Plexiglass Pickguard

[Maiden69]

Have you seen how glass is cut? Plexiglass and acrylik sheets up to 1/2 can be cut like this. The knife looks like a harpoon, and it allows you to score a V groove on the sheet, then you place the score over an edge and press down. The plaxi will snap along the edge, then you can use a ligther and go quickly over the edge to make it crystal clear again.

For sheets more than 1/2 it is recomended a high tooth count carbide tipped circular saw, and bosh makes a special plastic cutting jigsaw and reciprocating saw blade that has a lot od carbide tipped tooths.

[thegarehanman]

I had no idea that you could cut plexi and acrilic like glass. I've cut glass before. Cool

[Bluetic]

I have a large sheet of plexiglass (acylic) I want to make a pickguard for my strat, I guess I can do a google search for "how to cut plexiglass" but I wanted to use a pickguard off of another cheap ebay strat which I cannabolized as a template and I was wondering how to get the knobs off. There is no set screw on the knob. Can I just prize it off with a screwdriver?

Dan

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Maybe a variable speed scroll saw would work for this. Just set the blade speed really low. Might help your burning/melting problem. I have thought about making some plexiglass pickguards too. Keep us updated on that. Good luck

[GregP]

The 'snapping' trick is pretty much common fare, but more usable for straight lines than the curves of a pickguard, I would think.

Greg

[Maiden69]

The 'snapping' trick is pretty much common fare, but more usable for straight lines than the curves of a pickguard, I would think.

Greg

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Yes Greg, it should be used to do straight lines only, it will follow slight curves (very slight), but it tends to wander out of the line on curves!

This is why I said that I use it to get me close to the size that I need, after that I just place the template on it and rout the shape.

[Southpa]

I made this custom pickguard for my 24 fret SG copy. The material is "Acrylite" , 1-side abrasion resistant plexi made by CYRO Industries, in Rockaway , NJ. I got the best results by cutting with my jeweller's saw. It makes a nice, clean edge and I bevel the edges afterwards with a medium bastard file followed by sanding up to 2000 grit. The results are a crystal clear edge. I leave the sticky paper coating on until I am totally finished. The whole job took me about 1.5 hours, I'm getting pretty good at this!

Its much easier to do such fine work by hand rather than relying on any form of power tool, mistakes can happen in the blink of an eye when you don't have total control. I say the material is "scuff" resistant and not scratch resistant. So regular wear from picking/strumming still leaves a perfect crystal finish.

Edited November 19, 2005 by Southpa

[zliminator]

Not bad. Here's a link to my first attempt. You're right about how easy it is to slip. Also, I learned its always a good idea to wipe the finger prints and smuges off from the inside of the plexiglass before you install it. I have an active pickup in this one and I need a better battery holder.

www.hampleman.com/guitar.htm

[syxxstring]

I used a band saw for the pickguard on my aluminum tele. It required going slow and being patient but worked nicely. I did do a bit of hand sanding to clean the edges.