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Author
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Topic: Replacing Old Tuning Buttons
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Keith Grubb
Member From: Petaluma, CA, USA
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posted 06 March 2002 08:53 AM
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I've got an old lapsteel that needs to have all the tuning buttons replaced. I bought some replacement buttons from Scotty's and they suggested heating up the shafts and pushing the buttons into place. I saw an article from Brad's page of steel that said to drill out the hole in the button so that is the same diameter as the shaft and push them into place.I was hoping to get some words of wisdom from you all. How have you done this repair? |
Doug Beaumier
Member From: Northampton, MA
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posted 06 March 2002 10:27 AM
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Heating the shaft and pressing the button on is the best way. Make sure to completely clean all of the old button material from the shafts first.------------------
My Site | Doug's Free Tab
[This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 06 March 2002 at 10:27 AM.]
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D Schubert
Member From: Columbia, MO, USA
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posted 06 March 2002 12:24 PM
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I have seen new plastic/ivoroid buttons put on old guitar peg shafts using a mixture of expoxy and drilling/sanding dust from the old buttons. It sure does hold tight!Right now I'm contemplating at the same kind of lap steel project. So, I'm interested in alternate procedures... |
HowardR
Member From: N.Y.C.,N.Y.
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posted 06 March 2002 07:00 PM
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This is a very informative site. When you go to it, click on the big index page, and then "items for luthiers" and under the heading of "quickies" (yeah, I know!) you'll see the article on tuner button replacement......
http://www.frets.com [This message was edited by HowardR on 06 March 2002 at 07:16 PM.] [This message was edited by HowardR on 06 March 2002 at 07:18 PM.] [This message was edited by HowardR on 06 March 2002 at 07:19 PM.] [This message was edited by HowardR on 06 March 2002 at 07:49 PM.] [This message was edited by HowardR on 06 March 2002 at 07:51 PM.]
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Zayit
Member From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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posted 07 March 2002 10:36 AM
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Keith before you do anything- a little chemistry & a little geometry are in order: I'm not dis-agreeing with anything Doug or Howard said, but there are two VERY different kinds of replacement buttons out there & they require different handling. The plastic ones can be glued on OR stuck on by heating the shafts with a soldering iron. The ivoroid can only be glued because in order to mount them with heat, you'd have to get the tuner shafts ALOT hotter & probably cook the gears. (I found out by experience!) So much for chemistry. The geometry of the shafts is also important (posts or paddles?). I will not restate the obvious, but it may easier to drill out the buttons a little than to file the shafts in order to match the male/female thing.... |
Keith Grubb
Member From: Petaluma, CA, USA
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posted 08 March 2002 08:19 AM
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Well I got the the tuning buttons replaced. I ended up going the heating route. I used a heat gun, which is basically a very hot hair drier to heat up the shaft and then pushed the buttons into place. 5 out of the 6 went on w/o much trouble but I could only get the last one about 75% on. It seems to be on tight so I'm not going to worry about it. I had a friend help me heat up the shaft because by the time I turned off the heat gun and picked up the button the shaft had cooled down too much to slip the button on. Thank you everyone for your help. I have another guitar that I'm going to repeat the process on. Is there a easy way to heat the shaft up? Thanks again. Keith
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Jim Smith
Member From: Plano, TX, USA
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posted 08 March 2002 08:41 AM
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I've never done this, but wouldn't a big soldering iron work? Seems like it would be a more direct source of heat. |
D Schubert
Member From: Columbia, MO, USA
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posted 08 March 2002 11:25 AM
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How hot did the tuners have to get to soften the plastic? |
Keith Grubb
Member From: Petaluma, CA, USA
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posted 08 March 2002 11:49 AM
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I did this repair during my lunch at work. So I was limited to the tools we had here. We tried two different soldering irons and they did not seem to get the shaft hot enough. I could have used a blow tourch like someone at Scotty's mention but since my tuners are the three on a side type I was afraid I would melt the other buttons as I was heating up the shafts.I think we heated up the shafts for about two minutes. I'm not positive as I didn't use a stop watch. The shafts were too hot to hold for any length of time w/o gloves. I couldn't give you real good estimate of how hot things got though. You should be careful not to use to much force when pushing the buttons on as you might bend a shaft or gear. Keith |
Jason Lollar
Member From: Seattle area
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posted 09 March 2002 12:26 AM
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Its also possible to overheat the shaft so when you push the new button on it melts too much and gets sloppy. Done that! |
Kenny Dail
Member From: Kinston, N.C. 28504
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posted 09 March 2002 01:12 PM
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Keith the trick to heating the shaft is, when you have determined the right button to use for the replacement. Before you do any "heating" to the shafts, make sure the shaft the button is to go on is free of any old particals or remains from the old button. Now, heat the shaft the the new button is to be removed from then as the shaft heats up, gently pull on it and remove the button. And while the button is still hot from this operation, shove it down on the key you want to put it on. This usually can be done without applying any heat to the new home for the button. Just make sure you push it down far enoough so you will not have heat the shaft to re-seat it again.------------------
kd...and the beat goes on... [This message was edited by Kenny Dail on 09 March 2002 at 01:14 PM.]
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