Project D - Part 3 - The Guard

So the Fat Man is finding it a lot harder to multi-task than he thought :( I have videos posted of the painting and neck work on D, but forgot to take any photos. Doh! So let me over compensate with D's guard!

On D's Melody Maker, the guard had  at least three outlines that I can see. So I decided to compromise and attempt to composite the three of them, based on 2 photos, and a still I snatched from the end of the This Ain't No Picnic vid.

The bottom pic, where the guard does not follow the edge of the lower waist, was the least attractive to me. Probably should have done it that way, as you'll see...

So, template, made out of some inkjet photo paper I discovered I had:

Using the factory guard as both a template and as a French curve, I got it to roughly what I envisioned:

Now, I've never made a guard out of metal before, and I'm such a clumsy oaf when I play, I kept envisioning slicing myself open. Came up with a solution, that I knew was gonna be a pain in the ass, but possibly doable. I flipped the cut out template upside down on the steel:

And traced it twice, using another sharpie as a guide:

The plan is to fold over the edges as much as I could, instead of leaving the sharp metal edge.

Off to the shed, time to cut it out:

In with the ear plugs, it's Hammer Time! I used a piece of scrap pine, and some more drawer liner mat I've got - love that stuff. With jobs like this, it holds stuff well enough without the hassle of clamping and unclamping:

Big old mason's  chisel for hitting the seams, and an older sharpened slot screwdriver for cutting and finesse work. Problem was, it was *too* sharp for the job: two whacks and I'd punch right through! 

I used a pair of tile nippers to do the initial bends. Nice wide face with 2 straight edges. I picked up a dozen of these a decade back with Northern Stores closed in Edmonton for like $2 each. Great tool. In tighter areas, I used pliers. Bend the edge up to approx 90°, then hammer it flat. Straight edges worked well:

The curves were another matter. I ended up using a nail set, and tapping a series of overlapping indents, and then trimming the areas narrower to try to get the curves:

I sort of worked :) I could imply edges, but the edges ended up quite rough:

Hammered it flat between sheets of wood, and then annealed the edges with a 3lb maul and a million little taps:

The sheet metal was floppy enough that it was a pain to hammer the edges smooth, so I got rid of the worst of it and called it an afternoon.

And in searching for more hammers to try and anneal the edge, I found this:

A brand spanking new ruler that measures 64ths! Need a magnifying glass to read it though...

I chose the side that had fewer scratches for the top, but it still looked grimy. So I thought, since I'm experimenting, let's try one of my favourite products:

I started using this stuff about a year ago, from reading people raving about it for drum restoration. It's a very very fine grain polish (made from rhubarb!), kinda like liquid Comet or those Mr. Clean eraser things, but at almost a polishing compound grit. Econo too, $5 a bottle. So I took this:

To this:

Which left this:

I'm using this Bar Keeper's Friend stuff on everything now: frets, finishes, I've even polished up knobs with it! Killer stuff. I wiped off any residue with some Isopropyl and a final shine with another old friend:

Bon Ami is slightly alkaline, which makes it ideal for doing a final clean on really grimy guitar bodies and metal parts. Don't use it all the time, as you can have finish reactions: but if you've just cleaned something that hasn't been cleaned in years, it's a killer final step, you'd be amazed home much crap it will remove that you thought was gone. Just work fast, and keep plenty of rags/paper towels at hand!

I think I'd do a guard like this again, but avoid anything with curves. Guess when I get an Explorer or V... Overall it looks ok: I kind of lost the curve at the cutaway, but the area around the controls came out not bad. So, guard done, looks good in place. Waiting on parts now... as always...