Redrilling screw holes

Toothpicks have never failed me so the holes must be really big.

You can try filling the holes with the toothpick's and wood glue which should work. You could also oversize the holes and put in wooden dowels. Make sure you size them correctly so the dowels are a snug fit. If you go the dowel route then also score the side of the dowel so you can put a little glue on it and let the air and glue out as you press in the dowel. Be real careful drilling new pilot holes.

Superglue!? There aren't too many good applications for that on a guitar -- reattaching bindings and doing some inlay work yes, but filling screw holes in wood doesn't seem to make sense. What type of holes are you repairing?

Yep, wooden match sticks and carpenter's glue is the way.

The toothpick fix is a good one, use a drop of Elmer's or wood glue, Stick the toothpick in and break it off.
Wait a day, then put the screw back.

Another option use sawdust and super glue, fill the hole with both, let dry, then re-drill.

Joe

forrok is right, mixing crapenter's glue with sawdust is the way to go

The endpin holes on one of my Jackson's are what need to be repaired. The original screw holes are too big for the Schaller straplocks that I fit to my guitars. I've repaired the holes a couple of times, with mixed results. The screws can be tightened, but not to the extent that they're competely tight. Might try the Dan Erlewine superglue/baking soda method. By the way, Dan's repair manual is one of the best around; essential reading for anyone into doing their own repair work. :roll:

The first move is to protect the surface of your guitar from foreign objects like drill bits and corrosive solvents in glue (superglue is evil stuff). Use plenty of decorator's masking tape.

The other consideration is that many glues are not, in themselves, structurally sound, i.e. they will work as a bonding agent - nothing more. Superglue is one of those glues.

Stuff like epoxy resin has strength of it's own, so you can use it as a filler.

Make a dowel that will nicely fit the hole, fix it in place with epoxy resin and when that's totally set, redrill the hole through the dowel.

The endpin holes on one of my Jackson's are what need to be repaired. The original screw holes are too big for the Schaller straplocks that I fit to my guitars. I've repaired the holes a couple of times, with mixed results. The screws can be tightened, but not to the extent that they're competely tight. Might try the Dan Erlewine superglue/baking soda method. By the way, Dan's repair manual is one of the best around; essential reading for anyone into doing their own repair work. :roll:

STOP.

Dan E's baking soda-superglue fix is for NUT repairs, not body (wood) repairs. I'm not sure why anyone has the opinion that superglue is so super; its best uses are pretty specific, and repair screw hole is not one of them. It dries hard -- good for nut repair with a suspension material (baking soda, nut filings), as that makes it a gap filler. But do not use it in holes that are to be redrilled. If you let it dry, redrill and thread a screw into it, it will crack, possibly causing more damage and probably not provide a good, strong repair. As mentioned earlier, it is a great surface bonder for trim and similar low stress parts.

Epoxy is a mixed bag. It will work in some screw hole repairs, but avoid screwing back into the actual epoxy, as it will crack. If doing a dowel repair with epoxy, drill the new hole completely into the dowel. I would use white or yellow (Titebond) for this repair, because it will not crack during a rethread -- but if there is too much glue versus wood, it will not hold the screw all that well either. The key is lots of wood with a little glue. The advantage of epoxy for a dowel fix is that it will not cause the wood to expand making dowel insertion difficult, as does yellow glue.

And when using epoxy, never use 5 minute epoxy. Not only is the working time too short, it is not as strong and degrades more quickly with age.

If you just pop down to your local home depot you can find hardwood dowels in 25-30 different sizes. Heck, they may even have metric sizes.

Gnease,
Your comments regarding adhesives are interesting. Dan Erlewine uses the superglue/baking soda method for stripped screw holes, and details the method in his repair book. He recommends it for for machine head screw holes, pickup mounting rings and truss rod covers, so it must work to his liking. By the way, Don E. Teeter's The Acoustic Guitar is another excellent repair manual that should be readily available to most people. It's focus is on acoustic guitars, though much of what is written can easily be applied to electrics as well. :D

Given your description, I can see the possiblity with a caveat: Something I note is that every one of those applications you mention is low stress situation. Even the machine head case, as the major force on the screw will be sideways. It seems as if Erlewine advocating this method to rebuild threads stripped out of wood in cases only where strength is not critical. Does he also recommend waxing or oiling the screw and inserting it when the glue is still wet? This would solve the cracking problem and let the screw release from the rebuilt glue and soda thread for removal.

I would be surprised to find he's recommend this method for repair the hole for a strap button screw. In any case, thanks for the specifics. I'll have a look -- I've got Erlewine's book somewhere.

Dan Erlewine does not specifically mention the superglue-baking soda combination for strap button screws. What he does say though is;
'This superglue-baking soda technique works great on any stripped holes you are likely to come across, such as though for pickup mounting rings, truss rod cover plates, etc'. (Page 181) Personally, I prefer the matches/toothpicks and wood glue approach and it's work well for me over the years. But for some unknown reason, it's failed to produce the desired result with this particular guitar. Will be refilling the screw holes with toothpicks and glue, only this time I'll drill an even smaller pilot hole for the Schaller screws. Out of interest, what are some the members favourite repair books? P.S. Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions.