LMI steel string slot head using bushings for gotoh 3 on a plate tuners

[Mike Ryan]

So, I am building a couple of parlor guitars from the martin 1-18 plans from GAL.
I have done one slot head headstock before and I didn't like doing it all by hand.
I have bought the LMI streel string slot head jig and the grover 3 on a plate tuning machines.
The only problem is with the bushings that come with the tuners.
If I use the jig to do all the drilling and routing of the peghead - all precisely with the billet aluminum and the 6 mm shaft holes I don't see a precise and clean way to drill the tuner shaft holes out for the supplied steel bushings. They seem to large to just press in.
I could try to rig it in my shopsmith drillpress.
Drilling out a the shaft holes by hand seems like it could defeat all the precision I bought with the jig and it is expensive.
the shaft hole drill bit is 6 mm but the bushing for the shaft measures .030 OD.
Anybody done this with this jig on a steel string slot head before?
I am not somebody who likes to experiment on everything.

[Stephen Neal Saqui]

Can't you just fit the bushings with a cello ream? It's extremely clean and dead-on accurate. Plus you can press them in snug with no danger.

[Barry Daniels]

Get a cheap arbor press from an import tool store in your area. You will find other uses for it. (Like frets)

[Mike Ryan]

There are 12 bushings supplied I guess for the inner and outer part of the shaft.

[Mike Ryan]

the problem is getting to the inner hole to ream it. I like the cello reamer idea.
I'll figure something out. I am going to do some practice headstocks.

[Stephen Neal Saqui]

Can't you just fit the bushings with a cello ream? It's extremely clean and dead-on accurate. Plus you can press them in snug with no danger.

I was distracted by the huge words...didn't see "slot head" so forget about the cello ream!

[Mike Ryan]

already have hf arbor press for frets. Won't work here for the inner bushing.

[Peter Wilcox]

I don't understand. Do you have a link or a pic of those tuners - are they Grover (in your post) or Gotoh (in the title), and are they 3 on a plate or 3 on a side? I can't find any tuners 3 on a plate that need bushings. You say the bushings are ".030 OD". Is that how much larger than the 6mm they are? What is the OD of the tuner shafts themselves?

Sorry for all the questions - I guess I'm pretty dense.

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

Both the Gotoh and grover 3 on a plate for slotted peghead come with bushings to improve performance.

How about this;
After drilling the 6 holes for the shafts, chuck the 6mm bit in your drill press. Clamp the peg head so when you lower the drill press the bit is centered in both the inner and outer holes. Raise the chuck and install the bit for the bushings. Run that through the two previous existing holes. The 6mm bit is (obviously) long enough to drill both holes. You'll need to find a .30" (or equivalent) bit of equal length.

I might chamfer the holes to avoid tear out. Once again, the inner holes will be tricky.

I like your idea of practice headstocks.

[Mike Ryan]

sounds real "fiddly" which can lead to inconsistencies which can lead to ruined headstocks.
Oh Well, why should I get all the tools I need to actually do the job for over $200 (way over).
Keep the thinking caps on, guys, there is a simple foolproof answer here somewhere.

[Peter Wilcox]

Maybe you could modify something like this by tapering (grinding) the very end down to 6mm to get it centered and started in the 6mm hole.

http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Length-St ... amer+7.5mm

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Blogs/3 ... d28_2.html

Look at day 10. Doesn't seem Fiddly to me

[Mike Ryan]

I must not be communicating very well. This is for slothead 3 on a plate steels string tuning machines. It is easy to get at the hole on the side of the peghead but not the one inside the slot to ream out to press in a bushing.

[Bob Gramann]

If you drilled the hole its entire depth to the diameter that you need to push in the bushings, wouldn't the bushings and the outer plate support the tuner shaft? I don't think you need a stepped hole in this application.

