Thread: So I'm going to start making scale kits, what EXACTLY do you want in a kit?

my vote would be olive wood and oak.

Originally Posted by bpatton

my vote would be olive wood and oak.

yes to those... plus rosewood.

Horn and antler for sure.

In a recently acquired bucket of rust, several of the "toasted" str8s had the unmistakeable pattern of pitting and oxidation caused by the decomposition of their celluloid scales.

Obviusly the first thing to do is separate the scales from the blade and isolate the "suffering" and thusly "afflicted" scales way from all other str8s in your collection.

Is there any way to "arrest", "contain" or "cure" the scales?

Also is there any method to treat the blade so that it remains "protected" and "immunized" from the acid gases caused by the decomposing celluloid scales...

Tony

on the woods is 1/8 thick and very flat going to be ok or do I need to go find thicker?
I'm looking for thicker but sheets are hard to find and a table saw wastes almost as much as you use

I sent some of the horn to Joe C and he had trouble with it, I didn't when I used it but I'm going to have to do some work with it to make sure it doesn't warp post working.

I'm starting with raw horn so it's kind of a learning process.

Like I said, I'm sure I can provide what you need, I just need to know what that is so keep making suggestions.

I would just like some simple woods, elegant, and fine grained - I second the oak, I would like to see black walnut, maybe pecan. Maybe even some cherry or mesquite, cocobolo would be very interesting too - then my 1911 would have the same grips as my razor - Ok, that might be silly, but it is a thought.

Has anyone ever thought of Meerschaum slabs for scales? We have had a lot of talk about pipes in the general forums, why couldn't Meerschaum be used to make, carve, decorate scales? Just curious. How about soap stone? Thin enough, seems it would work well and be rather industrial for those large meat cleavers? Faux marble Corian?

Just thinking out loud here..

K

I believe Corian has been suggested before, and the issue with that was 'flexability'. Scales do have a slight flex to them as you rotate the blade through to the shave position... I'm not sure that the Corian, or similar materials would work well. BUT, I'm a big fan of, ' to hell with thinking, try it and see' train of thought..........



OH, I just thought of something!! (ouch)
For those that are interested in buying the sets, you might want them to have measured the distance from the pivote-pin hole to the tip of the blade so that they are sure that 6" will be long enough for the razor (this includes some space for the bottom wedge, don't forget). Some of those big 'Choppers' might need larger scale blanks....

C utz

It's rare you'll need over 6" for scales, but on occasion, it does happen. Just to cover all bases, my preferred sizes for blanks is 5/32"x7"x1.5".