Knobs / buttons coming off tuners

[mooshalah]

Hi fellow travellers!

A few years ago I fitted a set of Waverley tuners onto a steel-string guitar that I had made. At the time, the mechanisms - all six of them - seemed a bit stiff, but I assumed that things would loosen up a little with use.

The instrument has now been returned to me because the owner can no longer tune all the strings, because one of the (wooden) buttons has come off, and a few of the rest are showing signs of play (that is to say, one can feel the buttons very slightly wobbling on their shafts; the play is not in the gears themselves). The button is still a very tight fit, but the hole is now round, internally, so that the gears cannot be turned (and hence the string not be tuned)..

I'm a bit disgruntled. Over the years, I've had occasion to consider that the mechanism of other Waverley tuners (and they're not cheap!) were similarly very tight, even before I installed them, and I've feared this sort of thing happening.

But to the question; does anyone have any advice or suggestions on

* How to repair (that is, securely replace) this knob back onto the shaft, so that it will not loosen again? (Cyanoacrylate glue; epoxy?)
* Somehow grease or in other ways lubricate / loosen the gear mechanism?
* Whether these tuners were perhaps too small and hence never suitable for a steel-string guitar (as opposed to say a ukulele?)
* Stopping the play in the other (presently working, but soon likely to fail) buttons, without first having to remove them?
* Whether it's just too hard, and that I should therefore just change the whole set of tuners, and chuck the old ones away?

The benefit of your experience will be greatly appreciated.

Frank.

[kiwigeo]

The first question.....are these tuners sold as uke tuners or steel string tuners? Ive used these tuners..but only on ukes.

[Crafty Fox]

As far as I'm aware, Waverly are owned by Stewart MacDonald, so it might be worth emailing them asking for a replacement set.
I would expect a lifetime warranty on them.

[mooshalah]

Hi Ken, Martin,

Thanks for your replies.

Martin; the tuners were bought as a set of six, for a steel-string guitar. ("#4067 Waverly Guitar Machines with Ebony Knob Nickel, 3L/3R ($168.58AUD)"). And I discover that this was 10 years ago! It feels like only 5.

Ken; Yes, I bought these from Stew-Mac, and so your reply has prompted me to contact them directly. (I have the date of purchase and the invoice).

But to get back to my original questions; does anyone have any experience in having successfully made a repair / fixed the problem?

Regards,

Frank.

[Steve.Toscano]

Ive repaired knobs coming off with both Epoxy and CA successfully.
I went through a period of using Rubners that kept doing this.

[mooshalah]

Just to finish off this little thread;

I contacted Stew-Mac about this matter, and without any fuss or williwaw (use it or lose it!), they immediately agreed to send me a replacement set. They are covered by a "lifetime warranty".

Frank.