[Peter Wilcox]

I don't know what this is called, but it concentrically will enlarge a hole, in this case from 5/16" to 3/8". It seems you could take a regular 19/64" (or 0.30") drill bit , chuck it up and as it is spinning, grind down several mm at the end to 6mm diameter, making sure that the step thus created is sharp for cutting. This could be used to cut, or at least start, to enlarge both the outer and inner holes of the peg head (already drilled to 6mm), either turning by hand or in a drill.

Just a thought, though I see from your original post that you don't like to experiment.

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

The jig gives you 6mm holes, 12 of them, six on the outside of the slotted peg head and six matching holes at the center. Your choices:

1) Don't use the bushings
2) Find a drill bit of appropriate diameter and install only the outside bushing. a reamer might suffice for this purpose.
3) Find a drill bit of the appropriate diameter that is long enough to drill both inner and outside bushing holes. Drill the 6mm holes with the jig. Using the 6mm bit as a locating pin, clamp the peg head on its side under your drill press chuck. You will have positioned the 6mm holes to be centered under the chuck (obviously one at a time). Enlarge the 6 pairs of 6mm holes with the aforementioned larger drill bit. The link I posted is an example of how to center a hole under a drill press chuck. That the example shown was a solid peg head is not germane.

You are probably not the first LMI customer to face this challenge. Why not give their customer service a call?

[Mike Ryan]

I have had the exact same thoughts Joshua.
I have called customer service: NADA.
I have all the stuff to do the drilling out on a drill press for the inner and outer bushings. I kind of negates the touted dead on accuracy allegedly for the lmi jig, though unless i come up with my own drill press jig.
I can always use the fence and try to clamp it at 90 degrees. seems like any little error in angle though between an off peghead jig and an on peghead jig could make the bushings bind.
I guess I might be interested in hearing from those who install the gotoh 3 on a plate slothead steels string tuning machines and if they use the bushings inner or outer or any combination of the two or don't use the bushings. The bushings seem like a good idea to me.
It is kind of funny: Robby O'Brien has a video out there using the same lmi jig for a classical but, apparently, has not used the steel string slothead attachment for the same jig.

[Bill Raymond]

I'd go with Joshua's option number 3. It isn't all that difficult to line up the existing holes on a drill press with the 6mm drill then drill out to the larger size. You should be able to get the accuracy required by the tuning machines; They don't require .0001 inch accuracy, after all. If you already have the slots cut you may want to wedge a piece of scrap wood in them to minimize breakout when the drill exits. I think if you stop overthinking this and just do it carefully you will be satisfied with the results.

[Christ Kacoyannakis]

I make Greek bouzoukis that normally use 4 on a plate tuning machines for slotted headstocks. I have played a lot of instruments where the tuning machine post holes where measured and cut by hand, and some tuners are really easy to turn, and others bind. I have the luthiertool.com slotting and drilling jig (which in essence does what the LMI one does, although I think the luthiertool.com jig is better). I have purchased tuning machines with bushings or plastic sleeves that are supposed to go in the holes, and I too have never figured out how to get those bushings in there. At least with the luthiertool.com jig, (and from the pictures on the LMI site, it looks similar on the LMI jig), the holes for drilling have hardened steel bushing in them that are removable. That means, you can get bushings with bigger holes in them, and just drill the holes once. I am not sure if the LMI jig has removable drill hole bushings or not.

However, from my experience, when you drill the holes with one of these jigs, the holes will be so accurate that the tuning machine posts will turn very smoothly without binding. Always drill before you slot, and you will not have to worry about splintering on the inside of the slots. Once the finish is done being applied, and has cured, I use the same drill bit, by hand (no drill) to clean out the hole. Then I put a bit of lubricant in the hole, and the tuning machines turn like butter. I don't think the bushings are needed at all. You will only make the mistake of drilling after slotting once!

[Mark Swanson]

Stew-Mac sells a drill bit that has a 1/4" tip which fits the hole, and then a larger cutting end that fits the Waverly and some other bushings. The tool looks much like the one Peter posted. I like the tool, but it doesn't fit every set of bushings I have used. When I do a slotted headstock, I just use the drilling jig and don't use any bushings.