Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

jingle_jangle wrote:
BTW, good idea about not putting MID into sunlight for long periods. But the color won't fade--the expansion and contraction of the wood and parts from heat will probably hurt the instrument in the long run.

But--spotlights? Shoot...you're being way too careful...

I am not in fear of fading colour, but of suddenly expanding wood. I avoid very wet humidity also.
I am not scared of spotlights in case of the guitar, I wasnn't under it until yet, that is what I ment...

After cutting the scratch plates one more question:

Can I paint polycarbonate with ordinary acrylic colour (straight out of a spray can)?

I use acrylic for mine, but after all the cutting, edge polishing and hole-drilling I bake them in an oven (225 degrees for a couple hours and a long slow cool-down seems to work) to anneal them and relieve the stress that builds up when you machine acrylic. After that, I just paint the back with plain old spray enamel and haven't had any problems with solvent cracks. I originally learned of this from a group that was restoring cars and making things like new tail light covers, but it's also explained in detail here:

http://www.rplastics.com/annealing-plexiglass.html

And don't underestimate the value of really polishing the edges. It takes a little time, but the glow that it adds to back-painted clear guards is worth the effort.

I'm not sure about the white, but the gold like you find on models such as the 660/12 and 325 V59/C58 are plexiglass with a metallic-gold color painted on the back. Pickguardian makes certain pickguards, including white, in this same fashion.

Actually I try my luck with polycarbonate the way Mr. Hall commented. Next week we will know more.

I already had a try with plexiglass. - But I did not the trick with the oven...

We've used the oven annealing trick before as well and with care it works fine.

Another technique we've used is flame polishing. Essentially the edges are torched with a propane burner. The small irregularities of a router bit or the laser lines smooth out, making a polished edge without sanding and at the same time annealing the edges of the plastic. Unfortunately, it's a bit hard to control by hand and not really fast enough for production.

Interesting!
By the way it is great to know that RIC produces as much as possible parts in the own factory.

- Well, it is just one set, mine. So I can sand it by hand and be proud of.