How thick is too thick for scales?

Today was cold and yuck outside so I retreated to my man-cave with a bit of acrylic in my hands. I judged them to be a bit short for scales but wanted to give it a go. After cutting the basic shape with a jig saw (something I swear I shall never do again) I began sanding. And sanding , and sanding. Thinking I was taking the thickness down to something I might be able to use. I was able to actually get a pretty good sheen on them without any kind of finish, but the thickness is .2" A bit more than twice my intended thickness. Are they still usable, or will they lay in my hands like a 2x4? They were 5" in length to start so I rounded out the ends as close to diagonal as I could and it looks like I can sneak in the pins with a bit to spare on each end. (hooray) Below are pics.

PS. Should I consider a light coat of some sort of finish?

They are too thick IMO. .125 would be much better.

My only difficulty is how to get them thinner with hand tools only.

Glue a sheet of 60 grit W/D down onto something flat. Double stick tape the flat side of the scales to a a smooth strip of wood to use as a handle. Get to work. You will loose all of the rounding that you have done. It is best to get to your thickness and drill your holes before any rounding is done.

I don't have any answer. I have some wood scales that I made just to see if I could do it that are too thick as well. If you are a young man and expect to live long enough you could rub it over a piece of sandpaper but I don't have that kind of patience.

I taped the scales to a flat board and went to town on a piece of 80 grit adhered to my work top. I have it averaging .17 give or take a couple hundredths. The halves no longer fit perfectly straight together I suppose I could have sanded the finished side, but decided on the unfinished side as it took hours to go from 80 to .25 micron on the finished side. Do we reckon the scales will still work with a bit of spot grinding?

thats great acrylic, where did you get it?

I got it on the bay. Problem is it's only 5"

That sounds like the stock they sell for pen turnings. Hundreds of bizarre colors but all the stock seems to be 5"

Use those scales for a shorty. They look nice.