Thread: Straightening Warped Scales - Heat Gun

I've had this Red Imp with nice scales but warped. Been reading up on straightening them from everyone's experience. Thanks to all for the excellent knowledge.
I did these with a heat gun. Slow heat then stuck a parallel bar into it and let it cool. Happy with the results so far...

I can't really argue with those results. Thanks for the tip.

I wish horn was this easy

Forgive the uninformed question, but with what types of scales can this method be employed?

Looks like a really nice job!

Sweet work bench RoyalCake is that a granite surface plate???

Originally Posted by Siguy

Forgive the uninformed question, but with what types of scales can this method be employed?

Looks like a really nice job!

I'm fairly new to working scales so not sure. These are plastic - if you search for warped scales there are actually quite a few threads on it...

Originally Posted by Tarkus

Sweet work bench RoyalCake is that a granite surface plate???

Thanks and yes. There's a surface plate company here in town and they (or at least used to) sell blems for really good prices. It's still certified flat to 0.0001" or some crazy number I don't need. But they're and arm and a leg to ship so it was handy just to pick up.

Shane

They are probably Celluloid most of the Impy scales were... Just a small warning Celluloid is extremely flammable so keep that in mind

You got a really good result from that, did you put the steel bar through and then heat or heat and then form ????
I have had mixed results with a heat gun, but using a Brass bar the same way you did, I had better outcomes, I was using it to dissipate the heat, so it was more even...

Thanks for posting

Nicely done. What I've used has been the wood stir sticks from Starbucks and very 'warm' water on plastics.

Nice work and a good tip. It is good to see a vintage Red Imp razor restored to service keeping its original scales.