Dealing w/ wood compression on old friction tuners? (non-mando)

[SincereCorgi]

My father's got this fairly nice old Harmony baritone uke that he bought in the '50s. It sat idle for about forty years and then got pressed back into service, at which point the tuners no longer held a tune. I oiled them and tightened the screws, which worked for a few years, but now the low D always slips. I talked to a local uke luthier who said that the issue is often compression of the wood beneath the tuner. How is this usually treated? Can I just put a washer under it?

[Stephen Perry]

Are these like the modern Champion? http://elderly.com/accessories/items/VP18.htm are the ones for violin. I've used thin leather "washers" to get some of the slack taken up. Maybe post a picture and get more precise help.

[multidon]

I have an old tenor guitar that I had the same issue with and I replaced them with geared tuners. You have to ask yourself if its a collector puece to leave in original shape or a player. When it comes to playability geared tuners are superior in every possible way but I had to drill bigger holes so you cant go back if you make that decision. I dont think Harmony ukes are collectsble generally but certain models are so check the value before you pick up a drill. For me it was a worthy upgrade but for those who are fanatical about original condition it may not be. But for the feasons you give above I really dislike the compression type friction tuners.

[Nevin]

If you need to enlarge the tuner holes for replacements, I would be inclined to use a reamer rather than a drill. You are much less likely to split or otherwise damage the headstock.

[SincereCorgi]

Are these like the modern Champion? http://elderly.com/accessories/items/VP18.htm are the ones for violin. I've used thin leather "washers" to get some of the slack taken up. Maybe post a picture and get more precise help.

They are very similar to those, yes. I'm going to try a leather washer as you say and report back... it's just a Harmony, but it's been in the family just long enough that I'd like to keep it vintage. Thanks very much everybody.