Preston Tuner lubrication

[peterk]

I've got a brand new Portuguese mandolin with a Preston tuning machine which is extremely stiff to operate.
I guess the screw thread (pitch) as well as its surface finish is too coarse.
I thought I'd lubricate the screws to ease the problem, i.e, the tuning difficulty, a bit. What sort of a lubricant would you recommend for that application ?
Thank you.

[tablaninja]

I just fixed up an old bowl back for my buddy and used naphtha and an old tooth brush to clean the gunk off those tuners. I removed them first of course. Then I used TriFlo, found at bike shops, for lubrication and I'm very impressed. Having just researched this last week I learned that the majority opinion was to stay away from WD-40! Some folks spoke of using the powdered version of TriFlo but most luthiers don't agree. Good luck

[peterk]

Thanx Tablaninja, I've heard of TriFlo, and I can get it from a bike shop in my town.

[Marty Jacobson]

I have some of the Portuguese Preston tuners from FolkReps, probably the same ones you have on yours.
They look like this (from Dave Hynds):


If that's the same model, then I can tell you the thread pitch is appropriate and the ones I received are nicely machined. Since the blocks are brass and the threads are steel, I doubt you would gain much by adding Tri-Flo, but it can't hurt.

[Phil Goodson]

Here's a great reference for tuner maintainence in general.

May not apply to your type tuners as much.

[Tavy]

+1 on the teflon based lubes.

Suggest you start by disassembling and giving everything a really good clean - might have been stuck in shop gathering dust/muck perhaps?

[peterk]

Gents, thank you for the suggestions.
Marty, my tuner looks like that, except the screw heads have flat tops, i.e., no little round finials like I see on yours.

[Tavy]

Gents, thank you for the suggestions.
Marty, my tuner looks like that, except the screw heads have flat tops, i.e., no little round finials like I see on yours.

Ah, do they have small squares on the end rather than the round thumbscrews? Like this:



If so you'll never turn them by hand: you'll need an appropriately sized watch key to turn them. I think I use a 4mm key for mine, but if you look on places like eBay you can get keys for any size you want for a couple of quid.

[peterk]

Tavy, the thumbscrews seem identical to yours in the first picture (i.e., little knurled barrels), just that they are flat on top, while yours have some sort of a bead finial. I think you are right, I have been thinking about getting (or making) a little key contraption to turn them.