The plastic sheet was waiting for me when I got back from Leeds. It's
almost perfect.
Colourwise it's about as good as I'll ever get. I actually though it wasn't translucent enough at first but that was just because of poor light. It actually lets just the right amount of light through.
The downside (and I knew about this when I bought it) is that it's 5mm thick & it needs polishing & buffing. As you can see from the pictures, it has this kind of machined pattern, obviously caused during manufacturing, that has to be removed. I went at it with some Meguiars Ultimate Compound I had left over from another project & it worked a treat. It's very slow going though, and mega-tiring. I'm not sure how unswirly I'll be able to get it by hand. I don't want an ultra-glassy finish as it's on an old guitar so hopefully it'll look the part once it's all at the same level of shine...
I'm not too concerned about the thickness. A millimetre or two less would've been ideal but I can live with it. I doubt I'll even notice once it's on the guitar. Is there actually a decent way of shaving a sheet of plastic to a thinner thickness? Some kind of sanding machine I don't have, I'd guess.
I'll be able to get 3 guards out of it, for an Ultrasonic or a Starstream. Had it been a centimetre or so wider I'd probably have been able to squeeze out 4. No biggy.
You think you can't, you wish you could, I know you can, I wish you would. Slip inside this house as you pass by.
