I want to install some luminous side dot markers. Is it as simple as drilling some holes, popping in a little wood glue, pressing in the marker and wiping off / cleaning up?
Any tips or gotchas?
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What you described sounds far from simple for me. 
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In my case thereâd be an extra step that was buying a new guitar to replace the one I just destroyed but your drilling skills are likely better than mine!
From what Iâve seen on YouTube thatâs roughly it but if you want a neat job, thatâs flush to the shape of the neck thereâs likely to be some sanding and refinishing if you want it looking like it came from the factory. Iâd study whatever there was on YouTube⌠top of the list when I just looked was a video from StewMac which is probably a very good starting point
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Hereâs a good video showing how to do it.
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I just took a small burr head bit and drilled a tiny hole, then filled it with some white stuff we had lying around (TippEx?). Lovely! 
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Paul, sounds like youâre not anxious about it, so it shouldnât be a problem for you.
I also watched plenty of stewmacâs videos like Rick linked, always great advice on fixing guitars.
I think I did it once quite a few years ago on a uke that didnât have them. Have that material still lying around in two sizes.
Yes, not difficult 
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Thanks all - yes that chap from Stewmac makes everything look easy Nice find.
Iâm fairly handy, so just looking for any pitfalls before I get my drill out!
@brianlarsen, yes your lutherie skills are famously unorthodox
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My only bit of advice doesnât come from working on a guitar⌠but if youâre using old, dull drill bits youâre much mor likely to muck things up. Spend a little bit to get a brand new, sharp drill bit!!!
Good luck Paul!!!
Tod
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I have not done any fret markers myself yet. but I have done a fair bit of wood working and guitar work on a bunch of acoustics and electrics of my own. I always jump in and do all my own work.
So if I was doing this. If I do say anything wrong I hope a better luthier will correct me.
I would make a template out of card stock and do it with a micrometer or a small scale ruler.
Once I am certain of my spots, I would use an awl to mark the locations. If you dont have a drill press then you want to clamp it down safely with a vise or clamp. You for sure want to use a bradpoint bit. Be super carful, side dots stand out and you always will be looking at it.
I would also consider doing it by hand if you can. Going slow by hand, stopping evey few turns and checking with micro meter (smart choice). You dont want to get too deep. You can sand down a proud inlay and but adding wood back to a hole becomes a real pain, it is just better not to take it in the first place. 
If using power option which you said you have, which we all love. 
Dont forget some type of depth stop. Tape, actual clapon steel depth stop. Power dills also have a tendency to go faster and deeper than you want. They also like to wander and spin right out of the marked spot. So again go super slow especially with power drill. Inhave totally messed up work with a all too generous pull of a trigger and It just takes a millisecond of distraction and you have a drill bit skidding along you work piece will you watch in horror before you finger can even relax. Sooo⌠You may want to practice a couple of holes on a scrap piece of hard wood. It really helps. I always do a practice run on scrap wood before doing anything just to get my muscles in the right firing sequences. You can do it. I habe not done it because It has not come up but once I need to, I would not hesitate to do this job on my work bench.
One last thing, get conformation on this from where ever you are getting your inlays from. Make sure your inlay and your drill bit are the matching size, I think these are usually glued and placed in one movement. Them may be dificult to remove after a dry fit with out damaging the surrounding wood. Unless you are are using the powder stuff. You can make your own with a hole punch and any thing plastic and they have lots of cool inlay powders you can buy. colors, glow in dark, even ones with Tritium. 
. In that case, smaller is better probably.
Right on going DIY. If you have a Harbour Frieght near you they have some decent tools for cheap. Some are pretty decent and some are total garbage. I find that for luthiering its multizuse stuff is not bad. Good luck and keep the thread updated with progess.
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thanks Tod - never need much of an excuse to buy tools
Thankfully I donât need to worry about that. The guitar (a Mexican strat) has markers, but whoever decided they were sufficient wasnât playing on dark stages in their late 50s.
I tried stickers, after a few weeks they start to peel a bit possibly as I do quite a bit of âthumb overâ stuff.
Some useful tips there Jason - appreciate it - Iâll certainly let you all know how it goes!
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I wouldnât do it by myselfâŚ
I put stickers on my classical guitar, replace them from time to time.
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Fair. I did try stickers, but really wasnât working for me. I donât think Iâd do it on an expensive guitar with a set neck, but in a total disaster the worst case here is a second hand Mexican strat neck, which I can pick up fairly cheaply and easily (cheers Leo!).
Iâve put strap buttons on expensive acoustics before, but this is a lot more risky I grant you
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Strap buttons I did install by myself. Even on $5k Martin⌠But I wouldnât mess with drilling the neckâŚ
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You could try a water erasable marker⌠my daughter used that on her violin when she had trouble remembering a tricky pattern 
. Luckily no instruments were harmed during that process!
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Just a stab in the dark, but Iâm guessing she didnât play much with her thumb wrapped around the neck
Iâd end up with a black smear on my hand and guitar. Could use permanent marker but I think it might be difficult to get it looking ok and I like the idea of luminous dots (the stickers I used were luminous and they were great for a while, although I wasnât a fan of the raised â braille â feeling)
Haha no thumb over playing for sure! Thats a good pointâŚ
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Love it, Brian, the tipex mate cover up your mistakes before you make them simple cheers HEC
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I definitely agree with using brad point drill bits. And even though you have old markers you want to remove, Iâd still use an awl to mark the spots you want to drill.
I needed to get some for my own electric guitar build project and I had to go to a woodworking specialty shop to find them. None of the âregularâ stores (Ace, HD, Loweâs) had them.
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