Thread: Loose scales what to do?

Hi all,
probably a stupid question but when scales become loose, can preening be done to take care of the or does it need to be rescaled?

Re-peening will sometimes tighten the scales up, just be careful and don't over do.

go to youtube.com look under gssixgun for his peening video. Lot of good info and good technique to learn from.

Peening is the way to go. Very light taps. Do a few on each side and check tightness. If necessary repeat until desired tightness. Do not over tighten or you may split the scales. I alternate between the ball and flat side of the hammer.

If you do not have a small ballpeen hammer use a tablespoon. Tap tap tap. You'll get there. Chech after 20 or so taps. For the underside you can use the joint of a pliers.

Tap lightly. If you are tapping hard enough to hurt your thumb you are tapping too hard.

Originally Posted by daverojo77

Hi all,
probably a stupid question but when scales become loose, can preening be done to take care of the or does it need to be rescaled?

If you do your own honing I would use a very small ball peen hammer and gently tap and ck. If you don't do your own honing I would suggest to send it for honing and ask the hone master to please tighten the scales. If I tried it myself I would watch the youtube videos on the subject. if you do it your self make sure the opposite side is on a rest solid. and gently tap. ck and re-ck if it gets too tight the scales can break and some scales are very fragile.