Thread: George Savage & Sons XX and an old Taylor

Originally Posted by guitstik

The end is gone at the pivot tho and so that side would be unusable.

Nah. It's not a big problem. I've done lots of grafts to fix breaks like that.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

Nah. It's not a big problem. I've done lots of grafts to fix breaks like that.

A graft is a good way to fix it but is it strong enough to hold up? The only way I would do it is if I were adding a set of bolsters to it but that is just me. I have a set of scales that are both split at the pivot end on the same razor and like you, I prefer to salvage scales rather than put the razor in a custom set of scales.

Originally Posted by guitstik

A graft is a good way to fix it but is it strong enough to hold up? The only way I would do it is if I were adding a set of bolsters to it but that is just me. I have a set of scales that are both split at the pivot end on the same razor and like you, I prefer to salvage scales rather than put the razor in a custom set of scales.

CA glue bonds extremely enthusiastically to horn. If you do a wee bit of tongue-in-groove, it's dandy. If that's too much like work, you can just use a dremel to make a little bit of hollow on both sides of the cut, pack'em with shredded horn (shredded, not powdered -- you want small fibers), push the pieces together and then let some very thin CA wick in.

The CA/horn slurry is stronger than horn or CA by themselves. Basically, it gets horn's flexibility and the acrylic's relative hardness.

It's a bit tricky to work, since the surrounding horn will get eaten up faster by any abrasives. The main tricks are: gentle pressure, a clear view of what's happening, and an abrasive with a very firm backing. I often use one of the stone grinding bits in my dremel set, running at low speed, and go over JUST the fill-in part before sanding and polishing. With practice it's not too hard to do.

I worried for a long time about how good CA would be over the long term, but all the studies I've found suggest it's pretty stable. Enough so that museums do use it.

I've used CA to put scales back together & after letting it set, tried breaking it with just moderate pressure & it holds beautifully. Hell I've even glued cellulose scales back together, sanded it down & polished it & you couldn't even tell they were ever broke. Even ones broke right at the pin, I was able to pin it back together w/o it breaking.

Actually, the pivot end stronger than the other end.






The replacement scales alongside.

Those scales are just a tad longer but will do the job!I like those scales, they're beautiful & they look like horn too. You got it goin' on Wullie!!! That razor will be looking' good when you're done with it!

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

Nah. It's not a big problem. I've done lots of grafts to fix breaks like that.

Epoxy?

Joe