Thread: Help with a tally ho razor

First I would like to know the dating and second since I will be restoring this I would like to know your opinion between bone or horn and possibly lacewood

A sweet blade like that needs bone or horn IMO. I love wood, but I think the bone and horn will just do it better justice.

My opinion is bone or horn as well. I am about to try working with bone, I find horn very easy to work with.

Easy to work with after it has been cut. I have worked with in in the past and I love that you don't really need to stabilize it, or baby it too much.

Bone would be great! It is not very flexible. Be careful of Giraffe bone as it is brittle! If you use a band or scroll saw, place a sheet of material that you cut to the center with the saw, like thin paneling or plywood, onto the table. It then is a new table top. That allows no space for the bone or other materiel to be unsupported as the saw blade is cutting it and prevents the material from twisting into the blade.
Hold brittle materials down very carefully while cutting them. Scraping after rough filing is a good way to contour the materials. Wet sand to a polish, pin, and enjoy the effect of your hard work.
~Richard
Tally Ho razor:
Fenney..1824-1852...some say they were earlier.
Etching as nice as yours is rare!

Well I do use a scrolling saw on low speed and patience lots of patience. I cut the bone before flattening then I flatten and give smooth the edges. This is how thin I got them

This is the last set of scales I made. It's cow bone.

That is a very good photo of how to do it right! Thank you! Those thin scales fit the project as it was done in the past!
Well done!
~Richard

I love the look of lancewood, but in this case I would go with bone. It fits more to the time period.

Here is an update: the rough shaping is done and the scales are shy off of 3/32. Tomorrow I will lap then and sand all the way to 3000