3 Panel MOP Scales Project

A while back, a customer contacted me regarding a special project. He had stumbled across a beautiful Wade & Butcher "Diamond Edge" blade, but it had broken scales. But what he saw was a wonderful opportunity to create something special. He contacted me about creating a set of custom straight razor scales reminiscent of some of the rarest and most beautiful sets of scales that were available in the mid-1800s. Solid Mother of Pearl.
Using a material such as mother of pearl for a set of straight razor scales is generally considered impossible, because it does not flex. To get around this limitation, the manufacturers in the past would produce scales with "Panels" of mother of pearl adhered and pinned to a liner material (usually silver). Here is an example of such a set of scales, on a similar time period Wade & Butcher razor:


http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...razor-0000.jpg


My customer sourced some beautifully figured, A+ Grade Mother of pearl, and shipped it to me along with some small silver engraving plates and the razor:

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-00.jpg

Upon inspection, I noticed a date scratched into the horn scales - 1865. There was also some wonderful wound silver wire inlay, along with a small MOP inlay in the center of the scale.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...-razor-000.jpg



Although a tragedy to see cracked scales like this, at the same time it is an honor to bring this razor back to former glory (AND THEN SOME!!!). So, I began to devise a plan. Upon talking to the owner, it was clear that he wanted to maintain the original scale shape. I wholeheartedly agreed :) So, the first step was to establish a base material. Instead of using Silver, we chose to use Nickel sheeting. It will not rust, and can be polished to a brilliant shine. Step one was cutting out some of the material.



http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-01.jpg

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-02.jpg


Once I had the two rectangles of sheeting cut out, I traced on the scale shape.


http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-03.jpg

And then I trimmed up the two pieces fairly close to my trace lines.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-04.jpg

After I had my two rough pieces of Nickel cut out, I taped them together using ShurTape Double sided carpet tape, ensuring to line up the traced patterns as accurately as possible.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-05.jpg

Once together, I continued shaping and profiling them, until I had a reasonably close match to the original (A little slop on the edges is always nice before final shaping). I also took another trace of the original scale, and I planned out the paneling. I measured 7mm on each side of the panel dividers for the panel fastening pins. Everything is very accurately measured on the paper template.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-06.jpg

After I planned out the panels, I superglued the paper right on to the two pieces of sheeting. This gave me a perfect template for the next step.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-08.jpg

I drilled all 6 holes with a 1/16" bit on my drill press. Here you can see the opposite side from the side that I superglued the paper to.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-07.jpg

After that, it was time to plan out each individual panel.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-09.jpg

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-10.jpg

Once they were planned out, I carefully began to shape each piece, initially with a band saw, and then switched to a belt sander. Here is one of the pieces, shaped within reason (always leaving some excess hanging off the sides!!!). You'll also noticed that I have roughed up the surfaces of the MOP and the nickel sheeting in order for Epoxy to hold well. I used a 100 grit sandpaper for this.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-11.jpg

Since the other side still has the paper template, I know EXACTLY where to epoxy the MOP to the nickel. Here I am lining things up / test fitting to ensure my MOP is correctly sized.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-12.jpg

Here, we see the first piece epoxied on and clamped. I made sure to constantly remove the epoxy from the edges on the sides before it dried. That way I will be sure to get a good, flat fit for the other two panels (no excess epoxy)

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-13.jpg

Next, I cut a small piece of nickel sheeting and flattened one edge. This is going to be stood up perpendicular to the scale and epoxied in place between the two panels to act as a decorative divider, just as the original 1800s set of scales in the picture I'm modeling after had.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-14.jpg

So, I repeated this for the pivot end of the scale, and then I epoxied all of the panels in place.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-15.jpg

So, that is how it sat overnight while it set. one scale worth of panels epoxied so far. I will update this thread as I continue on.

Great pictures and process, thank you for sharing. Those are some super classy looking scales.

Charlie

Those are beautiful - someone if going to have one heck of a razor!

I just hope that everything goes as planned. I've got ONE shot with this MOP :)

MOP is a real pain to work with - but it looks like you are going about it in the best way.

Fantastic work and a very nice writeup.

Very well done. Will your customer actually use this beauty?

DAve

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rolodave

Very well done. Will your customer actually use this beauty?

DAve

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Well I certainly hope so! It deserves to be used :)

What a wonderful job, And great step by step process.
Thanks,

Oh my, what a job! I can't wait to see the rest of this story, I am certain those are going to be stunning.
Thank you for sharing :tu

Nice work! As having worked often with old, lined mop-paneled scales, I would recommend keeping adhesive from the joints between the panels. They need somewhere to flex a bit! It should turn out great! :chapeau

Update!

