general purposes, a Reamer like Brandenburgs is the way to go.
 
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Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

MetalManiac said:
NEVER use a drill bit on a tuner hole unless you have a drill press and experience with clamping and everything like that. It'll tear the hole to shreds otherwise.I wrecked a nice Jackson neck by trying to use a hand drill with a bit. For general purposes, a Reamer like Brandenburgs is the way to go.
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the thought of a drill bit made me cringe..
i wish i would of known about reamers when i needed to enlarged a volume pot hole a few years ago.. yep.. drill chipped the paint BADLY..but i learned and now i use a reamer every chance i get.. so much safer
 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

What I did to resize tuner holes is drill a straight and square hole with a slightly bigger drill bit and slowly sanded the size I needed. I must say that it is a bootlegged version of doing it but it costs nothing to do but a little dangerous. It worked out, sorta, the tuning machines were a bit tight but I did get a little more sustain.
 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

I use a taper reamer to start, on both sides. Slightly enlarging the holes to the size of the drill bit. I finish with a drill bit in a cordless drill. Using the reamer first prevents (should help prevent anyway) the finish from chipping and top wood from splitting. It also creates a starter "hole" so the bit doesn't wander. I've used the same method for enlarging potentiometer holes in hollowbodies because the reamer is too long to do the job. But I'll use a step bit there as a first choice if I have enough depth. I don't use a tapered reamer for the entire peg hole because of the thickness of the headstock and the taper of the reamer. It may work but I don't see how you could get the middle to just the right size without opening the outsides too much.

This is all do at your own risk stuff. Not the way a pro with all the right stuff would do it. I've done several headstocks and a few hollowbodies and haven't had a problem yet, knock on guitar wood.
 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

A tip from Dan Erlewine I saw was to use surgical tubing on the reamer as a depth stop and to file out the hourglass shape with a fine toothed rat tail file. If I could find surgical tubing at 10 mm dia. I'd be a happy camper. Any suggestions on a source for it? I will of course do my own research but like to know if I can get someone who knows of a place... KnowwhutImean Vern?
 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

TIGEREYELASER said:
A tip from Dan Erlewine I saw was to use surgical tubing on the reamer as a depth stop and to file out the hourglass shape with a fine toothed rat tail file. If I could find surgical tubing at 10 mm dia. I'd be a happy camper. Any suggestions on a source for it? I will of course do my own research but like to know if I can get someone who knows of a place... KnowwhutImean Vern?
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In the states ... US plastic should have it but you probably have to buy a full roll. You could always just mark the reamer with tape or use heat shrink to give you a visual indication of depth. If you need an actual hard "stop", then I guess tubing would be the best way to go. But for a one off or occasional use, I'd just tape it. Actually tape should give you a good enough physical stop. You could push past it but if you are watching what you are doing, it should work fine. You may be able to find 3/8" id vinyl tubing, cut to size and priced by the foot, at the Lowes or Home depot or whatever lumber/home improvement place you have. Kind of stiff if they don't have the thin walled stuff but you can probably get it to go on.
 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

Darg1911 said:
In the states ... US plastic should have it but you probably have to buy a full roll. You could always just mark the reamer with tape or use heat shrink to give you a visual indication of depth. If you need an actual hard "stop", then I guess tubing would be the best way to go. But for a one off or occasional use, I'd just tape it. Actually tape should give you a good enough physical stop. You could push past it but if you are watching what you are doing, it should work fine. You may be able to find 3/8" id vinyl tubing, cut to size and priced by the foot, at the Lowes or Home depot or whatever lumber/home improvement place you have. Kind of stiff if they don't have the thin walled stuff but you can probably get it to go on.
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They do have it but it's polyethylene mostly and is sold in lengths from 10'-100'. Tape was my first idea, maybe I'll just stick with that. :)
 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

TIGEREYELASER said:
They do have it but it's polyethylene mostly and is sold in lengths from 10'-100'. Tape was my first idea, maybe I'll just stick with that. :)
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I used/use tape wrapped around a drill bit as a visual depth "stop" for all sorts of things over the years. I certainly didn't invent the idea. Should work fine for your tuner holes. Good luck.
 
Re: Increasing tuner hole size...

If you want to go from a traditional or vintage style Kluson/Gotoh tuners with a plain bushing to a modern die-cast tuners with a threaded bushing, you don't need a reamer, really. Smaller 8mm holes for vintage tuners require tapered reaming so that the bushing is tightly in its place. Modern tuners just need a hole big enough to accommodate the lower lip that is cast on the machine head itself.

If just doing a vintage to vintage swap a reamer would be better. I know at least one Grover model of tuners from a Gibson SJ200 Custom I worked on, that has a very thick pegs along with oversized bushings. Ironically, one of it's problems was that all of the bushings were coming loose. :)

Use a sacrifical block clamped underneath the holes, to avoid most of the chipout. Of course, drill from the face down, not the other way around.
 
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