Thread: Tried my first set of scales and pinning...

Well, I was in the shop and decided to try a set of Buckeye Burl handle scales out of some scrap for the Magnetosteel razor that I shorted by 1/4" or so. I used a .090" thick ivory Micarta spacer and a set of Dovo pins. The little end cups didn't go over the pins?? Anyone else have this issue?? One I was able to get on, but it popped right off a few minutes later.

I ended up cracking one of the scales when pinning it, so I had to grind the head of the pin away, push it out and superglue the scales back together. Then I pinned it again, but w/o the little cups on the outside of one of the scales. It's kinda loose but has some friction to it. I think I need to thin down the scales a bit more so they are more flexible and do a wedge in the end instead of a spacer since the blade isn't very tight. I have some 1/8" Ivory Micarta sheets here, so I will play with that until I get this figured out, cheaper than stabilized wood to screw up!

Some pics I took inside. You can see the crack near the front pin in the closed pic. Will making the scales thinner and using a wedge help with the tension issue? Or should I go to 2 pins on the back as well?

That is some beautiful wood. Hard to tell how thick they are from the picture but I think you should be able to get them tight regardless. There are several videos on pinning that are worth watching if you have not already and it was suggested to me that practice with popsicle sticks is a good way to work out technique. I would say you definitely need some kind of washer on the outside to spread the pressure, especially on wood. Your pin may also be too long to start or a little bent which can make keep it from tightening up. In the set of hardware I got some of the washer holes are too small to fit over the pin material. I just put those aside and use the ones the fit. The one pin looks good with those scales, I wouldn't add another but that is just me.

IIRC the scales are around 3/32"up front, maybe a bit less, 5/32" towards the middle and taper back down in the back. There is good flex in the front end, but not the back. Where the pins are is tapered, so I think that is also part of my problem because the pins aren't flat on the scales to put pressure evenly. I ordered a bunch of stuff from McMaster Carr last night; got some threaded 0-80 1" long pieces and nuts so I can do trial setups easier and some other stuff like that. Going to order some pinning kits fro Maggards as well.

That is a nice looking piece of wood.

Did you stabilize the buckeye burl before you tried pinning? I always stabilize, it helps prevent the cracking of the soft wood.

Yes, it was stabilized, I believe it was K&G stabilized. It was a leftover piece of the block I used for a knife handle a while back. Some of the blocks are wider than I need and I am left with a 3/8-5/8" thick piece as long as the block is, which is sometimes just the right size for a set of razor scales!

When I cracked it, I knew I had hit it with the hammer I put a piece of blue tape on a granite reference plate and used that to level the pieces (it wasn't fully cracked), applied super glue and then wrapped the tape over to pull it tight while keeping it flat on the plate. Seems to have worked. I will end up pulling these apart, doing a wedge instead of a spacer and thinning them out a bit more to get more flex/tension. Been reading through posts here and getting some good info!

I ordered some more pinning stuff and also found some pinning stuff and washers at McMaster Carr. I also found tiny little nuts and 0-80 threaded rod, so I redid this one with the threaded rod and 1/8" diameter nuts. I snipped the rod above the nut, filed down and then peened the end of the threaded shaft to see if that would help keep it tight. Time will tell! Also used brass washers in between the tang and scales, too. It's tight, but very smooth. I thinned down the spacer a touch, but left the scales the full thickness. I will try this for a while and then see if I need to thin down the scales, but now the blade moves from closed to fully open tightly and not flopping around like it was before. I buffed up the blade with the Dremel wheels and MAAS, there are some deeper pits, but it's very very thinly ground, so I am not going to try to remove them.

That is some beautiful buckeye burl!

Sad to say, but that was scrap buckeye burl! I had used the rest for a kitchen knife handle and had this long, thin piece left sitting in my drawer of scraps, so I split and flattened it for scales. Many of the blocks for the knife handles are oversized, so I can use the scraps and left over thin pieces for razor scales!!! Also got some thin Curly Koa and Claro Walnut as well for scales, too. These are kinda fun to make, still learning about wedges and pinning as well. The screw posts worked pretty well, I will see how they hold up. If not, I drill out and try pinning again!