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I got a 7mm fretboard dot slightly off center. Need a 7mm plug cutter, but so far only found 6mm, 8mm on Lee Valley, Veritas, etc. They taper 1.5 deg on a side. To grow to 7mm, I’d have to bore almost 7/8”. Can these cutters go that deep? I’d make a sacrificial board taped with African Blackwood.

Or buy the 8mm and spin sand down?

You can buy a fuller countersink that will have a 9/32nds diameter hole and chuck the drill bit in backwards so it will act as a plug cutter and make a 7mm plug.
https://wlfuller.com/html/high_speed_steel_sets.html

https://www.google.com/search?safe=acti ... RGo4d6BJnA

What about cutting out an oversize dot from a fingerboard cutoff or matching wood. Gluing it to the end of a wood dowel. Spin it in a drill against sandpaper till it fits. Saw it off the end of the dowel and should be good to go.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

Router and template bushing?

Mike, I'm assuming it's a fairly shallow hole, and since it's only a one-time fix, my approach would be to go with an 8mm or 5/16" (7.9mm) plug and work it down by hand just like you would an inlay.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

If you have an 8mm plug cutter you could make an 8mm hole.

Last time I did that I had to purchase bigger dots. Then drill the larger hole to cover the smaller one:/


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Ok. I’ll get the 8mm cutter and sand to fit. Makes sense. Thanks for not making feel like a bozo for doing this screwup lol!

Hey Mike, it happens. Last time I screwed up a fret marker I put it on the wrong fret. Had to route out the whole area between the frets and put in new wood, fortunately it was an invisible repair.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

If it's just one, how about just using a chisel yo eat away the shape, get it close, and tap it into the hole

Ed

Not sure what u mean. But my semi-ocd side won’t allow that. Bought an 8mm plug cutter. Gonna pull the dot. Sand the ebony down to 7, redrill and seat a new dot. Maybe I should switch to 8mm dots? Yeah. That’s next.

Try this;
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2019/06 ... n-any-wood

Somewhere I bought a drill bit that matches the taper of a pencil sharpener.

B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Yeah, I had seen that bit before and then went looking online for it a few weeks ago for a project. I could not find it at any of the normal woodworking outlets. It may be out of production. If anyone knows where it is sold, please let me know.

Maybe this?
https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/tap ... l-bit.aspx

Hi Robert. That is not the one. The reamer had the same taper as a pencil sharpener. Thanks anyways.

I think it was carried by Lee Valley, but they don't have it anymore. I will send them an email to see what they know.

I found it at Veritas but it is no longer available.

http://www.veritastools.com/Products/Page.aspx?p=152

That is an interesting idea. But it wouldn’t work. Don’t want end grain, and would need ebony (African Blackwood ) dowels.

Actually, this would work fine.
Get a piece of 3/8” dowel, glue a piece of your finger board scrap to the end, sand to the diameter of the dowel and sharpen. You might try stacking the scrap pieces to get a bit more thickness to play with. No end grain.
You do need a good quality pencil sharpener to get a clean cut.

B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Ok, I see ur point. I might try this. 3/8” is 2mm big, would seem straightforward to do

So, I bought the 8mm plug cutter from Lee Valley. I cut 2 plugs from some scrap ABW about 3/16". Plugs are tapered, so I used CA to glue fat ends together, then chucked in one of my drills, then used a scraper with sandpaper glued to it (a favorite tool!) and a file to get it to right diameter. Glued and clamped in hole (after checking grain direction). Sanded down, redrilled, set a new marker. You cannot tell I did this. THanks!!

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"