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Drilling holes for strap buttons

#21
johnh89 said:
You are overthinking it . If you are reasonably competent with power tools , just do it by eye . Get the body on a bench held securely and have at it . Good luck
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Good advise. Making a jig for an odd shaped piece of work is much more difficult than drilling a pilot hole.
Putting electrical tape on the bit can work as a depth stop and prevent scratching the finish with the drill chuck.
If you’re at all apprehensive about drilling the hole, pay someone to do it.
 
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#23
You are probably waiting for me to show up, with some special drill guide fixture.......Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

I mark the location of the strap button hole with a ruler, a known distance from the edge of the neck pocket. Center punch it. Clamp the body down flat to the top of the work bench. And drill the hole with a hand-held electric drill, aligning the angle by eye.
 
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#24
Gilmourisgod said:
All good suggestions, I’ve just been eyeballing them, the felt washers make it a little forgiving of being slightly out of level. My experience with strap pins is the ones that they come with are usually too short. I substitute something like 2-1/2” stainless for chrome screws, which are hard to find locally. Those aren’t coming out unless you do something really medieval.
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yep, I started replacing strap screws with longer ones a while back. I’ve always drilled with a hand drill. Just mark center front to back and eyeball it to depth. Lay the body flat on a table and tape/clamp it down if needed. I put a small 6” precision level on the body and shim with paper as required to bring it level with the deck.
 
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#26
2112 said:
I've never done this before, and would like to get it right the first time lol... is there any sort of tips/tricks or even a jig that I can use with a hand drill to make sure I don't booger this up? These are Warmoth P bass bodies.

Thanks!
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Just size the bit to the shaft of the screw. Point and shoot. The only thing you can really screw up, is drilling too far. So, put a peice of tape around the bit where your want to stop. Or, just make sure you make it shallow instead of deep.
 
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#28
johnh89 said:
You are overthinking it . If you are reasonably competent with power tools , just do it by eye . Get the body on a bench held securely and have at it . Good luck
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've done dozens of strap button holes, by eye and with a hand drill. About the easiest thing to do on an instrument. Indicate the spot with a marker on a little piece of masking tape on the body (I generally just eyeball where to put this, never gone wrong yet, could always measure instead), then just drill straight in. Not hard.
 
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#29
After the hole is drilled, I like to countersink though any finish to avoid chipping when the threads start threading
Screenshot_20220620-223533_Google.jpg
 
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#30
I installed the ashtrays on my #1 P with a hand drill resting on a bed. I measured 70 times, center punched the holes and drilled with the right size HSS bit, on which I out a strip of painter's tape to mark the depth. It went through the basswood body like a hot knife through butter. It's perfect. Too bad the pickup cover makes the bass hum...
 
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#31
Measure carefully, center punch and drill the hole using a hand drill, preferrably with the body clamped down (be careful not to scratch the finish).

With a Warmoth I wouldn't be too worried about the finish cracking, at least not bad enough to be visible outside the base of the strap button. The finish is not as fragile as the glass-like finish that's used on many Asian guitars. I wouldn't use a brand new drill bit though. A slightly worn drill bit will have far less chance of cracking the finish in my experience. There's also the supposedly great trick of running the hand drill in reverse until you've made it at least partially through the finish but personally I've had mixed results with this.

And of course make sure you use the right size drill bit!
 
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#32
2112 said:
I've never done this before, and would like to get it right the first time lol... is there any sort of tips/tricks or even a jig that I can use with a hand drill to make sure I don't booger this up? These are Warmoth P bass bodies.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I drilled the strap holes on my Warmoth parts Jazz bass. Here's what worked for me:
  • I have another Jazz bass, so I used it to see where to drill the holes. I actually put one on top of the other as a guide to mark the holes
  • I put masking tape in the general area where the holes would be
    • The tape allowed me to make a pencil mark for the new holes, but not on the paint itself
    • The tape can help to keep the paint from chipping around the drilled hole
  • I used a hammer to gently tap in the tip of a finishing nail into the hole I marked. This was also to avoid paint chipping from the drill bit
  • I marked the depth of the strap screw on the drill bit with another piece of tape, so that I knew how deep to drill
  • I drilled the holes "freehand" with a cordless drill
That's it. Worked fine for me.
 
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#34
smtp4me said:
I drilled the strap holes on my Warmoth parts Jazz bass. Here's what worked for me:
  • I have another Jazz bass, so I used it to see where to drill the holes. I actually put one on top of the other as a guide to mark the holes
  • I put masking tape in the general area where the holes would be
    • The tape allowed me to make a pencil mark for the new holes, but not on the paint itself
    • The tape can help to keep the paint from chipping around the drilled hole
  • I used a hammer to gently tap in the tip of a finishing nail into the hole I marked. This was also to avoid paint chipping from the drill bit
  • I marked the depth of the strap screw on the drill bit with another piece of tape, so that I knew how deep to drill
  • I drilled the holes "freehand" with a cordless drill
That's it. Worked fine for me.
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Do this. I’ve done something very similar and the results were great.
 
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#36
RichterScale said:
Well, I am disappointed. Actually, I'm more shocked and in disbelief.
I'm still not sure if I think this is true.
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There are times when you need to trust the accuracy of your eyes, the steadiness of your hands, and the strength of your will........

Until you screw it up a few times. Then you shrug and build a drill fixture.
 
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#37
I've done a couple just by eye and they came out fine, I think you'd have to be doing something very wrong to really mess it up.

JeezyMcNuggles said:
The only thing you can really screw up, is drilling too far. So, put a peice of tape around the bit where your want to stop. Or, just make sure you make it shallow instead of deep.
Click to expand...

Why? I think too shallow is worse than too deep. You go slightly deeper than the length of the screw, who cares?
 
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#38
Flying B said:
I've done a couple just by eye and they came out fine, I think you'd have to be doing something very wrong to really mess it up.



Why? I think too shallow is worse than too deep. You go slightly deeper than the length of the screw, who cares?
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A little shallow, and it'll be tight.

A little deep, and it will be loose.
 
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