WHAt SIZE HOLES?

[Ambrola]

I am working on my first LP, and I am ready to install the tailpiece and bridge anchors. What do you guys do when the anchor is a to small at 11mm and the next size is to big? I think use the 11 and beat it in but I sure don't want mess the top up.
What or how do you guys handle this??

 

[emoney]

I like to press it in with my drill press.

 

[Ole'Lefty]

Well, over here we also use 7/16th inch(11.113mm). But it is good if you have to more or less press bushings in. And I have on occasion used a deadblow or lead-filled rawhide mallet -rare, but I have.

 

[Ambrola]

I will do as emoney and use my drill press .No glue??

 

[Ole'Lefty]

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/luthiers-corner/165006-drilling-into-finished-guitar-you-can-do.htmlNo glue unless a bushing is loose. Use of glue would be a technique for repair. But, if you have to press it in, it should not fall out. You should search for the great thread on how to drill in finished guitars. I will look too.

 

[SG Lou]

By all means use a drill press.
What I do is tap the anchor in to get it started making sure it's square to the top. Then I screw in the stud until it's almost in all of the way.
Place a piece of hardwood between the top of the stud and the chuck of the drill press and push down until the top of the anchor is a hair below the top of the guitar.

 

[Ambrola]

Thanks guys. I now know what to do.

 

[monsterwalley]

Not to hi-jack this thread but it is related.

On a couple of my builds I've had problems with the bushing with the
ground wire in it lean a little because of it. Has anyone else had this problem.
I know the holes are straight and true since I have, or had ( I lost it somewhere) a jig that I drill through using a drill press. I've used the same
jig each time and have narrowed it to the ground wire. Anyone else ever encounter this? It usually didn't lean much, but made it difficult to get the
tailpiece on.

 

[Ole'Lefty]

My solution to the unpredictable combination of ground wire and tight bushing is to use a very small "v" gouge to make a groove down the side of the bushing hole and then pressing the bushing in alongside the stripped wire. I have actually pulled the bushings after to check reliability of this and have found the wire nicely clinging to the little groove.

The less reliable way is to wad up a bunch of the stripped wire in the bottom and crushing it into firm contact with the bushing-estimating the "squish factor."

 

[Ole'Lefty]

Sorry--"Squish factor" is computed by "X" over "Y" multiplied by 17.751 +5/32nds" inch.

X= diameter of stripped wire in inches

"Y"= length of stripped strand in inches

 

[schoeftinger]

Well, there are 11.5mm drill bits...
But be careful - the wood may tear if the hole is too tight!

If the hole isn't too tight, I mostly use clamps to force the studs in.
This always seemed simpler to me than using the drill press...

 

[skynyrd67]

I measured my bushing and found a drill bit 1/64 smaller to drill the hole with,,it wasn`t too tight nor too loose.

 

[Barnaby]

I use an 11mm auger bit with a handle and then wrap some sandpaper around a piece of dowel and enlarge the hole slightly until I have the fit I want. You have to be careful to sand evenly to avoid getting a 'funnel' effect. I also prefer to have the tailpiece studs a tiny bit apart so that the tailpiece 'clicks' into place rather than sits loosely.

 

[Ambrola]

I use an 11mm auger bit with a handle and then wrap some sandpaper around a piece of dowel and enlarge the hole slightly until I have the fit I want. You have to be careful to sand evenly to avoid getting a 'funnel' effect. I also prefer to have the tailpiece studs a tiny bit apart so that the tailpiece 'clicks' into place rather than sits loosely.

I think that is what I am going to have to do.