Thread: Horn Scale Thickness

.120 to .100 is my target. I've measured a lot of originals. That is where they mostly fall. Not all are even. Some taper from the wedge to the pivot end. I stay .110 to .100 for the smaller blades and maybe .120 for the big 1 inch blades. Measure some originals. Getting over .120 even for large blades makes the scales look thick. Do a good job tapering the edges to the center of the scale. Don't just round over the edges. Again look at some originals.
Make sure you drill your pin holes before you start shaping the scale. The flat surface makes it easy to keep things centered.
.25?? that's 1/4 of an inch. Way thick.
See Glens advise.

Originally Posted by ChopperDave

Ok, so the original scales, at least when I received the razor, thickness is 0.25" at the pivot and 0.35" at the wedge. Does that seem kosher?

.10 seems thin but, if that's what you recommend Glen, I will go for it.

I think it might have been .125 or.135 ?????


and even that seems on the thick side...

At 1/8 of an inch .125" that is on the outside area of the Vintage scales I have measured,, Depending on material of course the old Ivory is crazy thin, like Bill mentioned down in the .050 realm..
But that 1/10 inch seems to be the sweet spot for most materials to start flexing

You are correct Glen, I didn't even notice my typo.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Best place to start is the old ones
Get an idea of what they were thinking when they made them
That being said I target .100 for Horn Scales

+1... Mine usually end around +-0.090 - 0.095. I flatten them down to around +-0.105 and by the time I'm done sanding and polishing they are usually around +-0.090. I've even done a few much thinner and they still turned out just fine but mostly black horn. I don't trust the blond to go extra thin. I'll only take them down real thin if they are perfectly straight and show no sign of any real warpage.

I think there is a fine line with scales,to thick and using spacers intead of wedges makes razors look awful (IMO).
copy the orig scales exactally as the maker intended.

Originally Posted by RezDog

That seems very thick.

I agree.

A 0.25 inch scale is awfully thick. 1/8 inch is about where I set the saw and sand down from there.

Yea, it was a typo, actually .125 is what the original scales are.

Originally Posted by Maximilian

+1... Mine usually end around +-0.090 - 0.095. I flatten them down to around +-0.105 and by the time I'm done sanding and polishing they are usually around +-0.090. I've even done a few much thinner and they still turned out just fine but mostly black horn. I don't trust the blond to go extra thin. I'll only take them down real thin if they are perfectly straight and show no sign of any real warpage.

I think we need an interesting button. I will try to store this little factoid of blond horn being less stable tun dark when thin.

Don't trust anything these guys say - start at 2.5mm and you'll be fine.

Originally Posted by UKRob

Don't trust anything these guys say - start at 2.5mm and you'll be fine.

That's funny.