Thread: Durable scales material

I've had G-10 on knife scales that I used for work and they were beat to hell and back and they still looked good with no real visible wear.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Plus you can make TI any color under the rainbow but why do you need strong and durable for scales?

A lot better than some I've seen!

I have sone aged English Walnut that I want to get sawn up to make some scales out of. I would also like to make some blue jean micarta or mabey stacked white & blue jean material. I have 5 or 6 unscaled blades that I need to get to work on.
Would you say it is easier to regrind the bevel with the scales on or off?
Thanks for any & help or thoughts on my project. Looks like it will be a long cold winter here in St. Joseph IL. so I will have the time! ;-)

Slawman "No Mayo in my slaw!"

Originally Posted by Slawman

Would you say it is easier to regrind the bevel with the scales on or off?

That statement is a little confusing because you are mixing two different terms when it pertains to SR's

Re-grind means an actual belt grinder and removing alot of metal to fix geometry issues with the spine vs Blade relationship

Bevel We normally call bevel work "Setting the Bevel" which is the grunt work involved with about 90% of honing a razor to set it up for the last 10% which we all argue and discuss continually on SRP

For an actual regrind the Blade must be out of the scales, to set the bevel most do that with the scales on, but it isn't required


Please ask any questions if all that isn't clear

I'm working on an old blade I picked up, I think I can rework the blade to working condition but the original scales are cracked at the pin. So I have to make new ones, I'm using Applewood, cutting it by hand with a pocketknive..;-).
Made one pair however broke them re-pinning (using wrong materials...) so have to start over.
I am looking for a european supplier (preferably Dutch) for original/usable pins as getting them overseas feels ridiculous.
As far as I can judge they will turn out really nice.
I will post photo's when I'm finished with the restauration.
Applewood is pretty easy to come by, mine comes from a tree that gave in to a storm after a 100 years or so good service.
It is hard enough and has a nice color.

Originally Posted by GRjr

I'm working on an old blade I picked up, I think I can rework the blade to working condition but the original scales are cracked at the pin. So I have to make new ones, I'm using Applewood, cutting it by hand with a pocketknive..;-).
Made one pair however broke them re-pinning (using wrong materials...) so have to start over.
I am looking for a european supplier (preferably Dutch) for original/usable pins as getting them overseas feels ridiculous.
As far as I can judge they will turn out really nice.
I will post photo's when I'm finished with the restauration.
Applewood is pretty easy to come by, mine comes from a tree that gave in to a storm after a 100 years or so good service.
It is hard enough and has a nice color.

You can make pins using 1/16" or 1.6mm brass rod from a hobby shop. Places that sell remote control planes and cars usually stock it.

About plastic scales:
If the material is overheated, especially the surface which will lose plasticizers and shrink over the interior. It develops stress and that stress will come out at a poor time as a crack or as checkering/frosting/Krackle like broken safety glass.
High speed buffing by machine is the worst offender!

Buying Acrylic, you should try to get cast rather than extruded because it has no internal stress to start with.

Look up annealing/ stress relieving acrylic plastic on the net.
There are many ways to accomplish it but try some of them to find your best method. Usually a soak at a reasonable temperature for a few hours will do it. No, look it up for yourself, no simplistic answer will help you!

I worked with the stuff for 30+ years in a shop environments and occasionally I still got bit.
~Richard

Originally Posted by GRjr

I'm working on an old blade I picked up, I think I can rework the blade to working condition but the original scales are cracked at the pin. So I have to make new ones, I'm using Applewood, cutting it by hand with a pocketknive..;-).
Made one pair however broke them re-pinning (using wrong materials...) so have to start over.
I am looking for a european supplier (preferably Dutch) for original/usable pins as getting them overseas feels ridiculous.
As far as I can judge they will turn out really nice.
I will post photo's when I'm finished with the restauration.
Applewood is pretty easy to come by, mine comes from a tree that gave in to a storm after a 100 years or so good service.
It is hard enough and has a nice color.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

You can make pins using 1/16" or 1.6mm brass rod from a hobby shop. Places that sell remote control planes and cars usually stock it.

Correct! You can also get some pinning material at a welders supply. You can get the brass rod from there & if they have a nickel silver type rod, make sure it isn't too hard. If so, you can always anneal the ends that you peen.

Thanks a lot, that helps...now for challenge number two...find a shop that sells this in my neigbourhood, I can really recommend visiting Drenthe in the Netherlands for vacation, getting supplies however is an other story...
I have most of the work done on the scales now, any tips for treating the wood? Linseed oil springs to mind or should I go with all-wheather boat-finish?

Ok, I found a solution, I raided my girlfriends knitting bag and used knitting needles to cut pins. Ended up with I think a nice attempt rescaling an old razor.
Used white cherry wood wax treated. Al handwork, split and carved with a pocketknive, flatened with a chisel. Ground on a 3000 naniwa waterstone (using a dressing stone for slurry for the final laps) and stropped on linnen, denim and finally leather. Shaved with the blade, nice ballance however I need to sharpen it a bit further.
So here it is, almost done.