Help with some wood...

[boxstop7]

Howdy gang!

I know we've got a ton of folks on here to are luthiers to varying degrees, master modders, rebuilders, etc...and I'm hoping that the collective knowledge and experience here can point me in the right direction...

I modded a guitar a while back and put a piezo bridge in it. Fixed bridge, string-thru-body type guitar. The piezo stopped working, and it never really sounded good, so I removed it from the guitar. however, the replacement bridge has much smaller bushings than the original and piezo bridges. I've used calipers and measured the holes...they're 11mm in diameter and 24mm deep. I've been looking for dowels to fill them, but everything I've found is either too big or too small, and I don't really have much in the way of "suitable tools" to really shave down a dowel with any accuracy or consistency.

Do any of you out there have any thoughts on what I could do to fill the original holes so that they can be re-drilled to hold a much smaller bushing? Any notion as to where I could find a mahogany (or similar hardwood) dowel that would fit the specified size I'm looking to fill? As always, any and all input is much appreciated!!!

- Jason

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

I played around a little with this luthier stuff. Check this place out, caldowel.com They have mahogany dowels. Expect to pay about 35.00 for it, but it is what it is. If you cannot get the exact size you need, you may have to go up to the next largest size. Drill the holes to fit the dowel. Hopefully though you can find the size you need and not have to do this. Place the dowel in the hole and score with a pencil where it is level with the top. Remove the dowel and cut on the top side of the line and you should get a great fit.

 

[Tedder]

+1 with Audie's post. Generally speaking you need to open up the hole to fit the dowel into it, sand it down to the finish and then refinish that part of the instrument to do a professional job.

 

[Rookie]

From a woodworking standpoint, I'd recommend not using a dowel.
The grain will be parallel to the fitting and that will be the weakest way to put in a fastener.
Much better would be a plug cutter into a board of Mahogany or whatever wood you choose.
Then the fastener will be going into the grain perpendicularly, and grip much better.

I'll bet there's a supplier of fancy wood plugs.
Drilling the hole to match the plug is correct over shaving the plug to fit the existing hole.

WWND? What would Norm do?