Thread: W. Greaves & Sons Ne Plus Ultra Wood Scales--Type Wood? Original?

Originally Posted by engine46

Austin,
I was going to say the same. They're horn but look like wood sometimes. I don't know what to say. I've had quite a few horn scales look like wood with wood looking grain but I never tried the test because I was under the assumption they were horn.

Steve, know what you are saying but some of what I am seeing is definitely wood but the other scale may be horn. I have always been able to buff up old horn so you can really tell it is horn. Doubt this will happen here. Will do some more testing tomorrow. Thanks for your input on all this.

Originally Posted by ajkenne

Actually they are pretty clean. Not hardly any lather build up at all. I can see the wood grain on the inside of one scale and paint or stain residue as I am not sure the inside was painted. The other scale without the paint wear and with some minor worm (?) holes or chips could in fact be black horn. I will redo that side with the hot pin test tomorrow. Taking the scales apart would certainly answer much of this but don't know if I am ready for that yet. Going to take this restore real slow.

Austin, I just did that hot pin test on a few old scales that look like wood. I also did a hot pin test on a pice of cocobolo. The horn smelled like horn & the cocobolo smelled like wood. Could it be possible that IF they are wood, the original scales might have been accidentally broken back in the day & some wood replacements were made?

Lots of scale halves have been done in wood leaving the other half in original material.

I just went back & looked at the pics over & over very closely. They appear to be wood, especially in the last pic of them, the inside of the scale looks unpainted. They also look to be some damn good replacements.They did put quality into their work back in the day. Upon inspecting the wedge end, it doesn't look as uniform & in the second pic, one side of the wedge end looks more rounded. I'm also curious about the pins & collars. I'm going through some of my Greaves razor's but some of them have different pinning so it is hard to tell. I have one that doesn't have any collars on it at all but many of the others have the large collars. I'm not doubting Tom's word either although I have yet to come across any or if I do, I haven't noticed. I just have a gut feeling that if they are wood, they were like I said, damn good replacement homemade scales.

Originally Posted by engine46

I just went back & looked at the pics over & over very closely. They appear to be wood, especially in the last pic of them, the inside of the scale looks unpainted. They also look to be some damn good replacements.They did put quality into their work back in the day. Upon inspecting the wedge end, it doesn't look as uniform & in the second pic, one side of the wedge end looks more rounded. I'm also curious about the pins & collars. I'm going through some of my Greaves razor's but some of them have different pinning so it is hard to tell. I have one that doesn't have any collars on it at all but many of the others have the large collars. I'm not doubting Tom's word either although I have yet to come across any or if I do, I haven't noticed. I just have a gut feeling that if they are wood, they were like I said, damn good replacement homemade scales.

Mystery solved. I just finished doing the hot pin test on both scales. One is horn and the other is wood. Agree that the wood scales is the likely replacement. It is indeed a great replacement for the original horn scale. Will probably keep the same scales but may use replica bullseyes as collars. When I take it apart, I'll try to take additional photos of the inside scales and post them. Thanks for everybody's input on this. I appreciate it very much.

Originally Posted by ajkenne

Mistery solved. I just finished doing the hot pin test on both scales. One is horn and the other is wood. Agree that the wood scales is the likely replacement. It is indeed a great replacement fot the original horn scale. Will probably keep the same scales but may use replica bullseyes as collars. When I take it apart, I'll try to take additional photos of the inside scales and post them. Thanks for everybodys input on this. I appreciate it very much.

Austin, I looked at them very closely several times & could see some minor differences. I bet the wooden one is off just a tad but they did with what they had back then so the replacement was a damn good one.

Originally Posted by engine46

Austin, I looked at them very closely several times & could see some minor differences. I bet the wooden one is off just a tad but they did with what they had back then so the replacement was a damn good one.

Steve, I agree completely. Previously, I thought that I made some really good wooden replacement scales (IMHO) but after having seen and studied the workmanship of this old (prossibly period) wood scale ,I need to work a bit harder. The Sheffield Cutlers back in the day set a mighty high standard. I will do better as a result of all this. A good lesson learned for me. Again, my thanks to all, Austin

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Lots of scale halves have been done in wood leaving the other half in original material.

Just to confirm with photos. One was done in black horn, probably the original. The other, probably the replacement, was done in wood, painted black. I will intend to replace these with a nice set dark horn scales matching the originals and will use some nice replica domed stainless steel washers. Should turn out nice.

Originally Posted by ajkenne

Just to confirm with photos. One was done in black horn, probably the original. The other, probably the replacement, was done in wood, painted black. I will intend to replace these with a nice set dark horn scales matching the originals and will use some nice replica domed stainless steel washers. Should turn out nice.

That should be nice when it's done Austin.