Thread: Scale materials....

Thinking out loud here....I was daydreaming of a straight razor made with Jade scales and having either a yin/yang symbol inlaid in the scale or a small silver dragon(my mind couldn't decide).Sheathed in a nice Asian silk soft case (Black w/red trim or turquoise blue)like what you see womens Asian dresses made out of with a red tassle hanging off the end of it.And an elegant round tip(Dovo style) 5/8 blade and a slightly longer monkey tail about 1/8 or 1/4 longer than most No etching on the blade,just nice shine). I have a vivid imagination but.........I suppose Jade would not make for a very stable handle?So my question to those experienced out there is what besides celluloid ,micarta,bone and wood makes for good solid scale material? Besides acrylic also.I have heard celluloid is not good as it is very flammable and deteriorates badly ,and wood is sketchy due to molds and such and warping. Is stone(s) usable? Thoughts here ??

I'm sure some of the more experienced members will chime in here but I don't know how well stone would work since there is no flex to it at all. You need some flex.

True enough.

Jade would make some beautiful scales though And everything else you described sounds magnificent. You just need to find a substitute for the stone

Originally Posted by Catrentshaving

You need some flex.

I really do not know why, what do you need flex for?

Well...Honestly I do not know as I'm asking purely as a newb here so I'm just soaking up the input as it were and all .

If the material does not flex, and your wedge is properly shaped, the scales will break when you put the razor together. A flexible material that has some spring and will bow is important to having a tight pivot and strong scale.

nightblade,

Whilst not Jade, I have made some knife scales from FR10 circuit board laminate, which when polished looked 'jade-esque' !

They were a lovely semi-translucent green - the original FR10 was not the very, very green stuff, but the lighter, well.. jade... coloured stuff !

As this is essentially the same material as G10, it is a very tough material !

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

"and wood is sketchy due to molds and such and warping."

Many of the materials we use can warp over the ages. Wood is definately a useable material for scales. Many of us use wood and use various finishes like superglue, tongue oil, laquers, urathanes, waxes, and sometimes according to the wood, naked. Some of the exotic woods have quite a bit of natural oils in them...

The problem with stone scales are many. If they are thick they will be heavy and mess up the balance of the razor. if they are thin they will be fragile. Also drilling holes in stone and pinning has challenges.You also can't just cut them out with normal tools. Unless you have specialty cutters they have to be ground down or carved out. Something like Jade for instance, well Jadeite is a mighty hard mineral and difficult to work with.