Anyone know how to engrave scratchplate material?

[Philly Q]

Once I've (hopefully) cleared out the guitars I'm selling at the moment, I was thinking about pimping my Mira with a tortoiseshell scratchplate and truss rod cover in place of the black ones.

Thing is, I'd really like to still have the "Mira" logo on the trussrod cover, but I have no idea how to do that.  I could try scratching it in but it would, inevitably, look shitee.  And I'd probably go through too many layers and end up with white bits and black bits. :(

I was wondering if there might be some kind of Dremel attachment which could do the job, but even then how would you get a uniform depth of cut?

Any ideas?

[badgermark]

How about asking at a place that does engraving? Like a jewlers or key cutting place? They might look at you funny, but if you tell them the thickness you want cut I'm sure they could acommodate you.

[kevincurtis]

Thing is, I'd really like to still have the "Mira" logo on the trussrod cover, but I have no idea how to do that.  I could try scratching it in but it would, inevitably, look shitee.  And I'd probably go through too many layers and end up with white bits and black bits. :(


Any ideas?

I reckon a decent penknife would get that done no problems ;)

By the by - the Potbelly is a gorgeous guitar, if only I had £400 to spare :(

[Philly Q]

I reckon a decent penknife would get that done no problems ;)

 :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Haha, I asked for that one, didn't I!

By the by - the Potbelly is a gorgeous guitar, if only I had £400 to spare :(

Haven't you got any children you could sell?

[MrBump]

Dremmels are pretty good for that kinda stuff - I made my entire scratchplate with one.  I think you can get a tool for engraving.

[kevincurtis]

It was too good a setup to resist!

'Unfortunately' we are expecting our first child in October...so, far from having any to sell, we are currently spending out good GAS money on things for the prospective junior (and there are soooo many things I could buy at the moment!). I want to put a sad face here...but that wouldn't be true! Otherwise I would have bitten your hand off for it!

[Jonny]

If you dremelled it, you could always color it with gold ink, so you don't see the black and white.

[Philly Q]

Dremmels are pretty good for that kinda stuff - I made my entire scratchplate with one.  I think you can get a tool for engraving.

That's interesting - and going off-topic on my own topic  :roll: - which Dremel tools did you use for making the scratchplate?  

I have a Dremel but hardly ever use it, the couple of times I tried I couldn't figure out which bits/heads to use for what.  And they were forever breaking.  I think it's a piece of sh!t to be honest, but that may be a bad workman blaming his tools.  :roll:

I've made quite a few scratchplates but always with really basic tools like little hacksaws and files.  Which works fine, but takes forever - and it's a real pain in the arse trying to put a bevel on a concave curve (convex ones are fine)!!

[FELINEGUITARS]

A decent engravers with a CNC  machine could do it for you
Supply the logo as the right kind of computer file and you could get it done

[MrBump]

Dremmels are pretty good for that kinda stuff - I made my entire scratchplate with one.  I think you can get a tool for engraving.

That's interesting - and going off-topic on my own topic  :roll: - which Dremel tools did you use for making the scratchplate?  

I have a Dremel but hardly ever use it, the couple of times I tried I couldn't figure out which bits/heads to use for what.  And they were forever breaking.  I think it's a piece of sh!t to be honest, but that may be a bad workman blaming his tools.  :roll:

I've made quite a few scratchplates but always with really basic tools like little hacksaws and files.  Which works fine, but takes forever - and it's a real pain in the arse trying to put a bevel on a concave curve (convex ones are fine)!!

I used the diamond circular saw thingy...  It went so fast, and was so sharp that I hardly needed to tidy up the edges at all.

As for beveling the edges, the sanding attachment did that perfectly on mine.

Loads of nasty fumes from the melting plastic though...  gave my a headache...

Mark.

[Philly Q]

A decent engravers with a CNC  machine could do it for you
Supply the logo as the right kind of computer file and you could get it done

Do you think they'd accept a tiny little order like that?  It seems like putting them to a lot of trouble for a one-off.

What do you do on something like JT's Preacher truss cover?

[Philly Q]

Loads of nasty fumes from the melting plastic though...  gave my a headache....

Don't like the sound of that!  Fortunately that doesn't happen with hand tools.

[MrBump]

Loads of nasty fumes from the melting plastic though...  gave my a headache....

Don't like the sound of that!  Fortunately that doesn't happen with hand tools.

No, none too pleasant.

Also, because of the material, eye protection is probably a good idea.

[badgermark]

A decent engravers with a CNC  machine could do it for you
Supply the logo as the right kind of computer file and you could get it done

Do you think they'd accept a tiny little order like that?  It seems like putting them to a lot of trouble for a one-off.

What do you do on something like JT's Preacher truss cover?

i said that in the first reply! Totally ignored. Is it cos my hair isn't long and curly? Well? That's discrimination that is.

[Twinfan]

Phil - I think you may be able to order the parts from PRS?  I'd get in touch with a dealer and see if you can order them.  That's a much better option in my opinion.

I know my dealer offered to get me tortie parts if I wanted them as mine came with black ones.