I had an idea that didn't quite work

Skodadad

But could be cool. A scratchplate made of vintage cloth with a foil back and casting water clear epoxy on the front. Bought the epoxy and it will work 100% but not in my house, had to tie string to the kids legs so I could pull them off the ceiling. Ended up throwing it outside the smell was just too much. Would be worth a go if you have somewhere dry to do it. I fancy a denim one for my blue green Tele.

paulnb57

I tried a similar thing using fabric and epoxy resin, failed, however.....

There is a material used by some knife (often amateur) makers for knife handles (scales) called Micarta,which is fabric in layers impregnated with epoxy resin, which when cured can be cut and sanded, where the layers of fabric give a pleasing effect...look it up on youtube)

Thats what I tried to make, I used 5 layers of base fabric with a patterned top layer, all soaked in resin and compressed between two pieces of wood that were covered in clingfilm to stop it sticking....it only failed because I had piled a load of bricks on top to apply pressure and the pressure wasnt sufficient......

I really do believe some cracking scratchplates could be made this way, but lots of clamping pressure is needed.....ot neds to really pish the resin into the fabric while also forcing excess out, I don't think epoxy will stick to foil and some experimentation to find the right amoumt of layers of fabric too.

Trouble is Epoxy resin is quite expensive.....but a cool one off scratchplate is, I think achievable...

paulnb57

I think if your resin was really smelly, it may have been polyester resin?

Eppxy smells like Araldite

Skodadad

Yes it was polyester, to be fair it actually looked OK. I did a thin coat first let that dry and them just poured a thicker layer on. The smell was just so strong it had to go. It went all cloudy in the end after it rained but it dried very rigid. One more coat and it would likely be fine.

paulnb57

mmmmmm interesting, polyester resin is significantly cheaper than epoxy......might try sgain!....