Tor Tis, Pickguard trimming/sanding

[BB Brown]

Is it possible to trim the Tor Tis guards from LMI?
The sizes they offer don't exactly fit my Martin DM. What's the best way to trim them if it can be done?

Thanks

[bnjp]

Originally Posted by BB Brown

Is it possible to trim the Tor Tis guards from LMI?
The sizes they offer don't exactly fit my Martin DM. What's the best way to trim them if it can be done?

Thanks

It would be hard to do. It's pretty thick. If you need a custom shape, the Tortoloid stuff Stewmac sells is a lot thinner and trimmable with scissors. It looks pretty good, but not as good as the TorTis.

[Pat Foster]

I've gotten good results with scissors with the PG heated in hot water first. You do need to be careful though, since they're pretty soft when heated. If you need to take off a lot of material to get the shape you want, do it in steps to minimize distortion. Don't try to take off a lot in one cut. After cutting, let it cool and sand the edges smooth with 120 grit on a flexible backing like hard rubber, then use a smooth-edged scraper to put a soft bevel on the edges. Sand the scraped area with 320, 400, 600, 800 and 1200, taking care to only sand the scraped part. Hit the edges with a buffer if you have one. The key is to work gently and slowly.

Hope that helps,

Pat

[arie]

Originally Posted by BB Brown

Is it possible to trim the Tor Tis guards from LMI?
The sizes they offer don't exactly fit my Martin DM. What's the best way to trim them if it can be done?

Thanks

make template, attach to new material, score the coutour with the back side of an xacto.

take multiple passes until you break through, remove template, sand to clean up.