Thread: Oooops, broken scales on puma.

Hi all,

Longish time reader but this is my first post after introducing myself.

Well i recently decided i needed to get into shaving with a straight razor and after a lot of looking around the internet at new razors decided that i wanted to go with a vintage straight that didnt need alot of work and restore and have it proffessionally honed. So i settled on a fair condition puma 95 with just very little rust on the spine and almost perfect black plastic/bakelite scales. needless to say my hamfistedness has lead to the rear scale (without puma inlay) breaking in two just below the pivot pin whilst trying to unpin it for a good clean and sand/polish.

My question now is can i find a good replacement scale that will match the intact one or do i rescale it, i know i can get some very reasonably priced dovo or thiers issard plain black scales from the invisible edge. If anyone knows of or has a replacement that i could buy, please PM me.

What do you guy think?

Lee.

A picture would help. Do the scales have a wedge? Is the surface flat or rounded? I have a few that I took off of old razors and if I have a match I will send it to you.

Sorry should have thought about that at first. the scales do have a wedge, its in the picture. if by is the surface rounded the underside of the scale is flat and the top is rounded. sorry i'm new to all this.

thanks alot,

Lee.

Should be quite easy to pick up an old plain black single scale to match that, even if you have to drill a hole for the middle pin, even though it's broken as long as the scale with the Puma logo is still OK that can be look upon as a bit of a bonus.

ok, so would i be likely to find a scale the same shape as the original? Like i said i am very new to this, i've just put the good scale down on a flat surface and it appears to be raised (bowed?) between the middle pin and the wedge pin. is it meant to be flat or is this a problem?

That's the way they should be, as the middle pin holds the scales apart and the rest of the scales obviously taper towards the wedge so once parted they both will have a slight bow especially in the middle.

Originally Posted by Essex86

ok, so would i be likely to find a scale the same shape as the original? Like i said i am very new to this, i've just put the good scale down on a flat surface and it appears to be raised (bowed?) between the middle pin and the wedge pin. is it meant to be flat or is this a problem?

Yeah the bowing is probably normal. Look at most any straight razor and you will see the scales are bowed slightly apart. Look at the wedge and you will see that it is not the same thickness all over. It pinches in at the closed end and spreads the scales apart going toward the middle.

If you can't find a perfect matching scale, just stick the front one to a back one that is oversize with wax or double sided tape, and trim the oversize back one to match. You might have to drill new holes for pins, yeah. Save the filings from the plastic, grind them up fine and mix with epoxy to fill any old unused holes. Or just get some black acrylic plastic and cut it out using your front scale as a template. You can find lots of suppliers online for acrylic plastic. Take this with a grain of salt because I am still a newbie and haven't done this yet. But I am fixing to make some scales for some razors I am modifying or restoring. If I was there in the UK I would just tell you send me your old scale and let me make you a new one to match it. I got some black acrylic on order and it will be here tomorrow I think.

If you can't get it together give me a shout in a few days and I will just mail you a piece big enough to make your scale from, and some pinning stuff which I already got on hand. I ordered 1/8" thick acrylic sheets 6" x 30" for $10/ea in white, yellow, and black. The stuff is cheap and it won't cost much for me to mail you a piece. All you need is a coping saw or hacksaw or something, a file, a 1/16" drill bit, some sandpaper in different grits, polishing compound, and a big spoon to use as a peening hammer. Yeah sounds crazy but my razor sensei uses a spoon and he pins a lot of razors and says it is way better than a hammer. No cost to you. That razor deserves another chance.

Wow. Thanks everyone for the offers. I cant believe what a great place srp is with such generous members. At the moment ive got alot of ideas of buying new scales, making them or trying to pair up with my original one that I really dont know what im going to go for yet.

Help!!!

Lee.