Thread: Scales - vs- Tang -vs- Stropping

Over the years in this forum I have mentioned about those old farts making razors over last last few hundred years being pretty smart guys. I took the time years ago to sit down with a set of calipers. and good straight edge ruler and a magnifying glass, and attempted to learn not only what they did, by why they did it..

I learned quite a bit just by doing so..

One of the things that gets mentioned in passing but not directly is Tang vs Scale relationship and how it can effect stropping..

I was just stropping in some razors I had honed last night and one of them stood out as really difficult compared to the others. So I lined them up and took a picture of the area in question..

The issue is quite easy to spot and even easier to feel when try to flip and control the razor while stropping..

There is quite a varied lot in front of you in the pic, from vintage to new production to custom I tried to intentionally hide the names and makes so PLEASE even if you know don't blurt it out, that isn't important here.. The important part is to realize that the Tang scale juncture is pretty important with respect to function. If you take a second to hold your vintage razors, you will find that most of them are designed so that your thumb will rest comfortably right there and that the scales actually help with the razor flipping back and forth.. The size of the scales at that juncture will closely match the size of the tang when the razor is open so that it rolls easily in the fingers and thumb during the flip...

Don't take my word on this, if you are making scales, just take a few minutes and go test this yourself with your Vintage razors go strop them and see how easily they flow..

Anyway just a visual hint here for you while working on your scales