Gibson A-Jr. Pickguard Replacement

I needed to make a pickguard for a Gibson A-Jr. mandolin and I was having no luck finding the right materials. The blank needed to be thicker than any any of the reproduction tortoise plastics that I could find. So I decided to make my own custom blank to match the style and feel of the old ones the best I could.

Step one: I made a shallow wooden frame that served as the mold for the sheet. I lined the frame with aluminum foil to keep the epoxy from sticking to the mold.

Step 2: I mixed up two batches of West System epoxy. The larger batch was a dark brown / purple color and the smaller batch was a honey amber color.

 

Step 3: I heated the mold and both batches of epoxy with a heat gun used for paint stripping.

Step 4: I poured the darker color first and let it settle for a minute, then I poured the amber color and gave the batch a swirl to mix the colors around.

Step 5: I held the heat gun over the mold, moving it around for a half hour or so, until no more little air bubbles were popping on the surface of the epoxy. Let cure overnight.

The next day I ran the blank through my thickness sander until I had a uniform thickness of about 1/10".

I sanded and buffed the blank as a would a lacquer finish.

Here is the finished blank:

And the finished product:

 

It came out looking very nice and fit the style and vibe of this Gibson A-Jr. mandolin.

 

 

 

 

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