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Screwed by a broken neck screw?

#21
P Town said:
Please read what you wrote. I do not mean that the holes in the body should be clearance holes. If they are, the neck will fall off of the body.

The holes in the neck should be sized to allow the screws to pass through without the threads engaging the wood. The holes in the body must be small enough that the threads do engage the wood.
Click to expand...

You have that backwards my friend ;)
 
#22
P Town said:
Please read what you wrote. I do not mean that the holes in the body should be clearance holes. If they are, the neck will fall off of the body.



The holes in the neck should be sized to allow the screws to pass through without the threads engaging the wood. The holes in the body must be small enough that the threads do engage the wood.
Click to expand...


Huh? Yeah, backwards. Read what you wrote.

Another nod to heat and vice grips.
 
#23
groovaholic said:
You should be able to grab the end of that screw with a Vise-Grip (locking pliers).

Grab the screw tightly, as low (close to the wood) as you can get.
You don't want to allow it to slip; it could strip or crack off again.

Once you have a VERY firm grasp on the screw remnant, rotate the Vise-Grip/pliers counterclockwise and the screw should spin out relatively easily.
(Perpendicular pliers will exert much more torque than a screwdriver can)

Once the screw remnant is out, scrape the glue residue out of the neck pocket.

When that's done and you're ready to reassemble your bass, replace the screw with one that matches the 3 that are intact.
Click to expand...

+1

This is what I would do.
 
#24
Hopkins said:
I'm assuming that you mean that the neck screw holes in the body should let the screw holes pass through them with out touching the sides?
Click to expand...

You are correct, I completely reversed what I meant to say.

The holes in the body should be clearance holes, while the holes in the neck are sized to engage the threads of the screw.

My dyslexia must be working really good lately.

And remember to put a little bees wax on the threads. It helps you get the screws tighter, while allowing easier removal, with less wear on the wood.
 
#29
Sorry your Dad is ill. Still, as painful as it is, 95 is a marker to be celebrated. Distraction (TB) is ok but thinking about how great it is that he has gone so long in this life tempered with your feelings of loss assists grieving progress in a healthy, uplifting manner.

Thoughts are with you.
 
#32
It is out!

2014-02-28164248_zps4c187ed8.jpg


2014-03-08171119_zpse6cd1086.jpg


To remind: For years, my Warwick had a broken screw without me knowing. The head of the screw was glued into the hole to cover up before I bought it.

It took quite some effort to take it out. I took it to my uncle who has a workshop full of tools. First, we followed the collective TB wisdom and heated the thing up with a soldering iron. It turned out that the screw was too thin for the type of locking pliers at hand. So we tried a bench vice without success. At some point, half of the screw length sticking out of the wood broke off.

Plan B involved a small steel plate and a welding machine. We drilled a screw-size hole into the plate and welded the screw top into the hole. Then the whole construction turned.

2014-03-08152607_zps9e6f540e.jpg


The heat of the weld left a burning mark around the screw hole, as you can see in the photo above. However it has not burned deeply into the wood and not at all into the screw hole. After I took the photo above, I lightly sanded the area with a fine (400 grid) sandpaper and the bare wood appeared almost immediately, although still a bit darker than the surrounding area.

Anyhow, the screw hole can serve its original purpose again, while the remaining darker area will disappear completely into the neck pocket. I am happy with the result. Thanks again for all tips.

Cheers, BassChap

P.S.: P Town, sorry to hear about your father. I hope this last period in his life is bearable for him. Take good care of yourself.
 
#33
Very nicely done. If it were me, I would have tried drilling it out after the vice grips failed. That would have avoided the burning, but could easily lead to other damage without extreme care! It would also probably leave the hole needed to be refilled. Your way seems like a great solution.
 
#34
Excellent solution man. I would have drilled the screw out and doweled the hole. Yours was a much more elegant solution. But then again, I do not own a welding machine and cannot weld.
 
#36
Thanks guys. The welding competency is entirely my uncle's. He educated generations of welders around here.

I am better with woodworking projects. I am now in the process of sanding the body for a tung oil refinish. Planning on making a thread for it later on and post the pics.

Cheers, BassChap
 

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