Thread: plugging & re-drilling neck pocket holes

Originally Posted by fanlee

Hi.
I feel plugging & re-drilling the holes in the neck pocket would be safest.
But my dowling is too thin, & the other bit too thick.
So How do I 'thickness' dowling to get the right diameter?

Stick your piece of dowel in a drill press and sand it down to size. Alternatively drill out the hole that's going to be plugged to the appropriate size. Glue it in with plenty of two pack epoxy and let it dry nice and hard, then drill and fit the inserts...
From your description of what you have that's what I would do, its a little hard to say without seeing what your trying to achieve. Good luck...

im not quite sure what you mean, but dowel wont hold threads very well as you are threading the screw cutting the grain. you need plugs, or a plugcutter to make one if you want to hold threads in the hole.

Originally Posted by black_labb

im not quite sure what you mean, but dowel wont hold threads very well as you are threading the screw cutting the grain. you need plugs, or a plugcutter to make one if you want to hold threads in the hole.

Well said you could route 2 trenches in the back of the neck to remove the existing holes and then glue in two tightly fitted peices of timber with the grain aligned with that of the neck . It would be like there were never holes there at all.

Rgds

Ross

I didn't describe things well enough.

The inserts are OK - all well set in the neck - no dowelling.

I have to re drill the holes in the body of the guitar - the neck pocket - to be larger dia and also to angle them off about 2 deg since it is an angled neck pocket. So the screws will be passing straight through.

Actually while fiddling about I found that the larger dowelling fits a 15/64 hole really well.

I am just a bit paranoid about drilling out the existing holes because of their proximity to the sides of the neck pocket.

Perhaps putting the inserts in at the required angle?
I assume that the inserts are now flush and perpendicular to the bottom of the neck? Hows about plugging those holes in the neck with a plug cutter plug, not dowel as the grain will be perpendicular to the neck, then rebate the new holes so that you have a flat surface parallel to the body socket. Get it?
You're going to have to do this on your body side anyway as the bolts will be skewed by the neck angle.
I dont think those few degrees should be too much.

Just a thought...

its awkward trying to have the screws angled with inserts
they will be set on the neck plate tight down on one side
thats apart from getting em at the right angle

plug the holes redrill and use screws

Originally Posted by mongrel

Perhaps putting the inserts in at the required angle?
I assume that the inserts are now flush and perpendicular to the bottom of the neck? Hows about plugging those holes in the neck with a plug cutter plug, not dowel as the grain will be perpendicular to the neck, then rebate the new holes so that you have a flat surface parallel to the body socket. Get it?
You're going to have to do this on your body side anyway as the bolts will be skewed by the neck angle.
I dont think those few degrees should be too much.

Just a thought...

Well you're right. Those few degress don't matter much.

I drilled out the holes ready to plug & out of curiousity set the neck in the pocket and fiddled about to see if the screws took hold and LO & BEhold I could finger tighten them easily....no plug no dowelling...just tighten 'er up.

I worry too much