So, I took the scales off of the clamps, and then I scraped off all of the paper that was super glued on the nickel sheeting. Then, I took my 1/16" Drill bit and drilled right through all of the holes that were in the nickel sheeting straight through the 3 MOP panels on the other side. This made it so that the holes were perfectly positioned. Obviously I have quite a bit of excess MOP material hanging off the sides. that is OK though! :)

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-16.jpg

Then, I sanded the MOP side flat with my disc sander. This ground down the excess nickel sheeting that was sticking out on the panel dividers.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-17.jpg

I was then able to do the whole thing over again on the other side. I trimmed up the MOP pieces to the correct dimensions, and then epoxied them in place, starting with the center piece:

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-18.jpg

And then I put in my nickel panel dividers and epoxied in the other two panels:

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-19.jpg

You can see the dividers sticking out. All that excess material will go away after it sets up!

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-20.jpg

Thats it for tonight!

I can't wait to see the final product. You'r work is always so clean Brad. :bow:bow

Brad, this is a fascinating process and a great tutorial in itself !!....Looking forward to the conclusion.
Bongo

Here we go!

First, I unclamped the scales. The epoxy set extremely solid.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-21.jpg

I took it to the belt sander, and flattened out the pile side scale

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-22.jpg

After that, I used the pre-drilled holes on the front scale to drill through the pile side scale.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-23.jpg

I then did some more profiling with the belt sander, and when I started getting close to my original tracings, I took the original scale and I bolted it on to the the MOP scales so that I had an exact profile to match.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-24.jpg

You can see a little bit of excess material that I had to grind down.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-25.jpg

After a little more sanding, I was close to the original profile

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-26.jpg

You can see no overhangs now

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-27.jpg

Then, I spent about 30 minutes on the belt sander, very carefully and slowly thinning out the scales (they started around .125" ea, and I thinned them to approx .11"). MOP chips easily, and sands slowly, so, it was a delicate process.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-28.jpg

So, it was on to hand sanding. I started at 220 grit and went to town.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-29.jpg

With every grit, it got prettier and prettier

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-30.jpg

After a buff, I was just stunned!

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-32.jpg

Unfortunately, there was no time to enjoy. it was on to the next step. I started to carefully pin the panels on to the nickel liners, one hole at a time

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-33.jpg

After each of them were pinned, I buffed up the heads on the MOP side

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-34.jpg

Then I ran some 1000 grit sandpaper along the back side of the scales (the nickel sheeting, and then gave them a quick buff. A final buff will come later.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-35.jpg

That's it for today! Still a few steps to go! :)

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-36.jpg

Stunning stuff Brad.
When you pinned the MOP to the liners, did you peen with a hammer or flare them with a pin press? Just curious.
Really excellent results. Be proud.
Adam

Soooo much good stuff here. Seriously an amazing inspiration. Thank you for being so thorough with your pictures and documentation.

That is a beautiful example of a custom restoration. You must also have a Master's Degree in pictorial essay. Nice.

Well guys! I finished up the project!!

I decided to use the original lead wedge, but, it was pretty gunky, so, I started to clean it up

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-37.jpg

Here are the edges, polished up

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-38.jpg

Then it was just a matter of pinning it into the wedge end of the scales


http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-39.jpg

And finally, here it is - the reason for ALL of that work - a mother of pearl scale that is capable of flexing!


http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...t-razor-40.jpg

Here are some finished pics!

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...her-mop-10.jpg

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...her-mop-01.jpg

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...her-mop-03.jpg

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...her-mop-12.jpg

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...her-mop-08.jpg

http://www.maggardrazors.com/wp-cont...her-mop-14.jpg

Great project, and well documented thanks for sharing.

Those scales look amazing Brad, you work is always impeccable. Thanks for documenting and sharing the whole process. Nicely done sir :tu

Stunning work Brad, and thank you for the brilliant documentation on the process. This gives inspiration to more that me, I am sure. Seeing the finished razor, I'll confess I did feel a small twitch of envy. Someone is going to be very proud to shave with that one. Well done :tu

Magnificent job! And excellent pictures!
Very well done! :tu

Most certainly, awesome...

Well done.

Great thread, saving it for future use.

What thickness was the nickel sheet?

I look at this thread every few months trying to work up the courage to try the same process - so I make no apologies for resurrecting it.

A great tutorial from Brad - and an inspiration.