Taping Off Sound Hole for Polishing

[Robbie Collins]

I have a Gibson J-200 vintage in for repair. The original owner glued double wooden pickguards on each side and the new owner asked me to remove them and replace the original tortoise pickguard. I removed the pickguards, loosened most of the remaining glue with a damp cloth, and scraped off the residual with a single-edged razor blade using FF's cellophane tape method to narrow the exposed scraper edge. Finally, I drop-filled scratches and tiny divots using nitro and an artist's brush. After 5-6 sessions I let it dry for a week before leveling and wet sanding up to p1500. I only touched up the area to the left of the soundhole.

Now I need to polish it up. I will be using a portable drill with foam polishing pads and Turtle Wax Premium Grade Rubbing and Polishing Compounds.  I plan to use rubbing compound only on the area sanded then polish the whole top.

These compounds are semi-liquid and the drill splatters the stuff everywhere. I'm worried about getting it into the soundhole. I thought about the balloon method, but suspect a balloon would burst from friction. Perhaps a balloon used to hold a flat, flexible piece of plastic larger than the soundhole with circles of tape to stick it to the underside?

All thoughts appreciated.

[Robbie Collins]

Thanks, guys...means a lot to me that you guys think it's good.

[William F.Eden]

You do very good work Robbie the owner should be proud of that Guitar Bill.............