Clear Plastic Pickguards

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Craig Bumgarner
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Clear Plastic Pickguards

Post by Craig Bumgarner »

I'm having trouble finding the perfect clear plastic pickguard. Here is what I have tried:

Stewmac: .005" thick, comes in large sheets with adhesive backing, cut to size. Nice surface, but adhesive is somewhat lumpy and the pickguard shows little air voids where the lows in the adhesive is not making contact. Ugly.

LMII: Nice surface and adhesive back, but .010" thick and heavier than I would like.

Rockomann: non-adhesive type that works by air pressure like a smart phone screen protector. Similar to Kling-on. Nicest in many ways, but impossible to cut to shape without introducing some curl in the edge which results the edge lifting up. One in ten is perfect, but most are not. Some so bad they have to be tossed and try again. Comparatively expensive, $10/each.

Anyone know of a better product?
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Bob Gramann
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Re: Clear Plastic Pickguards

Post by Bob Gramann »

Are you following the directions with the StewMac product? Using water and detergent, they go on pretty well for me. I haven't had the lumpy adhesive problem, but I do inspect them carefully--I got a batch many years ago with some dirt in the adhesive. I used the LMI sheets for quite a while but went back to the StewMac because I can get a better job. My biggest problem is getting a good edge when I cut it.
Daryl Kosinski
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Re: Clear Plastic Pickguards

Post by Daryl Kosinski »

I don't know about cutting plastic but. Many years ago I had to cut film for silk screen printing. I used a #16 x-acto blade on glass.
Craig Bumgarner
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Re: Clear Plastic Pickguards

Post by Craig Bumgarner »

Bob, I've been using water, but not detergent. Maybe that is the lick.

Daryl, thanks for that idea, I can imagine that could work better than scissors.
David King
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Re: Clear Plastic Pickguards

Post by David King »

For cutting you might also try a rolling fabric (pizza) cutter on one of the self-healing cutting mats.
http://www.olfa.com/28mm-straight-handl ... 551US.html - note the rotary cutting mat for curves.

If you are doing a lot of identical ones or have multiples in a computer format you might check out one of the Cricut machines https://shop.cricut.com/en_us/machines/ ... chine.html There may be a used one around for even less.
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Bob Gramann
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Re: Clear Plastic Pickguards

Post by Bob Gramann »

David, have you cut a clear pickguard with the cricut machine? That looks really tempting. It's well worth the price if it will give me a perfect edge and thus up my quality.
David King
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Re: Clear Plastic Pickguards

Post by David King »

Bob,

I never have but I read that it can cut leather and a variety of harder materials. I believe it's just a swiveling micro-knife. It might have a tough time with some of the hard laminated plastic films.
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Bob Gramann
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Re: Clear Plastic Pickguards

Post by Bob Gramann »

Darn, I was looking for magic in a box. I may try to find a local retailer with one of those and talk to him/her about experience with it. If it will do the StewMac film well, it would be worth the $200 to me.
David King
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Re: Clear Plastic Pickguards

Post by David King »

There are several brands out there and lots of info on cutting Mylar on the various fora that deal with stenciling. You control both blade depth and downforce in the software.
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Bob Gramann
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Re: Clear Plastic Pickguards

Post by Bob Gramann »

Searching the fora was a good idea. I found one review where the reviewer cut several different materials and photographed the results. The machine does a good job but not much better than I do with my sharp scissors. So, I will stay with the scissors. But, it was an interesting idea and I had never heard of such a machine before. Thanks for educating me.
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