Thread: Wolf(something), in gorgeous pressed horn scales.

I really want see it in all its glory lovingly restored and shiny but take your time.
Somewhere I've got a book about "casting horn" and other old skills, hand printed and all.

Originally Posted by Lemur

I really want see it in all its glory lovingly restored and shiny but take your time.
Somewhere I've got a book about "casting horn" and other old skills, hand printed and all.

I am really, really seriously considering (if I can do it non-destructively) making a casting off the scales so they can be replicated.

That's very cool! Those scales have some incredible detail. Any chance it's a German razor? The name isn't far off a few surnames that come to mind.

Originally Posted by EisenFaust

That's very cool! Those scales have some incredible detail. Any chance it's a German razor? The name isn't far off a few surnames that come to mind.

I honestly don't know enough about early Solingen cutlery to even speculate... However, Sheffield between 1770 or so and about 1810 was producing a lot of trademarks that seem odd now. Stuff like FRANCE or AMSTERDAM. William Brightmore's trademark was LONDON CITY, despite the fact that he was making razors in Sheffield. William Evatt trademarked AFRICA.

This is a slight improvement over the previous trend of everybody in town registering some kind of random squiggle. This is how John Heiffor's mark came into being, and it's by far one of the more recognizable ones. Lot's of other newly freed cutlers were registering some variation of crosses or pipes (smoking pipes, that is, not plumbing... though maybe that's what Heiffor's mark is supposed to represent!) The Cutler's Company had to crack down because there was so little to distinguish between all the variations of the same few symbols.

Maybe its a WolfRam and Hart razor, that were given out as presents to the employees who did the most blood thirsty deeds?

I've used cold setting silicon for museum pieces,
but today and if you want to reproduce them I would suggest laser scanning and then make a mold in steel/brass with a cnc machine.
They were probably made by press casting so you need a sturdy casting form.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

I am really, really seriously considering (if I can do it non-destructively) making a casting off the scales so they can be replicated.

Originally Posted by Lemur

I've used cold setting silicon for museum pieces,
but today and if you want to reproduce them I would suggest laser scanning and then make a mold in steel/brass with a cnc machine.
They were probably made by press casting so you need a sturdy casting form.

I don't know how much detail you would lost but my thoughts would be a cold silicone mold like that, then a sand cast positive so you can cast the final negative from metal.

Yes, depending on what material you were thinking of for the copies there is different ways how to make them.

A silicon mold gives you close to all details, but some silicones shrink.
Sand casting is depending on so much so it's hard to say, but you can always fix the casting with gravers and such.
If you never done anything like this before you are in for one ride of new knowledge!
It's fun thou... go for it I say!

'WOLFERMAN' perhaps? It is a genuine surname, uncommon, but quite a few american instances of it are recorded. Sounds sort of germanic. Can't find any razor makers, though, and only one instance of the name in the UK - so far!

I have reproduced scales like those before - cold two-part silicone cast of the original scales and two-part acrylic. The main problem with such a detailed design is dislodging air bubbles from the details of the mould before the acrylic sets. It helps to 'paint' a layer of epoxy over the mould first, keeping the brushstrokes slow and trying to force the acrylic into every detail, but some small bubbles nearly always escape detection. The best way would be to make the casts inside a vacuum chamber, of course, but it tends to get rather involved and expensive...

Regards,
Neil

A true vacuum chamber is king, but any vacuum will make it better, like a vacuum cleaner and a box.
Vibrations is also good!
Have even tried ultra sound with good results.