Thread: Wade & Butcher "For Barber's Use" 8/8 - Burgundy Micarta

I kinda wondered about this color, I didn't want it to look too tacky, but I wanted something that was not black.

after seeing the results on this razor, I give Burgundy Micarta the big thumbs up.

It is classy - almost looks like horn in person, but, has that more modern look. It does these old sheffield razors justice, if any other restorers out there haven't done a razor in this stuff I say go for it!

Spacer is partially translucent red acrylic. Brass hardware.

I restored this blade a few months ago, it was waiting for scales. Its not quite up to my current standards..but.. I gotta push some razors. this one will head up on e-bay sunday night.

PS -- I included the famous glen balance shot. haha. I think it was still swinging a bit when I took the pic!

Nicely Done !!!!

I have some of that Micarta too, I need to find something to wrap in it....

Love the balance shot, I always say it isn't that tuff to do, just a little attention to detail and they balance right up, at least it is a starting point...

I'm just finishing a burgundy micarta myself and it takes a really high glossy uniform looking finish.

You should maybe mention that working with the burgundy micarta is a big bloody mess. Red dust everywhere. Your fingers turn red from sanding, the belt sander looks red,... everything looks red. It's the messiest micarta I have worked with so far. I'm glad to be wearing a dust mask at all times.

Nice work!

Nice blade & some great looking scales. I'd find that hard to part with!

Your the man now dog!

Originally Posted by Maximilian

working with the burgundy micarta is a big bloody mess. Red dust everywhere. Your fingers turn red from sanding, the belt sander looks red,... everything looks red. It's the messiest micarta I have worked with so far. I'm glad to be wearing a dust mask at all times.

It was this material that made me realize I needed a ventilator, and fast. I merely roughed out this set of scales with the bandsaw a couple weeks ago..and afterwards I went and blew my nose and it was red... I didn't touch the micarta until I picked up the ventilator that I now wear all the time when sanding and cutting.

When I was finishing up the scales by wetsanding, I literally had to look at my fingers every few minutes to double check I wasn't bleeding somewhere. the dust + water literally looked like blood!

So very messy! lol

That is a nice looking combination. The texture of the blade and the scales match well.

Good Job!

Well done. The red spacer is a nice touch too.
Should fetch a pretty penny on the Bay.

I love the balance of the blade. What did you use to balance it out? Was it the wood or did you add a weight on the spacer?

I did a mockup from the rough cut blanks to see how it was, and ended up making the scales just a bit smaller than originally planned to correct for balance.

Glen is right though, it doesnt take much. this was the first time I actually made a correction for balance...

but.,...that said..there is argument over whether the picture above has any actual merit in terms of the real balance of a blade..after all, if I swung those scales up more like what you would do while shaving, it would probably throw it off balance --

So...is it definitively a perfectly balanced blade? I don't know. But is it a starting point... yes. At least I can say I designed the scales with shaving in mind.

Anyway, I doubt I will consider balance very much in future scalemaking... if it works out, it works out -- which it usually does. With many razors, you can just move it right or left on the tang by a few millimeters and come up with the same picture as above....I tried to design the scales to balance on the place you would have your thumb though. I think that for the most part, the balance pictures don't really give any indication of how a blade feels in your hands.