Very stiff tuners Do Souto Bandolim De Ouro / Octave Mandolin

Hi All -

I was lucky enough to find a 50s / 60s Bandolim De Ouro aka Do Souto Bandolim. The intonation and sound are excellent, but the tuners are very stiff on the highest strings. There are no bushings in the tuner holes. I tried using some tuner lubricant, but it wasn't particularly effective.

Do you have any advice on what to do? Outside of VERY stiff high E tuners, the mechanisms seem to be in good shape. Do you typically add bushings for this type of situation? If so, which types?

Attachment 194498
Attachment 194499

Clean old oil and grease out with Naptha and a toothbrush, then remove rust with a bath of oxalic acid(only attacks rust not steel, but also cleans brass) then run them dry with an electric screwing machine, that will wear the tight spots. When they are free, lubricate with thin oil everywhere.

Be careful not to crack the buttons though.

I've done this with succes on several guitars and mandolins, in fact just yesterday on my new Pochette.

I have had one that didn't react to the treatment but then found out that the two eyelets that hold the axis with the button was bent very little and squeezed the axis. I bent it back.

The late Paul Hostetter's tuner maintenance page is an excellent place to start the process

http://www.lutherie.net/tuner.maintenance.html

Thank You Both!