How do you cut pick guard material

[thepurpleblob]

Has anybody got any experience with cutting pick-guard laminates. This is actually even less bass related than it sounds. I have some sheets I want to use for finishing a control panel (in a train!), but it's the same stuff. I'm guessing a laminate blade in a jigsaw would be a good bet. Any thoughts appreciated :-)

[budget bassist]

i've not cut pickguard laminates before, but i've cut acrylic a lot of times and for that i just used either a jigsaw or a hack saw, and they both worked fine, i'd have thought the same for pickguards too...

[BOD2]

Depending on the plastic you have to watch that it doesn't crack or melt while cutting. It depends on the type of plastic which of the two is most likely.

If it's a softer material like a pickguard then it's probably more likely to melt if you use too high a speed or the wrong type of blade. Use a slow speed to prevent this.

If it's brittle then the only solution is to sandwich it tightly between two pieces of hardboard and cut through the lot in one go slowly.

[thepurpleblob]

[quote name='BOD2' post='245477' date='Jul 22 2008, 04:13 PM']Depending on the plastic you have to watch that it doesn't crack or melt while cutting. It depends on the type of plastic which of the two is most likely.

If it's a softer material like a pickguard then it's probably more likely to melt if you use too high a speed or the wrong type of blade. Use a slow speed to prevent this.

If it's brittle then the only solution is to sandwich it tightly between two pieces of hardboard and cut through the lot in one go slowly.[/quote]

Ahhh... good point(s). It's the (IIRC) 3 ply black and white stuff common on Fender/Musicman etc. products.

[BOD2]

The standard pickguard material tends to be "soft" rather than brittle. A slow speed jigsaw with a fine toothed blade should cut it ok, or you could even cut it by hand with a hacksaw, or a cpoing saw if you need to do curves. Don't be tempted to use a stanley knife (you WILL cut your fingers !).

You'll need to file and sand the edges down afterwards to get a smooth edge.

Also be careful not to mark the surface while cutting - cover it with masking tape or something to avoid any scratches.

If possible try a test cut on a piece of scrap first to see how easy it will be to cut.

[EBS_freak]

This is the proper way you do it...

[url="http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Pickguards/Routing_bits/1/Pickguard_Bevel_Cutter/Instructions/I-5243.html"]http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Pickguards/Rou...ons/I-5243.html[/url]

[Mr. Foxen]

I'm sure I router attachement jb on a dremmel would be ideal. I've got one for the purpose, not tried yet though.

Oli