Drilled Holes for Pots

[a_novice]

Hi All, just wondering if anyone has a way to fix a stuff up i made! I have a curved top and have accidentally drilled the holes for the pots straight instead of perpendicular to the curve of the top. This now means that if i put the pots in the buttons will look strange with one side having a big gap to ensure it can turn without hitting the body.

If i drill the holes on an angle now, the hole itself will be large and i'm assuming the pot has the ability to move around.

Any suggestions?

Should i drill on an angle now and just wedge something between the thread and the wood inside the hole? Any other ideas??

Just to add, i don't really want to recess the top for the buttons and want to keep the look of an LP on the top.

[fender3x]

If you are using the pots that came with the kit, they use a small diameter hole. You could switch them out for Bourns or CTS pots that have a bigger diameter hole. On mine I have used a reamer to make the hole large enough for Bourns or CTS rather than a drill.

[a_novice]

If you are using the pots that came with the kit, they use a small diameter hole. You could switch them out for Bourns or CTS pots that have a bigger diameter hole. On mine I have used a reamer to make the hole large enough for Bourns or CTS rather than a drill.

I got new pots with the pickups i bought and they require the hole size to be enlarged, but the existing holes are drilled straight down as if it was a flat top guitar, but its not, it has a curved top. So it means that even if i enlarged the holes, for the knob to sit on the pot and not touch the guitar, one side would have 3 or 4 mm gap and wouldn't look good.

The only other thing i thought of was drilling on an angle using a forstner bit and reducing the thinkness between the surface and the control cavity. The thickness varies due to the curve from say 17mm through to 10mm if that all makes sense?

[fender3x]

I would not trust my own hand to do that freehand, and it would be hard to set up with a drill press forstner bots are very squirly. if I had to do it I'd probably be inclined to use a spade-bit. Still a bit difficult to control, but better freehand.

First, are you sure about those measurements? Even 10 mm seems pretty thick.

If there is enough of the shaft showing on the thick side of the hole for you to get the bolt on, I would be tempted to build up the thin side rather than taking down the thick side. I can think of two ways to do this:

Here in the US, big box hardware stores sell thin, wedge shaped shims. You could carefully shape an angled "washer" to fit inside the pot hole and glue it in place.

Alternatively, and maybe more easily, you could make an angled washer out of veneer...0-1 piece on the thick side, progressively more on the thin side until you get the desired angle.

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[FrankenWashie]

Depending on the finish you want it might be more feasible to plug and redrill on your required angle.

[FrankenWashie]

Depending on the finish you want it might be more feasible to plug and redrill on your required angle.

[a_novice]

Yeah, it is a lot but that's because the top is made to follow the curve on the outside not the inside. See pic i've added.

I also added a pic i found of what i was thinking of doing, making an corresponding angle to match to curve but on the inside of the cavity. That way i could drill the angled hole using the existing hole as a starting point and hoping the gap on the inside (diameter of the hole given it will be the new plus the old) isn't larger than the washer nut to hold the pot in place. Or if it is, i could just get one that was larger in diameter so that the pot is clamped securely at the right angle.

The finish i'm planning on is a clear tru-oil on the entire guitar, to keep it a natural wood look so didn't want to plug.

[FrankenWashie]

I encountered the same thing with the curve on the front of Experiment #2. I settled on recessing the controls into the face. I’m not sure that you have the room in the cavity to go with plugging and angling the pot holes, unless you expand the cavity. It all looks pretty tight in there.



You may create an interference issue on the cavity wall, but if you expand the cavity you can get around this.
you will also need to angle the inner surface to get the pot to sit right see the blue line.




Either way way is going to be some VERY careful planning and more careful Routing/boring.

[a_novice]

I just hope my skills are up to it!

The cavity is small, but i do have the ability to widen it where required so that can be done.

Was also just thinking, i may only need to do 1 of the holes! I've included a pic that shows what i mean. I am having 2 pots and a selector switch, so....thinking that as per the pic i could live with one of the buttons as the gap on a straight drill hole isn't much (you can see that a folded piece of paper is already too high so i reckon i could leave this (or even sand the hole to one side by 1mm if required.

The second button definitely needs to be fixed with the above option, but the third hole probably doesn't matter as much as its the selector switch so just needs to look on on the top.

I probably need to use the dremel to widen the cavity a little so i can even out as per your pic FrankenWashie.

I think i'll start on finishing the neck and getting the decal on etc while i carefully plan for the body!!!

[McCreed]

If that is a solid maple cap, and and not veneered (it looks solid to me) I'd recess the cap around the two knobs à la PRS.