Thread: Made my first set of scales

I bought this Frederick Reynolds a few weeks ago, and decided it'd be a perfect candidate for my first attempt at making scales. I chose to go with Camel bone. I reused the original wedge, and was able to salvage the badge. My peening work isn't the prettiest, but it is functional.
I used a Coping saw to cut out the basic shape of the scales, and finished on my 1x30 belt sander.

They look nice, especially for your first try! I have not attempted a set with a shield, that is brave for your first set It was smart to reuse the wedge, they can be a devil to get correct. So what material are you looking at for your next set?

Originally Posted by Ernie1980

They look nice, especially for your first try! I have not attempted a set with a shield, that is brave for your first set It was smart to reuse the wedge, they can be a devil to get correct. So what material are you looking at for your next set?

Thanks! I drilled three little holes halfway into the scale so that the tabs on the back of the badge would fit in, and then i glued it in.
I'm thinking I'd like to try horn scales next time.

Nicely done

Good job, especially for your first try.

How do you do your inlay work

Nice job on your first go out!
Horn is also a great material to work with, cept for the smell of burnt hair..

Great job on your first set of scales. They are very nice replicas of the originals. If your peening looks rough just use some progressive grits of sandpaper, 800,1000, &1200 and finish up on a buffer. They will now shine up brightly and it won't diminish the strength/bond of the pivot, IMO. Great job, much better than my first set!

Nice job. They look great. What's next?

Nice scales, the shield should be inlayed. It is a bit of work with a drill press and cleaned up by hand, with a parser drill or router, make sure it is centered.

Grind and Polish your pins with a 3-4 in piece of bamboo chopstick with a dab of diamond paste or rubbing compound and polish with good metal polish on the stick. Drill a small divot on the end of the stick to match the pin and keep it from dancing around go easy to not hit the scale or make a shield from a plastic water bottle.

Were you able to save the old double stacked collars? They are very cool and the old scales looked good and should clean up well. I like using original collars.

You can double stick tape your scales to a paint stick to save your fingers when thinning your scales on a belt sander, nice work.