Thread: Materials to make straight razor handles. Where to buy?

What are places to get material and parts to make straight razor handles? Do common knife making supply sites have everything needed? I appreciate any help.

Jack

You need to know what you want to make the scales out of. There are many choices. There are some who sell premade scale blanks in various materials as well. Then what the wedge or spacer is made of, then brass or nickel silver and washers.

there are stickies etc in the workshop forums for suppliers this may help
Pins & washers - microfasteners, Maggars, local hobby stores, Ebay etc
Scales - Maggars, Ebay, Masecraft, Knife supplies (but check the materilas lengths are long enough as most knife scale materials are less than 5") etc

Woodcraft if you want to do wood. I just went there today and got some nice white and black ebony and a 6x4x3 chunk of really nicely figured marble wood for 15.00. They have bins of exotic scrap and you can usually get a good deal on some nice wood

If you're planning on making you own, please remember to wear a respirator. Many materials including G10, micarta, carbon fiber and many woods, as well as other materials, can be extremely hazardous if inhaled. Also, I would choose the material based on where the razor is intended to be used. If it will travel a lot, use something tougher like G10. Wood will often bow a bit with prolonged exposure to moisture.
I second Woodcraft for the exotic woods. Please post and show what you end up going with.

1/8" thick Micarta, G10, Carbon Fiber from Masecraft Supply or other places. MaseCraft also sells faux horn, faux ivory, recon stone, buffalo horn, etc in a variety of sizes. Some places you can buy a 5x10 sheet or larger. WoodCraft sells many woods in 1/8" thick pieces, 24" long, so you can get like 4 sets of 6" scales from 1 piece. That way you just have to clean them up and not split the larger blocks down and then sand to thickness.

Stabilized Fancy woods, Burl Source in Oregon will cut blocks down into scales, but they will usually be 3/8" thick, so you will have to either resaw them in half and flatten or sand them way down. ArizonaIronwood has nice large sized blocks (turning blocks), too.

McMaster Carr actually has a LOT of tiny little brass washers, finish nails, threaded rod and micro hex nuts, etc as well.

Learn how to work with acrylic pre-cut scales first. But some rods and fasteners and give it a whirl. Maggards has all that stuff and fast shipping.

You can also find the hardware as well as a range of pre-cut, pre-shaped or rectangular blanks in a range of different materials on ebay.