the guard is made of two pieces of layered plywood on either end of it. the center of the guard is 4 layers of hardboard with the shape of the blade cut into 2 of them so it could slide in and out. the handle is a dowel rod, and the base is 2 more layers of plywood with smallers dowels drilled into the end. the "grounds" and smaller details are all wonderflex. everything was sprayed with 2-3 layers of kilz spray and spot filled, sanded, and painted.