guitar pick?

[PMisiaszek]

I thought I'd trim up a pen with a guitar pick. I tried drilling it with my drill press, and that didn't work. Seems like a simple thing, but how do you get a clean hole in a guitar pick?

 

[rpasto92]

I have never tried it but if possible, I would glue it to my wood blank first and then drill. If that's not an option because this is an oops ring, maybe you could clamp some wood on either side if the pick and then drill through the whole assembly.

 

[its_virgil]

I drill a hole in an entire strip instead of just a small piece then cut out the little square I will use. Lay it flat against a backer board...never had any problem....
Pickguard is relatively soft and there is some plastic that looks like picguard and it is quite brittle.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by PMisiaszek
<br />I thought I'd trim up a pen with a guitar pick. I tried drilling it with my drill press, and that didn't work. Seems like a simple thing, but how do you get a clean hole in a guitar pick?

 

[DocStram]

Or ... another way to drill any kind of soft material (like leather) would be to place the material between two blocks of wood (such as luan) and then drill through all three pieces. Sort of like a sandwich. Get it?

 

[Fangar]

Keep in mind that many guitar picks are made of delrin. The stuff will not accept any type of adhesive whatsoever. Guitar pickguard is a different beast. There are many non delrin picks available. Just something I wanted to metion...

That being said, the suggestion to put it in place first is definately a good idea. The other option wuld be to place a hard wood behind the pick while drilling. This will allow the pick to remain flat. Also, a nice sharp bit will help.

Cheers,

Fangar

 

[its_virgil]

Woops! Never mind...I read guitar pick and my brain sent it to me as pickguard...Maybe I had better start reading these things twice.
Do a good turn daily!]
Don

Originally posted by its_virgil
<br />I drill a hole in an entire strip instead of just a small piece then cut out the little square I will use. Lay it flat against a backer board...never had any problem....
Pickguard is relatively soft and there is some plastic that looks like picguard and it is quite brittle.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by PMisiaszek
<br />I thought I'd trim up a pen with a guitar pick. I tried drilling it with my drill press, and that didn't work. Seems like a simple thing, but how do you get a clean hole in a guitar pick?

 

[johncrane]

your turn DON[]

 

[tnilmerl]

Placing the guitar pick between strips of wood is the best option.

As far as glue goes, I've had great success laminating guitar picks into a blank and using gorilla glue bewtween the layers. I've made several entire pens this way. You need to build a jig/form to hold everything until the glue cures. Gorilla glue is extremely messy stuff, stains skin horrebly, and if expands (foams) excessively when it cures. The expansion will blow everything apart unless you put it into a clampable form and squeeze it down overnight.

Blah, blah, blah, how I ramble on on a side topic.