So, due to the flexing and soft playfields on many of the Deadpools out there and the amount of punishing shots and bricked shots to the lane guide, a number of people have noticed flaking/chipping clear/ink at the entrance to the katana shot where the lane guide is literally scratching the finish and/or ink off the playfield.

Cliff makes a great thin metal protector for the front of the lane guide, but after inspecting the Deadpool here, I don't think it would help completely because the one here had scratching in the clear coat along the curve in the lane guide much further back from the actual entrance from the metal flexing slightly when the ball went by, resulting in a white, powdery line and the beginnings of a deep scratch that probably would go through to the wood if left untreated.

So, the approach I took was to remove the guide (which involves much more parts removal than you'd expect, but is pretty straightforward), clean the three holes with rubbing alcohol and dry with a microfiber cloth, apply mylar rings to the three holes, then put a thin washer on the hole closest to the entrance and put the lane guide back. This raises the lane guide a barely perceptable amount off the playfield, preventing damage at the entrance AND on the curve where it was scratching into the clear on ours from flexing.

I took pictures of most of the steps:

Here's the lane guide, and you can see the white powdery line where the guide has begun scratching into the clear from minute flexing as the ball passes over and over:
lane-mod-1 (resized).jpg

Being overly cautious, and having seen some nasty pictures of playfields that stuck to the guide as it was pulled up, I put painters tape around the sides and front of the guide to help keep everything in place when it came time to lift the guide up and hopefully prevent any playfield from pulling up with the guide (as I kept pressure on the taped area with one hand while lifting the guide initially away from the playfield with the other hand when I lifted it off later):
lane-mod-2 (resized).jpg

You'll need to remove the pop bumper cap and a small plastic trim piece near the Katana exit because a small post is holding the center part of the lane guide in place:
lane-mod-4-1 (resized).jpg

I un-plugged connectors and removed this light board on the bottom to make it easier to remove all the nuts holding the guide:
lane-mod-3 (resized).jpg

These are the nuts you're looking for:
lane-mod-4 (resized).jpg

When you remove the nut for this mini post, you'll need to have a socket on the bottom of the playfield and another deep socket on the post holding it in place or it will just spin and you can't remove it:
lane-mod-4-1 (resized).jpg

There are two philips screws holding the Katana blade that you need to remove so you can move the Katana blade *slightly* away and let the lane guide come up and out. It's tight, but you can do it without removing the Katana blade entirely:
lane-mod-4-2 (resized).jpg

Here you can see the leading hole with the lane guide removed - looks pretty good, still:
lane-mod-5 (resized).jpg

I used a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol to clean the areas around all three holes and then dried with a microfiber cloth so the mylar rings would have a good surface to adhere to:
lane-mod-5-1 (resized).jpg

If you look very carefully you can see the mylar ring now installed at the last hole of the lane guide:
lane-mod-6 (resized).jpg

And another installed at the middle hole:
lane-mod-7 (resized).jpg

And one installed at the hole at the entrance (note that the "support" angled stainless bracket has to be loosened so you can lift it here if you plan to install mylar rings since this one extends under the front edge of it):
lane-mod-8 (resized).jpg

Re-install the lane guide, putting a small stainless washer on the front post before setting it in. When you tighten, don't go crazy on this. This picture is the first one I did, and I crushed the thin washer, bending it. You don't want to do that, so watch as you tighten and stop when you start to get resistance so you don't crush the washer:
lane-mod-9 (resized).jpg

Don't forget to put the light board back and plug the connectors in again!

All done with this project? Here's a couple other DIY guides I've made for newer Spike machines:

Are LED lights popping out of your spotlights (not just on Spike machines!)? Make sure they never fall out again:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fixing-led-bulbs-flashers-that-fall-out-of-spotlights#post-4402506

Have a Stern machine from KISS or after with the softer wood cabinet? Reinforce it to prevent a splitting cab:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/reinforcing-stern-cabinet-legs-step-by-step

Are your Iron Maiden speakers crackling when you crank it up? Fix that with a cheap external amp:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/replacing-on-board-amp-with-external-amp-for-iron-maiden

Is your Spike machine occasionally resetting during hectic play, torpedoing your high score runs? This guide to fixing it might be for you:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fixing-stern-reboots-on-spike

Do you have a WoZ ECLE and think it's too loud in a quiet room? Replace two fans and make it almost silent:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/quieting-down-a-woz-ecle-machine

And here are some other plug and play mods you can just buy:
Iron Maiden Light Tree Mod for colored mode lights:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/iron-maiden-colored-mode-lens-tree-mod

Metallica F-U-E-L lights bracket:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/metallica-f-u-e-l-gauge-lens-bracket

ColorDMD gasket for Stern machines with the angled speaker panel:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/colordmd-gasket-for-angled-stern-speaker-panels

You can make them yourself with a cutter or punch. I also have premade ones in the pinmonk store that I made for clear pooling chip protection on jjPotC, TNA, etc that are the ones I had on hand to use when I did this. If you don't want to make some, you can buy them premade. They're under jjPotC, but they work for any cleared playfield:

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1170-pin-monk/02469-star-and-slim-post-clear-mylar-ring-set

The ball won't contact the washer because it's round, not square. Manually put the ball against the ball guide there and observe. There's a lot more clearance there than you might think.

I need to measure and add that detail. I didn't go buy one, it was just the smallest one in my pinball spare parts box that would fit.

Thanks for adding the size! If you do the mylar rings, the neoprene washer is unnecessary.

I used medium from the ones I made for a little extra coverage. Small would work, but it would JUST cover the washer area and alignment might be a problem to make sure the washer is all on it.

Glad to hear another Deadpool is protected. This is pretty much a mandatory tweak to prevent sure damage over time without it.

I put the painter's tape down and kept pressure on it while I lifted the rail to minimize the chances of that, but there's no way to know 100% until you do it.

It wouldn't hurt as long as all the washers were the same height.

If you can't get enough flex you just have to remove the blade. It's not that hard, just a 3 or 4 screws if I remember right.

As I remember it, there's a screw near the back corner of the handle and the two screws on the hilt to give you access to two screws on the blade. But that's totally from memory.

Did you mylar that entrance where you have damage showing? It's hard to tell, but I can't see mylar protecting it.

3d printed parts are great, but two issues. Not everyone has access to a 3D printer but everyone can get a metal washer. And, I don't know the reaction potential of that filament used over time on the clearcoat. Should be okay, but I would never recommend something I'm not sure of for a broad audience.