La Silberstahl rescale, my first go at horn

A few days ago, or actually yesterday, I got a big cow horn in the mail (http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...-now-what.html). Lacking the means of flattening it, I decided I'd just go ahead and see if I could get flat enough parts from it and make some scales. I'm happy to say it worked and not half as bad as I feared :D Also, the smell wasn't so bad, fortunately. I'll be having some fun with the rest of that horn.

This La Silberstahl is one of my favourite shavers. I got it about half a year ago for €10 in bad shape and rescaled it in ebony. Those scales cracked and they didn't allow the razor to open and close well anyway, so I decided to unpin them and give this beautiful blade more appropriate scales.

I was stupid enough to try rescaling without dulling the blade and it worked. I guess I haven't had enough accidents yet to generate a sense of self-preservation, believing that at 23 I'm still made of rubber and magic and will heal anyway. Still, I would advise anyone to dull a razor well when working on it.

Pinning is NiAg, domed SS washers and my current favourite, a thin ebony wedge. There are a few flaws, but I tried not to let them show in the pics :angel:

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Thanks for watching!

That one turned out pretty good :tu

I got a moose leg I planed to use for scales a while back, didn't turn out nearly as good as this, several hours of work and a stinking house and all I got was a couple wedges :)

Haha I have a big cow horn too but I have so many spare horn blanks I haven't gotten into cutting it up

Nice Work!! The Scales look very nice and thin, how thin are they?

But a little Correction, its not LA but 1A (IA), it means 1st Grade Silversteel :)

A great rescale and very well done in a classic stye. Please keep them coming.
RobsBits is pretty good but he needs to know what the blanks will be used for, and that any de-lamination will be returned.
www.ebay.co.uk/sch/robsbitsl

~Richard

Great looking blade and I think the scales look great on it, nice work!

Excellent ! Nice slim scales & wedge. Well done.

Thank you, gents!

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Originally Posted by Rockabillyhelge

Nice Work!! The Scales look very nice and thin, how thin are they?

But a little Correction, its not LA but 1A (IA), it means 1st Grade Silversteel :)

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Thanks for the correction, I had no idea :) The thickness is between 2 and 3 mm, not completely even from front to back. My rules of thumb are:
- Thick in the middle, thin at the edges
- Thin wedge
- Thin the scales down until they are flexible, so that you can pinch them together when the blade is in place. It ensures that the razor will open and close well.

Using these guidelines, I can go by feel and don't have to measure whatever I'm doing.

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Originally Posted by Geezer

A great rescale and very well done in a classic stye. Please keep them coming.
RobsBits is pretty good but he needs to know what the blanks will be used for, and that any de-lamination will be returned.
www.ebay.co.uk/sch/robsbitsl

~Richard

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Thanks Richard :) I'd heard about Robsbits and added him to my favourites, but haven't purchased from him yet. Thanks for the heads-up, if I order from him, I'll let him know it's for scales.

Nice work Laurens!
+1 to the above statement on the thinness.

I actually have two slabs of horn from Robsbits, that I haven't had time to process yet.
This post will get me started with that for sure. :)

Lovely scales - I love the visible grain.

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Originally Posted by kiwichris

Lovely scales - I love the visible grain.

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Me too, even though the surface is completely smooth-sanded up to 1000 grit and then buffed. The grain is just below the surface.

Well done!!

Ray