Installing Tuners

[Sharkfin]

I don't own a peghole reamer, and don't want to spend $60 on the tool. Is there another tool or method that will work as well?

[murkat]

Harbor freight tools, there are two store in Maryland

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?keyword=reamer

search under reamer.
go slow on the rotation, light force with these so you do not dig in, grab too much wood.

J

[Hellbat]

I cheaped out and used a drillbit but even with tape over the finish it still chipped the clear around the holes. Thankfully the tuners covered the chipping but I wouldn't recommend using drillbits....

[Sharkfin]

Harbor freight tools, there are two store in Maryland

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?keyword=reamer

search under reamer.
go slow on the rotation, light force with these so you do not dig in, grab too much wood.

J

Sweet, quite a price difference from Stewmac! Thanks for the info I went ahead and purchased one.

[murkat]

stewmac is a rip off. Unless you really need it, and they are the only game, so be it.
Being a self employed contractor, running my own service shop,
there is other just as good procurements out there that suffice at a lower cost,
than paying out the ass at Stewmac.
you will find great little tools "on the cheap side but it works" at HFT.
Saved my ass and wallet a few times.

[plon]

The only thing about the harbor freight one is the more aggressive pitch than the stew mac. If you're not careful you will make the outer part of the hole larger than needed before you get the inner dimension to size. The best way to go about it is to remove a little at a time from both sides.

[37fiat]

How much bigger do you have to make the hole?

If it's just a small amount such as 1/32" or 1/16" there's a very cheap and easy, but time consuming way to do it.
Take a round shaft pencil or a dowel about 6" -7" long that is at least 1/16" smaller in diameter than the current hole, wrap the top 2 inches in double stick tape (carpet tape) and stick 100 - 120 grit sandpaper around the sticky tape part.
Effectively it's a sanding file, and you enlarge the hole by working it through the hole up and down and evenly around it until you get to the desired hole size.
Probably have to change the sandpaper and possibly the tape several times, as the sandpaper can wear out quickly.
It'll take a bit of time, but much less chance of harming the finish by sanding than with a drill bit or some cutting tools.
Total $$ outlay, less than $3 if you have the double stick tape, $5 if you have to buy that.

I however wouldn't use this method if more than 1/16" material had to be taken out. That would take too long.

If you have a round metal cutting file with relatively fine teeth, that could also work.

[murkat]

The only thing about the harbor freight one is the more aggressive pitch than the stew mac. If you're not careful you will make the outer part of the hole larger than needed before you get the inner dimension to size. The best way to go about it is to remove a little at a time from both sides.

absolutely. if you have to with an aggressive pitched reamer, use it till you have achieved the size required at the back face,
then use a drill bit of same size need to make hole size. This way the hole is pre cut at the surface, where a drill bit will chew it up the surface. make sure you do not let the drill bit runaway in the hole and eat wood up, and stop bit prior to top side, do not let it go thru.

[Sharkfin]

I measured the tuner holes and they are 5/16 wide, I need to widen it to 3/8. So the dowel and sandpaper method should suffice. I'll give that a try since I have some time to kill.

[jacksonaxes]

I used this with good results.

[JACKSONFREAK]

I use a craftsman small taper hand reamer I got headache ago. I think ut was like 15 bucks. Use it from the back side of the headstock as the collar nut is smaller diameter than the mechanism itself. A couple twists at a time and check for fit.
Gil

[JACKSONFREAK]

Don't use a drill unless u have an extremely steady hand. Accidently move off square and u can snap the headstock at the tuner hole. Happened to a friend of mine and his strat was never the same. Sure he got it fixed but it was cracked. He had that constant reminder of his mistake. Just sayin.
Gil

[tomanyjacksons]

Last time I used an agressive round file in a drill. I was very careful not too rush anything and they turned out very nice with no chipping. Being poor growing up has openned my mind when it comes to doing little wierd tasks. Going to town is a 20 min job for me, and there's generally nothing in town, so I try to improvise with what I have.

[straycat]

Hand reamer at Lowe's $19.00 works great.You don't need to go all the way thru the headstock just far enough to fit the tuner in until it sits flush with the headstock.
I have used the reamer and then a sanding drum attachment on a dremel to make the shaft hole straighter.

[Sharkfin]

I ordered a reamer from HF and it arrived today. I'll have a go at it in a bit, I have an unusable Fender neck that I may try the tool on first to see how it works.

~Update~

I only needed to ream through the back of the head stock peg holes as the tuner assembly and washer fit perfectly on the face of the HS. The reamer worked perfectly took about 10 minutes for each peg hole. Thanks for all the responses, the $6 dollar reamer was the biggest help of all