filling "abandoned" screw holes in heel

[JazzNote]

i plan to fill some screw holes on the heels of my guitars which i relocated the strap button from. They all have white heelcaps and i bought mother of pearl inlays with diameters that fit the holes. I guess it's the best to fill first the holes before glueing the inlays on top.

questions:
- does it make sense to produce a mix of sanded wood and glue to fill the holes?
- what glue is best to use?
- would there be a better way to go by?

TIA

[AllanAllen]

I would use a dowel rod instead of sawdust, and regular wood glue.

[Jimmy blue note]

AllanAllen has got it right. Drill the hole just proud of the width of the screw hole, get a dowel the mating diameter, sharpen the tip to a slight point, and this is important: Shave a bit off of one side so there's a flat edge on the dowel's side. This will allow the compressed glue to release back up.
Now all in a FAST operation, drop a drop of glue in the hole, cover the dowel with a thin coat and drive the dowel into the hole gently but firmly with something like a wooden mallet or a hammer and wood block. The excess glue will spurt back, the dowel will expand in the hole (that's why you get one chance and you do it FAST) and cut off the excess leaving a tiny bit proud. Cut that off later with a chisel, very sharp knife or industrial razor. Tape the surrounding wood so the blade doesn't cut the guitar. Then cover the end grain with some finish. Colour the dowel appropriately if you'd like. Viola!

Hint, I sand the dowel just a tiny bit to make it slightly slimmer. Shave one edge, glue and etc...

If you're a REAL stickler, orient the end grain of the dowel so it matches the guitar's heel grain.
Good luck!

[John A.]

Sometimes a toothpick is the perfect dowel for small screw holes.

[JazzNote]

AllanAllen has got it right. Drill the hole just proud of the width of the screw hole, get a dowel the mating diameter, sharpen the tip to a slight point, and this is important: Shave a bit off of one side so there's a flat edge on the dowel's side. This will allow the compressed glue to release back up.
Now all in a FAST operation, drop a drop of glue in the hole, cover the dowel with a thin coat and drive the dowel into the hole gently but firmly with something like a wooden mallet or a hammer and wood block. The excess glue will spurt back, the dowel will expand in the hole (that's why you get one chance and you do it FAST) and cut off the excess leaving a tiny bit proud. Cut that off later with a chisel, very sharp knife or industrial razor. Tape the surrounding wood so the blade doesn't cut the guitar. Then cover the end grain with some finish. Colour the dowel appropriately if you'd like. Viola!

Hint, I sand the dowel just a tiny bit to make it slightly slimmer. Shave one edge, glue and etc...

If you're a REAL stickler, orient the end grain of the dowel so it matches the guitar's heel grain.
Good luck!

Thanks for the advice!

As i'm determined to use the MOP inlays which will suit the white heel caps i guess i will have to prepare a little more: what about adding a shim of dowel material at the thickness of the MOP when hammering it in (of course after measuring the depth of the hole and cutting the dowel accordingly), removing the shim and then glueing the MOP inlay on top of the dowel? And - is there anything else not yet said to be careful about?

[Jimmy blue note]

Thanks for the advice!

As i'm determined to use the MOP inlays which will suit the white heel caps i guess i will have to prepare a little more: what about adding a shim of dowel material at the thickness of the MOP when hammering it in (of course after measuring the depth of the hole and cutting the dowel accordingly), removing the shim and then glueing the MOP inlay on top of the dowel? And - is there anything else not yet said to be careful about?

Welllll... those holes don't actually need to be plugged. If you want to, for integrity's sake, yes you can plug it with a toothpick and remove the heelcap and replace it. You can get plastic, ivoroid or Ablam if you want to.
The heelcap serves to protect the open grain of the heelblock but any material can do just fine. I've replaced many a heelcap with different materials, all with great and easy success. Ivoroid looks like ivory grain and cuts and shapes very easily. Wood is classy and if you REALLY want to go all out, think about ablam. It's an abalone or pua laminate that's easy to use because it's on a laminate substrait and it looks...downright Nashville.

Remove the endcap, fill the hole if you'd like, cut a piece that fits a little proud, trim it, make the edges smooth and tidy and seal it with clearcoat if you want uniformity. Do take care and make sure the heel gluing area is level before you glue down though, you don't want edges and uneven joins to cause a breach later on. Always assure perfect mating surfaces before you glue. Clamp down if you can. So much of good lutherie is the ability to creatively make clamps, jigs and gluing devices to fit unusual situations.


You can get this at Luthier's Mercantile. It's not cheap but it's pretty spectacular in a blingy way.
Lots of options.

[JazzNote]

Welllll... those holes don't actually need to be plugged. If you want to, for integrity's sake, yes you can plug it with a toothpick and remove the heelcap and replace it. You can get plastic, ivoroid or Ablam if you want to.
The heelcap serves to protect the open grain of the heelblock but any material can do just fine. I've replaced many a heelcap with different materials, all with great and easy success. Ivoroid looks like ivory grain and cuts and shapes very easily. Wood is classy and if you REALLY want to go all out, think about ablam. It's an abalone or pua laminate that's easy to use because it's on a laminate substrait and it looks...downright Nashville.

Remove the endcap, fill the hole if you'd like, cut a piece that fits a little proud, trim it, make the edges smooth and tidy and seal it with clearcoat if you want uniformity. Do take care and make sure the heel gluing area is level before you glue down though, you don't want edges and uneven joins to cause a breach later on. Always assure perfect mating surfaces before you glue. Clamp down if you can. So much of good lutherie is the ability to creatively make clamps, jigs and gluing devices to fit unusual situations.


You can get this at Luthier's Mercantile. It's not cheap but it's pretty spectacular in a blingy way.
Lots of options.

Thanks again, but no way for me to perform an operation as big as this ;-). I'll be content just to fill the hole and make it look a bit neater by adding the MOP dot on the heelcap. Anything more would be too far beyond my limited skills.

[Jimmy blue note]

Any work you do is enormously satisfying. I never feel like I've bonded or really 'own' an instrument until my hand has altered it in some way. It's like "You're not the instrument I bought anymore. We're partners."
Wish you many years together!

[John A.]

Any work you do is enormously satisfying. I never feel like I've bonded or really 'own' an instrument until my hand has altered it in some way. It's like "You're not the instrument I bought anymore. We're partners."
Wish you many years together!

I feel that way too, though sometimes it's "until I've messed it up and have to bring it to a real tech to sort it out" Ideally, that happens less often with time.