Not a build (surprised?) but a woodwork question.

[Owen]

My daughter has a Faith acoustic. It has lovely wooden machine head ears. It got me thinking. I would love some wooden ones for a couple of basses. In fact I would love some Ebony balls as machine head ears. Obviously, making the balls is a job for someone with a lathe. This is not me.

 

However, mounting them is a bit of a tricky one. I have taken one to pieces and realised that the barrel is going to be a royal pain to mate with the ball. Here is a picture. I am woodwork clueless. Is there any secret way of doing this? The diameter for the curved bit is 4.85mm and diameter for the flat bit is 4.11mm. Obviously if someone were to make these they would measure them themselves properly. But is it possible to machine this sort of shape into wood? I guess some sort of rectangle would work. Am I dreaming madness here?

Edited January 6, 2023 by Owen
because of the spelling. As usual.

[Si600]

A rectangle would work fine, 4.85 on the long sides and 4.11 on the short. Drill it out to 4mm and then carefully cut the rest with a small chisel.

[SamIAm]

Yes.  It could be done with a CNC machine ... or one could drill two adjacent holes of the 4mm size and clean up the cavity with a chisel. 

 

S'manth x

[Owen]

OK. Thanks, so it is do-able then. I guess I should find someone with a CNC machine. 

[SamIAm]

3 minutes ago, Owen said:

OK. Thanks, so it is do-able then. I guess I should find someone with a CNC machine. 

If you can then they should also be able to mill the outside of the tuner head to be the exact shape you want saving the need to find ebony balls (that sounds so wrong!) of the desired size (Tho you would probably need to finish them with some sanding).  Most desktop CNC machines would cope.  I'd offer to do it for you but my CNC machine is out of action at the moment due to my fire ... perhaps a post in the wanted section of the site?

 

S'manth x

Edited January 5, 2023 by Smanth

[Owen]

Thanks S'manth. I actually have two pieces of Ebony I have been saving for the right occasion. As well as a piece of Cocobolo for vol and tone knobs. I bought some stock from a guy who inherited some stock from a bagpipe maker so they are old and dry. As a special treat I shall take a pic of them tomorrow. 

[Si600]

You could also, and this is, I suspect,  completely out of your skill level, but apologies if I'm wrong, make a broaching tool for the hole....

[KingBollock]

Going for a simple, home brew idea (because that’s all I’m good for!), if it were me, I would try to find, or make, a 4.85mm dowel. Drill a 4.85mm hole in the ball. Then split off sections of the dowel to fill the gaps where the flat bits are, and glue them into the ball.

 

I think that makes sense.

[Owen]

1 hour ago, Si600 said:

You could also, and this is, I suspect,  completely out of your skill level, but apologies if I'm wrong, make a broaching tool for the hole....

I am flattered that you even imagine I know what a broaching tool is without having to google it!

[Owen]

51 minutes ago, KingBollock said:

Going for a simple, home brew idea (because that’s all I’m good for!), if it were me, I would try to find, or make, a 4.85mm dowel. Drill a 4.85mm hole in the ball. Then split off sections of the dowel to fill the gaps where the flat bits are, and glue them into the ball.

 

I think that makes sense.

I can see what you mean, but my experiences of wood/drilling/fitting anything suggest this is a job for someone who has manual dexterity which I do not possess. I could POSSIBLY make one function, but it would not look like it should always have been there. And that would render it useless in my eyes. But thank you for the suggestion. 

[Si600]

Curveball idea.

 

How about making a four piece tuner button, two ebony wings with a contrasting skunk stripe. Then you could wrap the existing tuner stem in sellotape and glue up the tuner button around the stem. Pull it off and clean it up before reattaching it with the appropriate screw into the stem.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Si600

[Owen]

Interesting, but I am afraid that I am after the purity of the wood. I like to follow grain all the way around. I am aware that I need to get out more!

 

But thanks for engaging!

[Si600]

Drill an appropriate size hole and epoxy the barsteward thing on!

 

Then cross your fingers it never needs to come off again 

[Owen]

1 hour ago, Si600 said:

Drill an appropriate size hole and epoxy the barsteward thing on!

 

Then cross your fingers it never needs to come off again 

20 years ago I would have done! That is the problem. 

[Owen]

For the wood enthusiasts in our midst. 

[3below]

Enough to make a complete 23" scale length bass there

[Owen]

STOP IT! You know how that would end.

[Si600]

3 minutes ago, Owen said:

STOP IT! You know how that would end.

By asking how to make custom tuner buttons?

[SamIAm]

7 minutes ago, Si600 said:

By asking how to make custom tuner buttons?

🤣

S'manth x

[Owen]

The picture includes a nice piece of lignum vitae. I have NO idea why I bought that.

[JPJ]

The epoxy idea isn’t as daft as it first sounds, but I’d use an epoxy putty rather than liquid. The obvious alternative is to drill the smaller hole diameter and then file the flats using a square needle file. 

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by JPJ

[Owen]

So, as I lay in bed this morning I started thinking about this again. It strikes me that I could get away with not having the central hole cut to mate to the shaft directly - i.e. curved and flat in different sections. A hole that would match the overall circumfrance of the shaft could then be secured by two grub screws, one onto a flat face and the other anywhere apart from directly opposite it. Sadowsky knobs are attached by two grub screws and are remarkably stable. I have thought of 3 screws at different points from the side, but suspect that 2 would do. Obviously there would be the screw through the end as well. Even though that might not actually be necessary. I don't know and am open to suggestion here. My reasoning is that fabrication would be a whole lot easier. It would not be as elegant a build, but I think the trade off might be worth it. Of course, the CNC programme might be sitting there thinking "why bother not doing it right with one screw, it is easy for me". I would appreciate your thoughts. 

[JPJ]

Drill a round hole, drop two ‘fillets’ in made from same diameter dowel as the hole you drill to make up the space between the hole and the flats of the shaft, put the end screw in, jobs a good’un. This will work if the screw head is larger than the hole you drill (which presumably it is, otherwise the tuner buttons would just pull off).

Edited January 27, 2023 by JPJ

[Owen]

I went to see the local luthier who owns a cnc machine today. He reckons he can CNC a drop on replacement. Time will tell. If so, I guess he could fabricate any kind of tuner button. Could be a market for him there. 

[Richard R]

Pool balls would be cute. Or eyeballs for the punk and goth scene. Fishes for church bassist. The market is endless!!