Making pick guards

[Don Summers]

I enjoy making pickguards and modifying them but there is problem that it like to address. How do I get rid of the static cling from using the router? That crap gets all over me like a magnet.
Anybody have any suggestions?

 

[flannel cat]

try rubbing your clothes with a bounce sheet..

 

[flannel cat]

or rig up a shop vac to suck up the gribblys....

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Heh. If you find a solution, please tell us! I've been making pickguards for many years, and I don't know a good solution to the problem of the sticking particles. I'll offer some help. A dust collector with higher air volume flow does a better job than a shop vac. The higher air velocity of the shop vac makes the static electricity worse. Many of the particles will settle in a few hours. Clean up the bulk of it right after you are done, then vacuum up more the next day. And the next.

I have a separate bandsaw that I use for only aluminum, brass and plastics. I never cut pickguard stock on my woodworking bandsaws. Too much mess to clean them up afterward.

Likewise, I have two small inexpensive routers set up just for cutting pickguards. They stay dirty with the plastic particles. No pickguards with any of my regular routers. I'm working on building up one of my tabletop pin routers just for pickguards. It's mounted on its own small cabinet on casters. I'll be able to roll it out into an open area, make a few pickguards, and then roll it back into a corner without bothering to thoroughly clean it.

If I made up a lot of pickguards, I would just rig up a closed booth with all the dedicated machines inside. And maybe use rubber gloves through a window, like a germ lab!

It is a horrible mess. I wish I knew the answers.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Carpenters have the same issue cutting PVC trim, the static charge makes the PVC dust stick to everything, most hate cutting it. I wonder how the Pickguardian guy deals with it? You never see anybody cutting them in Factory Tour videos, which makes me think its all done in Asia.

 

[Max Bogosity]

If you cut them on a milling machine and run plain water through the cutting fluid circuit, that might catch and ground most of the chips. Or use a water-jet cutter. Not really practical hobbyist solutions, though.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Carpenters have the same issue cutting PVC trim, the static charge makes the PVC dust stick to everything, most hate cutting it. I wonder how the Pickguardian guy deals with it? You never see anybody cutting them in Factory Tour videos, which makes me think its all done in Asia.

I think anybody who is professionally making a lot of pickguards is using a dedicated small CNC router machine, which is enclosed in a cabinet, and has a dedicated dust collector hooked up. A high volume low velocity dust collector system with a good grounding setup. I forget the details, but there are ways to make a dust collection system that minimizes static electricity.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

Perhaps a CNC mill with full work area guards and mist coolant?

there are ways to make a dust collection system that minimizes static electricity.

Use metal duct, or add grounding wires to plastic ducts. First works better, second is cheaper.

I suppose one step shy of mist coolant requiring a waterproof spindle would be "crank up the humidity."

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I recently saw an article about micro plastics found in the lungs of 11 out of 13 people studied. Small sample group of course, but remember to use protection even when the task seems small.

 

[Deleted member 365158]

Plastic particles are everywhere….. everywhere.

i wonder if this stuff would work for the OP
Ive used it but not for that particular purpose

 

[bbao]

I've been making pickguards recently and I found that brushing it off with a bristle brush works well

 

[ahbradot]

i have one word for you;

 

[Beej]

Yes, if you find a way that works, please tell us! The only way I've found to reduce it is to cut the pickguard out with a jigsaw and file off the edges by hand. Way less mess than router but takes way longer, is less repeatable/replicable and depends on one's skill with hand tools. I just clean it up the best I can and vacuum up repeatedly afterwards.

 

[Don Summers]

I will definitely post a good solution if I find one. I did these two pieces and then vacuumed up everything and used the shop compressor to blow myself off. Still found tiny bits of black/white/black in all through the house.

 

[RichterScale]

I get shocked from touching door handles constantly during the winter (indoors). It's because spaces are heated and humidity indoors is very low, plus static is created from all the air movement when you have forced air furnaces or makeup air units. At least that's my theory.
It never happens in summer. It's humid here all year and AC in the summer doesn't seem to have the same effects indoors.
So, I agree that if you can manage to raise the humidity level in the space, it will cut down static significantly.
A way to ground the work space and discharge the static sounds interesting, but with so much of it airborne, I'm not sure how to go about that.

 

[Beej]

I will definitely post a good solution if I find one. I did these two pieces and then vacuumed up everything and used the shop compressor to blow myself off. Still found tiny bits of black/white/black in all through the house.

You should definitely stay away from using any glitter then.

 

[Don Summers]

You should definitely stay away from using any glitter then.

I guess the metalflake paint particles are out of the question then.

 

[Ostie]

Blast it with compressed air.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

You should definitely stay away from using any glitter then.

Just call it “man glitter” and be done with it.

 

[SixtyCycleHum]

It's a pain in the A, but rigging up an air compressor might be the ticket, and maybe rigging up a way that most of the particles are blasted into a nearby trash can or something. Or at least, away from the immediate working area into a pile you can sweep up later