Official Luthiers Forum!

Does anyone make their material for pic guards? If so what do you use?

I made this sheet out of a pour-on finish material and ColorTone Mahogany. It's hard when cured, cuts easy when warmed up a little. I know you can buy pic-guard material ready made, but with this, one would be able to use what ever color, sparkle or pattern variation desired.


D.L.Huskey38997.7105671296

D.L. that's pretty cool stuff! Where do you get the material you used for that?

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Yep, we need the recipe!!! Looks cool!

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Ya, nice stuff! How and what is the receipe? And exactly what is the product(s) your using?

One more vote as i want to learn about it too! Looks great !

During World War 2, there was a shortage of plastics, so ITE circuit breaker company dissolved old buttons then used them to make molded case circuit breakers. They had sort of a marble look to them.

Al

Is that a pour on epoxy? Neat idea. I bet you could do all sorts of things with that. A little mettalic flake '70s look maybe...it could match your bowling ball even!

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

I'm feeling a surge of polymer envy!

It's really easy to make. The product I used to make this sheet was "Build 50" manufactured by BEHR. Any of the pour on finishes such as "Top-Coat" should work. This is the type of finish used on Bar tops, Counter & Table tops.

Spread some wax paper on a very flat surface.

Make a frame to hold the liquid so it don't run all over, and wrap the sides in wax paper so the liquid don't stick. Place the frame onto the pouring surface.

Mix the material per manufacturers recommendations.

For the material I have pictured I divided the mixed material into 3 seperate containers. It took about 1/3 cup of the B-50 to pour this sheet 1mm thick and 8"x8".

1st container held the bulk of the B-50, and it was tinted with 2 drops StewMac ColorTone Red Mahogany stain.

2nd container held about a tablespoon of the B-50 and it was colored with the same stain to a darker color.

3rd container also held about a tablespoon and was colored very dark with the same stain.

Pour the 1st container(Lightly tinted) onto the surface and spread it out.

Pour 2nd container in drizzles all around the surface of the first pour. Swirl this around a little to get the darker color pattern in the mix but don't over do it or everithing will be the same color.

Pour the 3rd (Very Dark) container also in drizzles as you did with the 2nd and swirl it around blending until you are satisfied with how it looks.

With the Build 50, after about 5 minutes the surface will be covered in bubbles. Just exhale onto the surface and the carbon-dioxide will break the bubbles and you will have a mirror smoothe surface.

Cover it with a box so to keep any dust off and let it cure. The build 50 after 24 hrs is very flexable. After curing for about 4 days it gets very hard but can be heated a little to cut it into shape.

D.L.
I love this idea. Your pickguard looks great to me. I have always wondered how it was done. Thanks for the info, I'm definently going to try this out soon.

Homeboy

Thanks D.L., i'll probably give it a try too!

D.L.

I like that alot!!! I imagine that material will hold up well. Does it stay flexible enough to resist cracking with top movement? I'm thinking it would also work great for clear pickguards.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

D.L., once dry, what do you use to glue it up on the guitar top, what kind of glue please?

Also, you say that any Pour on finishes would work, how about this one that they use to pour on hand made clocks? Sounds a lot like epoxy to me and was wondering if anyone had ever used this product?


http://www.eti-usa.com/consum/envtex/envlite.htm

Cool idea! It sounds kind of fun and easy. I have always wanted to make a pickguard out of clown barf before!

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Brilliant and thanks for the great tip

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Joe, It's a very tough material and feels a lot like plexi-glass when fully cured. It is still flexible enough as not to crack.

If you were to use it as a clear pickguard, sometime it will have a very faint yellow/amber tint to it and sometimes direct sunlight will cause it to yellow more quickly.

Serge, The Envirotex Lite looks like the same type stuff I use. Yes, it is used to pour on finishes on clocks.
Stick it down as you would any plastic or celluloid pickguard. I think Stew Mac has the double sided adheisive sheets but I don't remember if they are clear or not.

John, I haven't figured out how to get that pearlessence look to this stuff, but you can do all sorts of things with it.

On thing I am going to try in the near future is binding a guitar with it. Also try it as a finish on a Lap-Steel.

Steve, Thanks for the compliment but it is a far cry from brilliant and I am sure someone else has tried this before

Maybe I tinker too much, but hey, It's fun and I like to do it

Thanks D.L., i should give that a try in the near future and report after, the local hobby shop carries that stuff! Cool!