Thread: finishing scales?

Gentlemen,
I am new at all of this (been shaving with a straight for ~ 4 months) and want to make a set of my own scales to replace the black plastic ones that came on my razor. Ends up there is an exotic wood place not far from me that I never knew about before the other day, so I picked up some olivewood, tulipwood, cocobolo, and snakewood. I have the basic shapes cut out, and was wondering what I should use to finish them. I have heard the rave reviews for the CA (superglue) and tung oil, but not much else. Has anyone used the polyurethanes, lacquers, or shellacs? And if so, what were the results? Thanks a bunch fellas.

Truoil gives great results. If you're REALLY patient, you can use linseed oil or mix it with turpentine and beeswax (coming from Nenad).

forgive my ignorance, but why would you mix the oil with turpentine or beeswax?

Old furniture polish recipe. All I know is that it works. Linseed is the waterproofer, the wax is an additional measure of waterproofing and for a nice shine, while the turpentine is the solvent that helps mix the two and deliver it deeper into the pores of the wood.

interesting... it seems there is no one best way, and it boils down to a matter of personal taste. Guess I have to pay the hardware store a visit this week and try all of them, only one way to find out which one works best. Was reading about shellac though, and seems it doesn't do well when exposed to water, so I guess that's out of the question. Polyurethane still in?

I haven't tried it on scales. Truoil, followed up with some gunstock wax should give a nice finish. I'll try it on chechen, soon.

In the past, I had great results finishing my hand made instruments with linseed oil, rubbing some bees wax, heating it with a hair dryer to melt and soak up better, and polishing it away with woolen cloth.

After some searching, I found a recipe that is long-time tried and proved homemade wood polish. It contains Bees wax, turpentine, and linseed oil, equal parts of each. You melt the wax in double boiler, stir in the turpentine and the oil, and the result is thick paste. Keep in something with lid on. Apply and polish with cloth.

I am currently working on a set of scales made from Brazilian mahogany (or cherry) wood, and I like to finish it with old school, all natural finish. The scales are soaking up their third linseed oil coat, and after couple of days I will post the results with the wood polish on. So far, they are looking awesome, sanded with 1000 grit, and covered with oil...

Nenad

looking forward to seeing those scales, did you put a third pin in, or keep the two? What did you use for a spacer?

just was talking to the old man, and he told me about this stuff called Australian Timber Oil, evidently it's a blend of linseed oil and some other stuff, not sure what else.. has anyone tried this, and if so, with what results?

I imagine your Australian oil might be similar to Danish oil. I use different mixes which depend on what is lying around e.g. carnauba, beeswax a little oil - maybe linseed or walnut or tung and gum turpentine. A thin shellac mix before waxing at times. This is on knife handles etc. as I haven't tried a razor yet. Modern varnishes, stabilisers and sealers would probably last a lot longer but don't feel as nice.