Lubricating old F tuners?

[JSett]

Can anyone enlighten me on the best way to lubricate vintage sealed F-type tuners? At least half of the ones on my '67 Jag are super stiff. With the old stamped Kluson ones its super easy thanks to the hole in the back but these seem pretty tight on all the available access points. I'd rather not have to remove and diamante them if possible but if that's what it takes then I guess I'll have to.

Also, I've always just used a little 3-in-1 or Sewing machine oil... is that still considered a good product to use for these (or was it ever)? I have some Super Lube somewhere in the house that's thicker, and likely better, but getting it in would be the main hurdle. Maybe take them off, soak in turpentine then relube with the grease?

Pic for visual stimulation:

[JSett]

Well, I took them off anyway and they're now soaking in turpentine to dissolve all the old grease.

After a bit of research I'm going to dig out the superlube and just renew them fully

[smjenkins]

Please keep us posted how the turners respond to the solvent and fresh lube. I'm curious about this for a set of F tuners I've got that don't turn very smoothly.

[JSett]

Please keep us posted how the turners respond to the solvent and fresh lube. I'm curious about this for a set of F tuners I've got that don't turn very smoothly.

Of course.

I'm just waiting for these to dry out good and thoroughly before rebuilding & refitting. I dropped them into a mason jar, whole, into just standard-issue turpentine (the same grade I use for oil painting fwiw) for an hour with agitation every 20mins or so. Then I split them down and gave them another 1hr in the turps. Rinsed and scrubbed under warm running water with a little dish soap and they're looking pretty damn good actually!



I'll update when I get to putting them back together tonight/tomorrow depending on how today goes but I foresee no issues.

Superlube seems to be MIA so I'm going to use old fashioned lithium grease

[smjenkins]

Looking good! How did you get the tuners apart?

[JSett]

Looking good! How did you get the tuners apart?

I just pulled them apart with my fingers. They were only friction-fit so once I found the right angle they just popped off. It took a fair effort, not going to lie, but not beyond the realms of anyone with a decent grip.

[JSett]

Well, it definitely helped a bit. A couple are still pretty stiff but they did have a fair bit of wear internally that is likely never going to be fixed just with new grease. No doubt that was caused by being turned for however many years without a decent service/any attention.

If I ever tour with it I might sling in some repros but for home/occasional gigging I can live with how it is.

If anyone else does this just be wary when you put them back together...it's pretty easy to press fit them too firmly (even just with fingers) so they bind even more...it's gotta be just the right amount of pressure and took a bit of on/off/on/off to get them in the sweet spot.

[fisonic]

Something to consider with open style tuners, which F-tuners are(just with a cover), is how they are mounted. The internal diameter of push in ferrules allow for quite a bit of play in the tuner post. You should try & mount your tuners so that the post is well seated against the side of the ferrule closest to the nut. If there’s too much play it will pull the post(s) off axis & misalign the gears.

[Tumtrah]

Something to consider with open style tuners, which F-tuners are(just with a cover), is how they are mounted. The internal diameter of push in ferrules allow for quite a bit of play in the tuner post. You should try & mount your tuners so that the post is well seated against the side of the ferrule closest to the nut. If there’s too much play it will pull the post(s) off axis & misalign the gears.

Totally agreed! Helpful suggestions: http://www.lutherie.net/tuner.maintenance.html