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I'm ready to glue a Spanish Cedar head on a Spanish Cedar neck for.my little baroque. I have the inlay on the bottom, and drilled the holes in because it seems easier. The cedar seems pretty soft for.a.bearing surface. Will it hold up at all? I thought of turning plugs from the top as bushings out of maple or something.
The neck looks and feels like light mahogany.

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Why be normal?

Don't now about your particular niece, but Spanish cedar is normal for classical guitar and classical tuners so it shouldn't be a problem. Remember the tension of the strings is taken by the end grain of the wood which is more difficult to compress. Lubricate it with candle wax or soap after assembly/finish. to cut friction.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I think it is standard on classicals to use either mahogany or Spanish cedar, and if wooden pegs are used, usually no concerns.

However, I have read of some builders hiding hardwood inside the head for bearing surface for the pegs as a precaution--usually considered overkill, I think. The method is to route out appropriated compartments from the top and glue in the hardwood before the face plate is installed. I do not know if they run the insert grain the long way or the other way.

Hah, usually i lean towards light and not overkill! Just not familiar with it. It does file and plane like a dream.

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Why be normal?

With the semi-classical guitar I built that used pegs, Stephen Faulk suggested gluing in boxwood bushings by drilling with a Forstner bit from the top, almost but not completely through the peghead. The idea being they would be covered by the head plate and not visible from the back, but would provide a wear resistant surface for the pegs. I had some boxwood branches and cross cut them for bushings. The long grain became the bearing surface and the end grain was front and back of the peghead.
If you were careful about locating your drill holes you could - probably - use a spade bit - the pilot point would be taken up by the peg (I would test on scrap first to make sure it would work before risking the neck).

I've read, and talked with Stephen before, he does excellent work. I thought of just using a .4" drill into the . 23 hole that is already there. I've done that many times before. The bushings would be hidden. I thought of coating the bearing surface of the cedar with superglue as a hardener, followed with the usual wax, oil, grease. Don't know about that.
Bushings are more trouble.

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Why be normal?

People who know how to fit friction pegs (I am NOT one) get excellent results with time proven methods. Unless someone has demonstrated good results with the superglue or other new things, I would stick to traditional methods.

Yes, this is just supposed to be a quick and easy guitar. Spanish Cedar does seem to get very smooth with burnishing, and may compress some, so I'll start the holes small.

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Why be normal?

I read that ebony pegs wear the bearing surface more, so a rosewood peg may be the better way to go. Since you already have the holes drilled I would try the pegs in the untreated cedar first, and if I noticed premature wear, figure out how to fix it.
I fitted violin pegs rather than viola pegs and they seem to work fine, and I believe have a smaller diameter than viola pegs.

I turn my own pegs, so I'll have to see what stock I have laying around. Certainly a smaller diameter because the head is only about 5 x 2" with about 1" spacing on the tuners. That's what the plan said.

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Why be normal?

A long time ago so I can't remember where, I read the suggestion that when using pegs it is better to have the peg a little softer than the material of the head so wear takes place on the peg not the hole and is much easier to deal with.

I've never worked with pegs but this sounded very sensible.

Cheers Dave M

Just fit the pegs dry. If you find one is a little sticky take it out and mark it with a no. 2 pencil. If the peg is properly fitted that's all the lubricant you need. I've been installing friction pegs in flamenco guitars with Spanish Cedar heads for over 50 years without noticing any unusual wear. No criticism of Stephen Faulk intended, he's a fine craftsman.

I have not fit friction pegs to Spanish Cedar, but I have to a number of H Mahogany guitar necks I've built. I make my own pegs bandsawing them out and cutting the shaft with a violin peg shaper, and of course using the corresponding reamer on the headstock. I use children's modeling clay as the "lubricant", no chalk or friction enhancer needed, ever. I learned that trick from a local Violin Maker of great reputation. I like a bigger handle than violin or viola pegs have, and angle all tuners out a few degrees from center to give a little more finger clearance. I agree that Spanish Cedar, which I have only used once, is softer that I would have guessed, but it made a fine neck for one of my classical guitars.

Perhaps this pic speaks better than words:



(PS: The guitar is 2016, and the pegs are made from Jatoba.)

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

Bruce, I've never heard of the modeling clay trick. I had more problems with sticking when I used bought pegs. I usually don't put anything on them. A # 2 pencil sounds safe enough. The head of the pegs has to be somewhat smaller than I usually do, but on a baroque, each string only has 8 pounds or less pressure, I think I'll use the design given on the little print I have. It looks nice, and simple besides. It isn't full size so I have to scale it.

The plan shows an odd boat shaped neck. With the geometry of the joint, it comes out as a deep vee. I like that better.

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Why be normal?

If you don't feel like putting in a bushing to begin with, there's always the 'spiral bushing option later.

Ebony usually has some silica in it, and that's what causes the fast wear. Some other woods tend to as well; a student had a run-in with purple heart once that was epic. She was surfacing the top for a hammered dulcimer with a hand plane. I had to sit there and sharpen the spare iron the whole time, as the one in the tool would get dull by the time I'd re-sharpened the other. Anyway...

Violins traditionally use boxwood bushings. A plug is turned to fit the hole and glued in. The grain runs along the plug and across the grain of the head. The new peg hole is drilled off center so that it overlaps into the maple of the peg box. This makes the peg a 'key' that helps keep the bushing from turning if the glue line fails.

Relatively recently folks have been using a 'spiral bushing' to fix fiddles. You don't remove nearly as much material from the head, and it's 'way easier to touch up. The bushing is made from a plane shaving, and maple works well: I like to use the edge of a 3/4" thick board. Set a sharp plane up for a heavy cut, and wet the surface just before you take the shaving. This keeps the chip breaker from doing it's job, so you get a nice solid strip. This gets wrapped around a tapered mandrel; a cheap pear wood peg works well, or you can make one up out of almost anything. You can use almost any sort of glue for this. The hole is only reamed out enough to clean it up and make a nice straight taper. You want the bushing to end up 1 mm thick or less. When the glue is dry you fit the bushing to the hole and glue it in. If you used a plastic mandrel and water based glue you can just pull it out. A wooden peg with have to get sawed away. Ideally the bushing will leave the hole neough under size that you can lightly ream it out to fit the page.

This is a strong repair, since the grain of the bushing actually runs around the hole. It should be almost impervious to splits. The hard material of the bushing wears well, too, especially since it's been hardened up with glue. The edge is narrow enough that it should not be hard to touch up. The peg ends up in the same place, which is good. Since you've removed a minimum of material it's less invasive, and it's easy to replace if you want to. The only real issue is that you usually have to make the bushings for each side of the pegbox separately. As you wrap the shaving around the tapered peg it spirals off to the wide end, so even a fairly wide shaving won't overlap for very far.