New side dots ready...maybe.

I drilled the old dots out by hand with a 3/32" bit. I was warned by Stringplucker at Reranch, that the softness and oils in the red pencil might cause a problem when expose to solvents and thinners. I used shellac to test the reaction. It bled just a hair onto the binding, but it was too much to hide. A friend recommended using lawn-trimming line. "What an idea!" I thought to myself. The only color avialable in the right size was orange. Red was too thick and I didn't want to sand it and have it come out in anything but a circle. I chopped the line using a chisel, by rolling the chisel on the line. When I cut the line, with cutters, it caused the lne to warp and go oval on me. The chisel worked great. I tested the fit and used Crazy Glue. I didn't need epoxy as the holes were just right and there was no need for any coloring to fill in the gaps. I think this stuff is stable and strong enough to withstand the finishing materials. I think the orange matched the guitar better than the red, as a matter of fact. It might be what I use on all my future guitars...as I have about 50' of this stuff. Let's see how this goes first.