Thread: What are you working on?

Does not get too cold here usually. Mid 30's. NOT time to paint.
Nice to have a oil-filled electric radiator turned-down to kill the chill.
I often set small parts on it. Cans of paint for a bit as well.

I enjoy using it to do small stuff like this . 1 metric and 2 inch-patterned FAL magazine floor-plates.
Learned to use the aluminum cans to cure things as fast as can be.
The DupliColor engine enamel with ceramic loves this. 2 hard coats.
Allow to dry and sit like this for a few days. Hard as a rock!

I long for this in the summertime! The dashboard of an idle Suburban comes close in July .

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

All respect to you Mike. You know way more than I do but maybe you can give me correction. The last pair of horn scales I tried to dye in hair dye wouldn't ever darken. I soaked them multiple.times, one time at least for a couple of days if I remember and they would get tanned but not brown. I wound up using some RIT fabric dye and they browned up nicely first try. Am I doing something wrong?

Never had that problem. Maybe the hair dye was old, and list its umph.

I just dyed a pair of brown scales, black, the other day.
The dye was a little old, so I let them soak in it over night.
They came out, black as night.

Pictured in yesterdays SOTD

I know....what's with the second pivot pin.
I swapped the blade out, for the Wosty I'd had sitting in the tadoo drawer, for the past two years or more.

I had to move the pivot hole, to accommodate the Wosty. So instead of filling with dust and CA, I chose to peen a false pin on each scale, instead.

Nothing wrong with that. A different kinda look. Good thinking.

It's a conversation piece!

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

It's a conversation piece!

Exactly..!

Back to the dye thing though, I know a lot of people use hair dye and who knows why I had the issues I had. Does anyone know a reason why you should NOT use RIT fabric dye? I only used it the once and it seemed to work pretty well. Of course I don't use that razor very much so I don't know if it fades or leeches out or anything else really. I just wondered if anyone else had experience with that and if there was a reason not to use it.

Originally Posted by outback

Never had that problem. Maybe the hair dye was old, and list its umph.

I just dyed a pair of brown scales, black, the other day.
The dye was a little old, so I let them soak in it over night.
They came out, black as night.

Pictured in yesterdays SOTD

I know....what's with the second pivot pin.
I swapped the blade out, for the Wosty I'd had sitting in the tadoo drawer, for the past two years or more.

I had to move the pivot hole, to accommodate the Wosty. So instead of filling with dust and CA, I chose to peen a false pin on each scale, instead.

Rather than remove the ding in one scale I filed a finger notch one time.

I think it turned out great.

Can't find the picture!

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Back to the dye thing though, I know a lot of people use hair dye and who knows why I had the issues I had. Does anyone know a reason why you should NOT use RIT fabric dye? I only used it the once and it seemed to work pretty well. Of course I don't use that razor very much so I don't know if it fades or leeches out or anything else really. I just wondered if anyone else had experience with that and if there was a reason not to use it.

I know very little about dyes, but I know enough to know that different dyes react differently to different materials and have different ways to cure them. Some are opaque and some are transparent. Hair dye may be good for horn because it is made of the same stuff as hair and would absorb the same (50% guess). I know someone who knows more about it that I can ask if no one else chimes in and you really want more details. Send me a DM if you want.

Too cold to work in the garage for very long so I just cut out these scales from Bone blanks.

Also, cut another set but not sure I will get to them today.
Then took them inside for shaping, sanding, and pinning on a French Blade. Medaille? I've put scales on this one before, Twice! The tang to tail drops low so I needed to do something different to make it look right. I think I got it right this time.

Scales are 0.085 thick, bone wedge, pinned with brass collars and pins. Bone sanded to 1k then polished by hand.
I feel this is possibly period correct and a clean look.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Too cold to work in the garage for very long so I just cut out these scales from Bone blanks.

Also, cut another set but not sure I will get to them today.
Then took them inside for shaping, sanding, and pinning on a French Blade. Medaille? I've put scales on this one before, Twice! The tang to tail drops low so I needed to do something different to make it look right. I think I got it right this time.

Scales are 0.085 thick, bone wedge, pinned with brass collars and pins. Bone sanded to 1k then polished by hand.
I feel this is possibly period correct and a clean look.

I didn't see the first two attempts, but that looks mighty fine.