|
RobF -> RE: Damaged buttons (Sep. 18 2023 14:44:51)
|
I don’t want to be contrarian, but I always have recommended drilling pilot holes, and will continue to do so.
Not all neck woods are super soft and the screws that often come with tuners can be made from weak pot metal. Screw heads can and do break off, leaving the shaft buried in the wood. It may be a rare occurrence but it can happen. If a person is on the internet asking about a basic matter such as installing a set of tuners then they quite likely will not have the experience to know when to lighten up on a driver and almost certainly won’t know what to do for a graceful recovery if a head does break off.
There are solutions, so if it does happen there are ways to cleanly remove the shaft, but why not avoid the possibility altogether by drilling a pilot hole? It’s a trivial extra step.
Or not, I have no dog in this fight. Just wanted to put the caution flag out there. If one does choose to not use a pilot hole then please lubricate the screw with soap or wax, use a light touch on the screwdriver, and don’t force anything if the screw fights back. And for goodness’ sake don’t use a powered screwdriver, do it by hand.
The only reason I keep mentioning this is it’s happened to me and I’ve also repaired guitars with missing screw heads in the past. So, it does happen. Which is why I have the ‘better safe than sorry’ policy.
|
|
|
|
