NEW USED PARTS ORDERING PAYMENT SHIPPING WARRANTY RETURNS
TECH RESOURCES GALLERY WANTED LINKS NEWS EBAY FAKES
HOME NAMM FEEDBACK TESTIMONIALS CONTACT EMAIL
NEW GUITARS USED GUITARS PARTS
Fixing stripped wood threads with CA
Thin CA is like water, Put an E string in 2" of water and pull it out, you're not going to have water dripping off, if you hold it for a bit the water will run down and gather at the tip in a little ball. If it was "drops" it would take a couple drops, but they won't be, you may have to do it 5-10 times per hole to get enough "drops" of CA onto the sides of the hole. If you are getting big drops [some CA is not as thin as others, and there's store bought "super glues" and CA you buy at a hobby store, or amazon. At any hobby shop it will have the name of the store on it, but it's all Bob Smith Industries, They make it Thin to Heavy but I find anything over gap filling just too heavy and harder to cure with accelerator, which you'll need. The older Fine gets the better it is as it gets a little thicker and you'll start getting those drops]. Gap Filling you don't want to get too much on to where it wants to run or drip, unless you're working a big hole like a neck screw hole. Also why I said B string, or toothpick, larger diameter, flows more liquid. You're not using a whole strings, just what you would cut off after you changed strings.
What you use, how tight you want the hole, is going to depend on
how tight it has to be, if it's job is to hold a locking nut in place you want
to be able to get that screw tight, even tighter that a neck screw a neck screw.
Be very careful with 7 and 8 string nut screws [and early JS nut screws] as
they're soft as butter and you'll chew the cross in them before you get the nut
effectively tight enough to do it's job, and will definitely spin them in half
in a hole too tight. [I replace all 7 string nut screws with 6 string screws
after using a diamond bit to open up the hole the right way, the back of the
hole only so the nut tightens itself against the end of the board, which is it's
job, to keep the nut fixed firmly without moving or rocking even a hair. If it's
a cover screw it only requires enough thread that the screw comes out when you
want instead of sitting there spinning in a stripped hole, and tightens back up
as much as a cover needs to be, which is just holding it on..
Dip the string to the bottom of the bottle, pull it out, let it run down to the
tip and pool in a ball. If you're getting a big drop just be careful it doesn't
drip off onto something you don't want it to, although that's what "remover" is
for, getting it off, especially when you glue your fingers together. But some
finishes like to be removed also so masking or just putting a paper towel over
where you don't want it to drop is advisable.
You have a ball of fluid at the tip, run it around the inside of the hole
coating "threads" which really are barely still there after you've stripped
them. It's like water, it will soak in and swell what is there, that's what you
want. You also want to build it up enough to thicken the threads. Less is more,
and if you get the hole too tight you might twist a screw in half screwing it
in. A string retainer screw will twist in half if you get the hole too tight, a
neck screw will just be tight, which is not a bad thing but I prefer to keep it
good and snuck, not creaking it's way in [in which case roll the screw on a bar
of soap to lubricate it] But thin screws like Truss Cover, direct mount pickup
screws, 7 string nut mount screws are soft and you're just as likely to bugger
the + trying to get a screw tight as you will trying to screw it into undrilled
wood, or a hole with too much dry CA in it. now you've got a real mess and will
have to grind the screw out with a fine Dremmel cutter bit, takes about 3 bits
as you burn them up. Never get the hole too tight. If you feel it's too tight
for the screw run a drill into it the right size for the screw to open it up.
CA is now in the hole, on the threads. The accelerator is to accelerate the
drying [CA dries with lack of oxygen so when you glue 2 pieces together it's
dry, it's not like that when it's not clamped between something, the accelerator
makes it dry when exposed to the air like it is in the hole, or bottle], and as soon as it
hits the CA and soaks a second it's dry, not cured, but dry [unless you've got a
LOT of glue, especially working Gap Filling, and accelerator is only drying the
top leaving what's underneath still wet, which is why you don't get it too thick
to dry]. Blow out the hole, just be careful
where you're aiming the spray that will come out of it. Screw the screw into it, if
you feel resistance like a screw that will hold, back it out and use it to hold
and make sure it gets as tight as is needed for the application it's for [pay attention], You're not
gluing the screw to anything, the surface is dry, it's just not cured yet so
it's a little pliable and will form threads nicely. Tighten the nut. If it does
not tighten and is still stripped, go back to step 1 until you can tighten the
nut tight and it is not stripped.
Anybody thinks you're a moron for using this as a permanent fix [which it is]
they can drill out the holes later and fix it any way their luthier school
instructor taught them was "proper" snob protocol for fixing a wood thread. If
you just want a really good permanent fix, you've already got one.
When they first started using these X [top mount screw on] nuts in 2003 virtually every single one
would have to be done. Occasionally if you tested one you'd find a stripped
screw from the factory, but usually the screws were tight, until you loosened
them once [which during a setup you always had to either add/subtract shims, or
at that time, remove the nut to grind it down because the routs were far too
high]. Then as soon as you'd try and tighten them again they were stripped.
They're gotten better over the years and I believe they turned down the torque
setting on the drivers used to put them in, but it's still very common to have
to fix a stripped X mount screw hole, and will always be as long as you have a
screw holding a piece under tension.