Thread: Lose Scales

If the pivot pin is loose, gently tapping with a small hammer will peen the metal of the pin a bit tighter. Emphasis on *gently* so as not to bend the pin. You'll need to use something like a larger hammer as an anvil (unless you already have a jeweller's anvil).

Unpinning / pinning and scale making is covered in the library, mostly in Scale Making. Tightening a pin is just the final phase of re-pinning, so worth having a look at the unpinning and re-pinning page.

I started making scales a year or so ago, and with a bit of practice I'm quite pleased with some of the results. It's not that hard to do a reasonable job.

If your razor has the new-style pinnings then peening on one side (the flatter side) will have no effect - that's because the pin-sets are made like a small tack with a domed washer that fits tightly on one end. The flat side has an attempt to make it look like a regular old-style pin - it has a little round bit in the middle - but it is all one piece on that side. The only side that will tighten it is the one with the domed washer (disregarding the fact that if you do hit the flat side, then the other side will mushroom a bit due to impact on the anvil).

The old-style pins had separate washers on both ends, so you flip these and tighten equally, a bit at a time.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks for all the help guys