tuner fail...

[hubcapsc]

I have these cool late-30s/early-40s open gear tuners that drop
right in as replacements for the Kluson Deluxe that came on my
57 Country western. I installed them and put on all the strings.
When I began to bring the strings up to pitch, some of the worm
support rivets popped out of the baseplates.



I never expected this to happen. I wonder - is there some 1940
mojo that escapes me? My installation included something "clever"
I came up with - perhaps I caused this failure? Here's the story:

My Country Western has stamped "grommet" bushings. The 1940
tuners have associated cast(?) bushings, the kind with a splined
OD that presses into the tuning head. I didn't want to modify my
guitar at all to install these tuners, not even to ream the tuning head
holes to fit the appropriate bushings. The string posts on these 1940
tuners are non-standard - they're not anything I know about anyhow.
The two sizes of grommet bushings on Stewmac are for 1/4 string
posts (large) or up to 7/32 string posts (small). The OD of the large
bushings is right for my guitar, but the ID is wrong for the 1940 string
posts. The OD of the small bushings is wrong for my guitar and the ID
is too small for the 1940 string posts.

So my "clever" idea was to get a set of large grommet bushings and
sleeve them with the right sized pipe. McMaster Carr has every size
of precisely sized stainless pipe you can imagine.





A dot of cyanoacrylate and the bushing is sleeved.



The sleeved bushings fit the tuning head holes perfectly, and the
string posts perfectly. The lips on the sleeved bushings are smaller
than the originals, leaving these "racoon eyes"...



I imagined that since I'd solved the string post fitment problem, that I'd just
find some bushings with the right sized lips, sleeve them, and be good-to-go
for the next string change. But now that my tuners are flying apart,
I guess they're no good, or my sleeve idea doesn't cut the muster, or... ?

Did anyone read this far? What do you think?

-Mike "I put my old tuners/bushings back, my Country Western is unharmed "

[hubcapsc]

sigh...



Anywho... I have these brand new Kluson Prestige tuners on there,
and they work great



-Mike "original style Kluson Deluxe still drop right in "

[Victory Pete]

Too bad that happened. I am not a fan of "Vintage" parts. I like brand new, especially if it drops right in.

[John Arnold]

This is a common failure on tuners with riveted worm supports. Sometimes they can be repaired by rebradding. The bent worm supports are a bit more resistant to leaning than the flat ones, but they can pop loose from the baseplate, as you have discovered.

[hubcapsc]

Originally Posted by John Arnold

This is a common failure on tuners with riveted worm supports. Sometimes they can be repaired by rebradding. The bent worm supports are a bit more resistant to leaning than the flat ones, but they can pop loose from the baseplate, as you have discovered.

I learned the same thing off-line from (another?) luthier. So... I need to find
someone who can do that kind of work (rebradding = repeening?)...

-Mike

[mirwa]

I have in the past refitted the posts back into place and then followed up with medium to hard solder, they are still going strong to the best of my knowledge

[hubcapsc]

Originally Posted by mirwa

I have in the past refitted the posts back into place and then followed up with medium to hard solder, they are still going strong to the best of my knowledge

I can see me trying that and all the nickel plating peeling off ...
Seems like a good idea in general though...

-Mike

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by hubcapsc

I can see me trying that and all the nickel plating peeling off ...
Seems like a good idea in general though...

-Mike

Nickel plating wont come off in temps under 800c, I have hard soldered many nickel plated items as I repair saxes and trumpets etc as well