Thread: How to make a traditional set of horn scales ... the way I do it.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

What do you make your scraper from?

Cabinet scrapers are not that expensive, but I have had good luck just filing straight the end of a putty knife and rolling a burr on one edge, you don’t need much. Putty knives are not that hard but will hold and edge long enough to scrape a pair of horn scales smooth.

You can even file to a curved shape and roll a burr, but not really needed, sandpaper will smooth out transitions easily. Nice tip, great post.

I found that an old hand saw works very well to make scrapers, will hold an edge much longer then a putty knife and you can make any shape you want.

What thickness horn scale did you start with (and where did they come from???)? I have a couple of blades to play with and would like to try my hand at making some scales.

Ferd

Originally Posted by Ferd

What thickness horn scale did you start with (and where did they come from???)? I have a couple of blades to play with and would like to try my hand at making some scales.

Ferd

I think the scale blanks started out life at about 3/16". I have used 1/4" which is unnecessarily thick and you'll spend more time on the belt sander. Masecraft Supply has blanks that they advertise as 1/8" but the thickness varies some.