Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

[Newc]

Ok, if you've ever had to install Floyd-style inserts, you probably know that the best fit is a snug fit. Unfortunately, this leaves you with 2 options to install them:
1 - Use a soft rubber mallet (which I've done)
2 - Eat a can of Spinach, Hulk-out, and press really hard with your hand (which I can't stand Spinach, and Hulking-out usually results in a spree of destruction and they call out the military on you and then you have some serious 'splainin to do [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] )

So, in a sheer stroke of genius (or maybe it was the worldwide cries of "STOP BUTCHERING THAT GUITAR YOU MONSTER!!"), I found a fast, SAFE!!!, and easy way to cram those stubborn posts into their holes without risking splitting the wood (which I've done using the mallet maneuver).

Get one of those rubber-faced Quick-Grip clamps that you can work with one hand. Insert the insert as far as you can by hand, then slip the Clamp through the trem cavity, resting one side against the body and center the other one directly on the post (screwed all the way in to avoid cross-threading), and start squeezing.

What usually took me about a minute with a rubber mallet now takes only a few seconds with the clamp. Plus you can flush-mount the insert more accurately than with a hammer, and there's no risk of missing the post and bashing the finish (which I've done with a steel hammer) [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[dg]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

Sounds like a good way to go, Newc. I've done it with a large C-clamp with a piece of plywood & cloth to protect the back of the guitar, & that worked pretty well. Last time I drilled for new posts, I used the drill press to press the bushings in. That worked great, because all the force is perfectly perpendicular and you have complete control of how deep you set them. I think pressing beats banging them in for sure.

[Zerberus]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

Welcome to the world of professional Luthierie, Newc, that´s more or less the "universal" method [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[1trussell]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

So how about removing the inserts?

[Newc]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

I don't have a drill press. Hell, I don't even have a workbench [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Anyhoo, sounds like it's time for a Dr Newcenstein Tutorial:
================================================== ===================

Thread Removal 101:

To remove those pesky inserts,



you need something with a hole in it and a soft bottom that won't mar the finish. Preferably something made of rubber, or at least with a foam rubber bottom that can conform to the shape of the guitar and won't scratch or dent the finish.

I've been using these:



That's the trem post for the insert, a pot nut, a thick metal washer, and a rubber ring that comes on a multi-bit screwdriver you can sometimes find at WalMart. The ring has holes in it for all the bits, and one in the center to store on the shaft of the driver.

I can't recall where I got the washer from (came with a pot? looks like Warmoth's pot spacers), but it's thick and very important for the process. You may be able to use a jack nut in place of the washer.

What I normally do is take a nut from a pot and slide the trem post into the nut, then into the washer, then into the rubber ring. The nut is too small for the ring to hold it, and the hole in the washer is too big to hold the post, so the nut rests on top of the washer, and the washer rests on top of the ring, like this:



Then push the end of the post into the insert and turn it until it grabs the threads like this:



BE CAREFUL that the post does not seat sideways, or you'll crossthread the insert or post, or both. That's a bad thing.

Here's a shot from the side of how the ring conforms to the shape of the body, but allows the post to remain upright.



Screw the post into the insert with an allen wrench. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes it's a PITA. If you've got an allen bit with a wratcheting screwdriver, here's a great time to use it, because allen wrenches can hurt your thumbs when you run across a stubborn insert.



Screw the post all the way in. You may notice the ring compressing more and more as it gets harder to turn the wrench. As long as the washer is too big to go through the hole in the ring, you're ok.

If the wrench suddenly gets easier to turn, you've either stripped out the head of the insert, rounded the end of the wrench, or popped the insert loose from its hole.

Leave everything attached and pull the ring up and see what you've got.

What you shoulda got is this:



Now you just need to hold the insert with a wrench and turn the post the opposite direction to break it loose, because it's now locked into the insert. Be careful as the insert is probably quite warm from the friction, as is the post itself.

Here Endeth The Lesson
================================================== ====================

[cobhc]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

i vote for a sticky on this, never seen any good ways of removing trem inserts before, that dont involve drills and other potentially damaging things [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Zerberus]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

Nice one, Newc [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[quiksilver]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

+1 on the sticky, and the thanks to Newc.

[Twisteramps]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

To install em, nothing works as well (IMHO) as using a drill press. Just use the drill press to push the inserts into the body.

Pete

[Newc]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

I have no drill press [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img]

[Newc]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

If anyone does make it a sticky, you might wanna change the "Thread Removal 101" to "Trem Insert Removal" [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[sully]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

done.

[Newc]

Re: Installing Floyd-style inserts - The Easy Way

Thanks Sull-mon [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]