Thread: My first scales!! (Thanks)

You did a nice job, keep up the good work and thanks for sharing.

Hey mate,

How did you go about this and are there some more photos?

I am trying to do the same with some razors I got recently.

Cheers

Nice job!!

Those look great.

Great work. For first time or 100th time they look great! How long did it take you?

Great work. For first time or 100th time they look great! How long did it take you?

I have no idea. I did it over the course of a week or so, but it was in bits and pieces, some times for an hour or so and some times for 15 mins in between putting one kid to bed and playing with the the other.

Hey mate,

How did you go about this and are there some more photos?

I am trying to do the same with some razors I got recently.

Cheers

I didn’t take pics or record any of the process because I was experimenting and didn’t even think about posting until after I was done. Plus there are so many folks on here with more experience. Next time I’ll think ahead.
But here’s what I did:

The library section here has lots of good stuff that got me started.

Straight Razor Place Library - Straight Razor Place Library

I also watched this Youtube video. I have no workshop or drill press or belt sander. I used only hand tools.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...68191837,d.cWc

And I searched this forum and others for how to pin and peen. For example

Un-pinning and re-pinning a razor - Straight Razor Place Library

Getting the wood stock –
I couldn't find 1/8th wood stock in my neighborhood so instead of ordering some I cut a piece of 1x2 pine long enough to make sure I could trace scales on it. A 1x2 isn’t really one inch thick. It’s more like ¾ inch. I “ripped” it in half the long way with a coping saw and put half of it way. (A Japanese style saw and a vise would probably work much better but I don’t own either and a coping saw let me do it nice and slowly in hand without slicing myself up.) Then I sanded the rough side of my new piece as if I was lapping a hone, with cross hatched pencil lines and all. Then I cut the blank in half again the same way so that I had two pieces, one for each scale, and then I lapped each of those to an even and desirable thickness.

Making the scale shape-
I glued the two pieces together with a few drops of wood glue and a piece of napkin or tissue in between. I traced the old scales on and used the cooping saw (I suppose one could use a power saw for this but I don’t own a scroll or band saw and I didn't want to use a jig saw for fine work close to my hands) to cut along the outside of the line making sure to keep the blade straight, perpendicular to the wide surface I traced onto. Once I had that rough shape cut out I used course grit sand paper (about 60 or 80) to sand up to the tracing line and taper the edges. Basically I sanded the blocky looking thing I cut out until it looked like scales. After that I just smoothed it out with some finer sand paper, like 120 and 220.

Once I had them looking like scales I measured where the pin holes should go. People use drill presses or maybe you could clamp it steady and use a regular hand drill. I used a 1/16th inch bit in a pin vice to do it by hand. Make sure the hole is straight otherwise the razor will be crooked when you pin it.
Next I separated the halves with a box cutter, prying them apart being careful not to splinter or crack them, and then sanded off whatever paper and glue remained on the inside. I then put on three coats of stain and about 6 or 8 coats of polyurethane.

Pinning-
I used #0 stainless steel washers and 16th inch nickel silver rod. Some hardware stores carry these but not in my neighborhood so I ordered washers from Micro fasteners and the rod from a knife making supplier on line. I forget which one, Jantz supplies or Texas Knife. I already had a jeweler’s block to use as an anvil. I had previously used the side of a tack hammer as an anvil to tighten my pins. The wedge I used was the wedge from the old set of scales that I traced in the beginning.

I hope that's helpful. If not what you need is probably in SRP some where. Everything I did I either learned here or is an adjustment of something learned here.

Very impressive, especially for only using hand tools! That stain really fooled me, thought that was some cherry or alder. Nice job!

You did a great job!
For what its worth, i got a pile of really nice exotic wood scraps off craigslist free section. For razor scales, you don't need much. Next up is getting a bandsaw and ripping my own from found wood.

You did a great job!
For what its worth, i got a pile of really nice exotic wood scraps off craigslist free section. For razor scales, you don't need much. Next up is getting a bandsaw and ripping my own from found wood.

Thanks. I didn't think to look up scraps for wood or to check craigslist. good idea.