Thread: What are you working on?

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Attachment 252428

Tom , I see you're working on a super accurate "clock"

I got my scales finished up today and have been cleaning up a blade to go with them.


Sharptonn, your straight razor room is the coolest! And Mike that Morley is sweet with the bone/brass combo. There's always some nice working going on here, I get a lot of inspiration and motivation from this thread. Hats off to all the fine craftsmen posting here!

Those scales look great xiaotuzi! What kind of blade are you making them for?

Not much for today, been a little lazy, being its my only day off from work. But I did manage to tear down the Celebrated W&B, organized all the pieces into medicine bottles, and flatten the scales.
Which are now soaking in a zip lock bag of neatfoot oil, inside a small tackle box on top of the furnace duct. A little heat should help the oil penetrate quicker.

B52- Mike I like that wedge. I have to get a grinder wheel for my buffer so I can shape some metal wedges too. Looks nice with that bone.

Tuzi, Looking good.

Outback Mike, what did you do to straighten that horn so nicely?

Originally Posted by RezDog

B52- Mike I like that wedge. I have to get a grinder wheel for my buffer so I can shape some metal wedges too. Looks nice with that bone.

Tuzi, Looking good.

Outback Mike, what did you do to straighten that horn so nicely?

I used my trusty heat lamp, and corian countertop pieces
I spray a bit of water on, heat them with the lamp (1-2" off the scales) until hot and flexible, then bend and flex them to break the memory from the fibers until they lay flat, then move them to a cold flat surface, cover with another hard,flat, surface ,( corian ) and weight it down till cool. Sometimes I've had to repeat this a few times, before they stay flat.
I've done it with plastic too.

Originally Posted by BeJay

Those scales look great xiaotuzi! What kind of blade are you making them for?

I started with this Wade & Butcher blade looking pretty ugly but I saw some potential there and been wanting to get it fixed up for a while. It's a 7/8 blade and I just match up a scale from my spare scales bin that I thought fit it nicely and used it for a template for the new ones.

Here it is in a test fit early on before I polished the scales. I made an aluminum wedge here but haven't trimmed the edges so it's still a wedge-shaped little rectangle at this point. The angle is good though and I like the level the blade sits at when closed so it's a keeper. I still have some work to do on the blade but it's already much improved. I forget to take pictures along the way because I get in a groove and time flies when you're having fun.

I must confess that I completely destroyed a set of horn scales recently when heating them in the oven to straighten them. You turn your back for a few minutes and they are a twisted smoking mess. Apparently it does not take a lot of heat nor a lot of time.

That's what I like about the lamp, I can constantly keep tabs on the heat, and how pliable they become. Especially plastics.
Horn takes a lot more heat, and have had them start curling up, but they can still be straightened out. Did it to the first set of horns I ever flattened. So I keep the lamp in one hand, and the other on the scales, and only one at a time. So far I've only screwed up one set. They were plastic.

Took a few moments this evening before sandman gets here, and cleaned the blade with some 3M metal restorer.
I just love this stuff. It cleans and restores the natural luster and finish to whatever metal its used on, and doesn't harm satin, or brush finishes either.