Filling/redrilling holes?

Swapping a Callaham control plate on my MIJ tele I find the two screw holes are now about 1/16" too far apart on the body. I need to fill and redrill one of them. Any suggestions for how to fill? It needs to be solid enough because its so close to the new hole, they will overlap slightly in position. But it needs to be drillable also.

And while I'm on the subject, are wooden matchsticks considered a suitable material for this kind of thing? I've seen toothpicks recommended for rebuilding stripped holes and I wondered if matchstick wood is any different in any significant way.

I've made my own dowel plugs from 1/8th and 3/16th hard wood available from any model makers supplies. I purchased two dowels of about 1-foot each and keep 'em in my tool box for exactly this type of job. They'll cost about 50-cents to a $1.

Cut your dowel to the depth of the hole and use a hacksaw or Exacto blade to cut vertical grooves in the length of the dowel. I then use white wood glue, inserting it in the hole and along the dowel, and the grooves allow the excess glue to squeeze out.

Allow 24-hours to dry and you can then redrill the new holes (using an undersized drill bit compared to the screws) and you're ready to go.

Tooth-picks are excellent for smaller holes (pickguard screws) and I always carry out exactly the same process of cutting to size, grooving and glueing. I know may people use them dry but a little glue goes a long way.

Good luck.

Peter

Thanks, that's very useful. I like the idea of the grooves.

In your opinion would superglue also work in this situation?

I had a stripped bridge plate screw and used a wooden matchstick (Dan Erlwine's book suggested toothpicks but they were a little too thin). The matchstick was perfect (I also used white wood glue). Screw re-threaded like a dream.