Need help with partscaster neck alignment.

[Jack C]

I’m putting together a parts Strat. The neck arrived today and I love the profile, but when I tried to bolt it onto the pre-drilled body, the bottom screws went in, but the top holes don’t quite line up.  See the indentations in the pic that show where screws hit.  What’s the best way to address this?

 

[cynic]

If I used my drill press more than three or four times a year it might be worthwhile to invest in a "better than big box" set of bits.  I don't, so I won't.

Maybe 90% of the holes I've made using my press over the past couple decades have been neck mounting holes and each was drilled using the bit that broke last week.  I'm just chalking it up to a bad day.

[velorush]

My 8th grade science teacher was inspired to give us all a leg-up on the pending official switch to the Metric System (the USA WAS SWITCHING, anyone remember that?), so she spent the entire year drilling the concepts into our heads and we got it - I mean REALLY got it. Then the gubment decided to "postpone" (still waiting) the transition (and I won't make this a political post by getting into the why's - and don't you either).

The Metric System is more accurate and easier to use and learn (especially with respect to volume - cups in a gallon, anyone? Yeah, Google didn't come around for another thirty years), but what we were left with was this hodgepodge where every time I work on my son's Silverado I have to get out both sets of wrenches. At least my Nissans are metric. 😉

[killerteddybear]

2 hours ago, velorush said:

My 8th grade science teacher was inspired to give us all a leg-up on the pending official switch to the Metric System (the USA WAS SWITCHING, anyone remember that?), so she spent the entire year drilling the concepts into our heads and we got it - I mean REALLY got it. Then the gubment decided to "postpone" (still waiting) the transition (and I won't make this a political post by getting into the why's - and don't you either).

The Metric System is more accurate and easier to use and learn (especially with respect to volume - cups in a gallon, anyone? Yeah, Google didn't come around for another thirty years), but what we were left with was this hodgepodge where every time I work on my son's Silverado I have to get out both sets of wrenches. At least my Nissans are metric. 😉

The USA DID officially adopt the metric system (look it up). What they didn't do was shove it down the throats of the populace, like Canada did in the 1970s.

I grew up in Canada during that time and later moved to the US. You have to admit, the Imperial system is appealing with its halving-doubling measurement system. It's conceptually easier than the base10 approach adopted by the Systeme Internationale.

For an excellent book about the birth of the metric system, I recommend this book:

As much as the metric system appears difficult, its creation also introduced other concepts such as error analysis and offered a way towards international trade through measurement standardization.

[kizanski]

The only thing it's for here in the US is people with something to prove and soda pop.

[killerteddybear]

On 4/11/2020 at 9:46 AM, kizanski said:

The only thing it's for here in the US is people with something to prove and soda pop.

...and the space program. And international trade.

[kizanski]

3 hours ago, killerteddybear said:

...and the space program. And international trade.

Well, I don't know how much "trade" is going on here. It's not like we make anything to sell or trade.
As for the space program, 50 years ago today Commander Jack Swigert stirred the oxygen tanks, and you know how that worked out.

[Steve Haynie]

On 4/11/2020 at 9:37 AM, velorush said:

The Metric System is more accurate...

Nope.  We can use thousands of an inch and be accurate. 

Are you using metric strings on your Hamers?  I'll bet the manufacturer swears the gauges are consistently accurate. 

[Jeff R]

Insider tip from a guy who does this task often ... use an oversized dowel (no one's going to see it in the pocket), and put your dowels in off center, so that the new hole will not pierce the center of the dowel, aka intentionally miss the dowel's bullseye. Why? Because if the new hole hits the center of the dowel, and if you torque the neck screws too hard, you'll break the dowel adhesive and the dowel will just spin and spin in the "cup" in which it sits. If your hole is off center, dowel can't spin in the cup so it can't break the adhesive grip.  

 

[aliparla]

On 4/8/2020 at 6:48 AM, killerteddybear said:

Actually it was the French. One of the spinoffs from the Revolution.

I miss the good ol' 10-hour days