How best to cut a pickguard

I put a replacement neck on my strat copy.
Its a 22 fret neck that replaced a 21 fret neck. The intonation will stay the same, because the old fretboard was flush with the old neck and the replacement fretboard overhangs by one fret.
But because of the new fretboard overhang, I need to cut the pickguard back a little.
What is the best or easiest method / tool to cut the pickguard without it looking like Charles Manson had done it?
Its where the neck fits into the pickguard, it just needs to have that cutaway cut back towards the neck pickup, the depth and width of the extra overhanging 22nd fret.
The fretboard overhang and pickguard are both too thick to just allow the overhang to cover the pickguard. now you are really screwed http://www.infernalpress.com/Columns/election.html http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm

and the sanding / polishing bits?
I guess that would work OK but I will have to be careful around the curved inside corners not to do a hatchet job. now you are really screwed http://www.infernalpress.com/Columns/election.html http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm

lines. Tidy up with a small 1/2 round file.

OBGeek: Dude`s handle is the name for the Klingon version of SATAN! :-o Don`t we *all* need to speak a few phrases of Klingon...? :-p

Dremel, and others, make drill presses that hold the tool in one position, allowing you to move the pickguard around the tool, instead of moving the tool around the pickguard. Sometimes that makes it easier.
Also, the luthier I work with often uses exacto knives and a straight edge to make the initial cuts in a pickguard, then finishes off the curves with a Dremel tool.

went slow, it worked out fine.

pickguard (make sure it`s in the right place); use a hand drill to make a bunch of holes at the line; snap off/saw/trim the cutout and clean the edge up with a rotary tool`s sanding drum on low speed.
You don`t want to make the cuts with a rotary tool because the cutting bit will probably bind in the melting plastic and skitter across the pickguard faster than you can say "sonuvabitch".
Using a rotary tool`s polishing pad will probably generate too much heat unless you use a very light touch and don`t dwell in one spot for too long. (Of course, you should use a Foredom Flexshaft instead of a Dremel for the job because they have much crunchier torque at low speed, and have creamy smooth bearings. This ain`t like playin` gitar, y`know?)

Take it to any carpenter that does high quality finishing work. It`ll be done right in 20 minutes and should cost about ten bucks. It`s seems obvious from your reply that you do not have the requisite skills to complete this task. I don`t think anyone suggested using a cut off wheel. There are over 100 different cutterheads for dremmel tools. They absolutely require a practiced steady hand to achive professional results. BTW, the "best" way would be with a laser.
Jim Eppard * Stuart Spector Design * Applehead Recording * e&e audio

it that way, what bit would you use?
Unless I rotated the table to the vertical, the cutting wheel wouldn`t work... now you are really screwed http://www.infernalpress.com/Columns/election.html http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm

Will I run into the same issues that are run nto trying to cut clear plastic on a band saw (bit / blade loading, the material overheating) ?
I can cut the voltage to the tool as low as 1.5 volts to slow it down if that`s an issue. (Its actually a 12 volt WEN tool, but it takes Dremel bits and actually fits correctly in the Dremel drill press)
Only thing I`ve ever used the Dremel or WEN for before is drilling, wire wheel rust removal, polishing, sanding, and cutting small pieces of metal with the cutoff wheels.
Mostly for auto body detailing, although it came in handy to cut out extra space to convert three AT tower cases to ATX cases.
I know there are bits that can be used as a saw but I`ve never tried them.
If anyone can recommend Dremel part numbers for the bits, there is some guy on eBay going by the name of widget ( http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=wi... ) that sells every Dremel bit known to man, so acquiring the right one for the task shouldn`t be a problem. now you are really screwed http://www.infernalpress.com/Columns/election.html http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm

Something like this maybe on the drill press? Running the tool at low voltage / slow speed? I could do it outside and water cool it maybe to up the cutting speed...
I could clamp a guide onto the table to keep the cutting stright. now you are really screwed http://www.infernalpress.com/Columns/election.html http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm

In your original post you said you just needed to cut the pickguard back a little. Dremel makes a lot of tools that fit in there, including bits that cut sideways (I don`t know what they are called, but they are used for shaping). You lower the height of the tool so the bit just goes into the hole in the middle of the table, lock it there, and then press the pickguard, nut, or whatever you are trying to shape up against the bit while held flat against the table.

Some of the motherboard standoffs are in different locations for an ATX motherboard, just drill new holes and move the standoffs or cut the old ones off and screw in new ones. Make sure to deburr after cutting the ATX connectors area so you don`t end up slicing your fingers up at some point in the future when you go to add in a different mouse of monitor.
Easy conversion though. I still have both the Gateway full towers I converted. Would have been a real shame to have to dontate those to a landfill somewhere. On of them was a EISA 486DX2/50E originally.
Some fool thief comes into my house someday, will see that Gateway 486DX2/50E nameplate on the front of the one tower, laugh at it, and move on, not realizing what`s really inside it... I removed the covers from both towers and cool them with 20 inch box fans. The covers are well stashed away, and it isn`t likely someone would try to make off with a computer missing its cover (little resale value that way). And the machines run cool, to say the least.
I just had the CPU cooling fan quit turning in one of them, and the CPU was slightly overclocked in it. Judging by the fan not wanting to be turned easily by hand, it must have been that way for the last month or so, but it kept running, and I only got a few crashes, figured it was probably power surges from the power line doing it...
So here I go to install a new KVM switch so I can switch between the two towers and get a tank 19 inch monitor out of the room for use elsewhere and t free up some much needed space, I move the box fan to get at the cables in the back, and here the CPU fan isn`t rotating... Without that box fan, that poor overclocked CPU would have melted down into a pile of silicon goo.
Instead, I`m using it now to type this. now you are really screwed http://www.infernalpress.com/Columns/election.html http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm

looks just fine. I`d never use a sanding drum where appearance is an issue.

Hi. I generally set the new neck in place over the pickguard and scribe a line into the pickguard around the end of the neck with something sharp like an awl or an exacto knife, then cut most of the material away using either a bandsaw, jigsaw or coping saw, and file the last bits to the line using a small half round file, it will be able to cut the radii and the flats. I hope this helps, J Heinz