Thread: Hole Placement on New Scales?

Hey guys,

I've got a few sets of scales I'm working on and was wondering about the hole placement. I used the original as a guide to start the hole in the first scale in the past. Some of them seem to be slightly off center towards the 'inside'. Is this intentional or just what happened sometimes when they were being made.

Is it better to drill the holes dead center??

Also, some of the wedges are drilled near the top. Is this functional or do any of you prefer drilling the wedge/scales lower? It seems like this might help the scales fit tighter at the very end.

Thanks

If you are looking for an easy guide for finding center, I often use a compass or divider. It is easy to get even spacing. A strip of masking tape to cover and it will mark easily. It works well for getting the mark on both sides exactly the same and then drill 1/2 way through from each side on semi finished scales. The simplest is to drill while they are still flat and taped together. As long as you have enough room for the blade to clear the wedge. If I am making the scales from scratch I make a drawing of the blade and then draw that scale template over that and get my holes laid out at the same time. I think that any time the hole is not on center it is by accident.

For me, hole placement is purely aesthetic. I outline the scales (usually working from a vintage scale that I think suits the blade or else I'll draw a scale around the outline of the blade) and rough cut. Then I drill the holes and head to the beltsander for shaping. I use what I drew as a guide, but go by looks for the shaping.

Thanks.
I used the originals as guides for drilling before. This time I just used a pencil to mark where the holes were using the original and then tried to make a mark closer to the center. The scales aren't finished, but I think is going to look better when I'm through.