Hole Filling..Neck Joining?

[Speiro]

I've just bought a neck for my model 4 body and I need to fill the screw holes where it was attached to it's previous body as they don't line up properly. Can anyone suggest the best way to do this?
Thanks [img]/images/graemlins/band.gif[/img]

[rjohnstone]

Re: Hole Filling..Neck Joining?

Tightbond wood glue and toothpicks.
Works great.

[dg]

Re: Hole Filling..Neck Joining?

Personally, I'd use dowels rather than toothpicks, especially if the new holes are going to be close or overlap some with the ones to be filled. More wood & less glue this way, which I prefer. Here's some decent directions for doweling & redrilling that I copy/pasted from somewhere a while back:

" Take a neck screw to the hardware store. Find a dowel that's a bit bigger than the screw. Assuming that you have a drill, buy the dowel and a drill bit the same size of the dowel, some wood glue, masking tape, and some single edged razor blades. Screw one of the neck screws into the uninstalled neck until you feel resistance. Wrap a small piece of tape around the screw where it meets the bottom of the neck. Take the screw out. The portion of the screw below the tape equals the depth that you must drill the new holes for the dowel. Hold the screw up to the drill bit and transfer the depth you just came up with to the drill bit. When you drill the new holes, all you have to do is stop when you get near the tape. Blow the dust out of the holes. After the holes are redrilled, take the dowel you bought and put it in one of the holes you drilled. Mark it with a pencil. Remove the dowel and cut at the mark. Repeat three more times. Glue them in with wood glue. It's OK if the dowel pieces are a bit short, but if they protrude, use a razor blade to trim them down. Let it dry over night. Gently clamp the neck into the neck pocket with a "C" clamp. Use something to protect the neck/body from the clamp like card board or an old leather belt or strap. Loosely install a high and low E string to line the neck up properly on both sides. Shift the neck around as necessary to get the right gap for each string. Take your neck screws and put one beside the bit you're going to use. Mark the bit you'll be using for drilling the new neck bolt holes using tape again as a depth guide. Drill the new holes in the neck. I do this with the neck still clamped to the body. Bolt the neck on."

[zeegler]

Re: Hole Filling..Neck Joining?

Use the dowel. Also, try to find hardwood dowel rather than softwood. If you use softwood, and the new hole end up overlapping the old holes, the drill bit can drift towards the softwood plug, because it's easier to drill than the maple of the neck. This is liable to happen even with a drill press because the drill bits flex.

[Evol]

Re: Hole Filling..Neck Joining?

[ QUOTE ]
Use the dowel. Also, try to find hardwood dowel rather than softwood. If you use softwood, and the new hole end up overlapping the old holes, the drill bit can drift towards the softwood plug, because it's easier to drill than the maple of the neck. This is liable to happen even with a drill press because the drill bits flex.

[/ QUOTE ]

+1 Good advice,the drill will walk on you if you use softer wood dowels.

I like to take painters tape and simply roll it until I get a roll that will fit into the old holes,then take that to the hardware store and find dowel that is slightly larger. Cut them down into managable pieces and simply roll them in a piece of sandpaper until you can wedge it into the old hole but still be able to remove it without too much effort. It should fit snug into the hole.

Then apply wood to the hole and coat the dowel with a light coat of glue and TAP LIGHTLY with a rubber mallet until it fits nice and tight into the hole. Make sure you protect the frets and fretboard on the other side! Let it dry over night then cut them flush to the neck and sand smooth.

I then install the neck and mark the holes,take it off the body and place the neck screws through the back of the neck pocket and mark the depth with tape. Line the screw up with your drill bit and tape it leaving it just a tad shallow of where you marked the screw.

Then simply drill each hole to that depth,install the neck and screws,string both E strings up and loosen and adjust as needed,tighten them back down and jam away! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[Speiro]

Re: Hole Filling..Neck Joining?

Thanks guys, that's really helpfull. I'm needing to fill holes on the body where the old FR trem posts were as the size is completely different to my new trem too. So looks like I need to get some various size dowling then.
Thanks again.