Thread: Replacement scales of Natural materials

I'm sure there are trade-offs, but i keep getting lost looking through search results.

Is there any sort of general guidelines WRT the feasibility of the various natural materials for re-scaling nice old razors? I gotta get rid of all this stinky plasticky stuff.

I'm the sort that starts with raw materials. I have some great woods (curly maple, curly ash, osage, fatwood, and all the native Southeastern hardwoods). I've also been saving antlers for years... maybe it's time.

Bone and horn and hoofs can be acquired.

I've not worked the animal-products before, am fairly comfortable with the woods. I am aware of the heating and shaping of horn, as I just made a flintlock rifle and "run" in those circles too.

Thanks for any general guidance to the different natural products.

Not really any guidelines. Go with what you want. I prefer wood or bone. Not a big fan of G10 but it's less affected by water. The are so many exotic woods that look great on razors. Thrn there are some special historic razors that deserve looking as original as possible. In the end do what makes you happy.

wood, horn, bone, ivory, they all work the same.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

wood, horn, bone, ivory, they all work the same.

THAT, is of course, if you happen to be pixelfixed!

My view is that wood needs to be too thick for good scales and interrupts my visual. Horn is very easy to work. I have not yet worked bone but I think that time will arise soon. Just start messing around. You will find your groove quick enough. I takes such a small amount of material to make a set of scale unless you go crazy exotic they are fairly cheap to make.

Let me give you the names of three easy woods to make scales out of,,

They are strong enough to be worked thin
They are very tight grained and work easily
The are tight grained/oily enough to not really even need finish but that is a choice for you to make

1. Lignum Vitae
2. Ebony
3. Cocobolo

These three woods are some of the easiest and most durable I have worked with, you want to get them from a reliable source also..


Hope that helps

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

wood, horn, bone, ivory, they all work the same.

+1 for me too except for wood... finishing is different... bone and horn are my favorite but the smell of ground bone reminds me of getting a root canal... so i like it less... I have about 20 horn blanks in my stash as that's my favorite