Centering a blade in scales

[pete_bogg]

I was sooo looking forward to my black DOVO plastic(?) scales arriving from Classic Shaving. My resoration project was near completion, and I just needed to put the scales on and hone. Well.............

The scales arrived today and I dry fitted the blade in the scales. My razor wouldn't close. BUMMER! The edge was catching the right scale at the toe.

To test the blade, I did the following:

• Putting the blade on a flat surface and pushing the right side of the tang against the surface, I noticed that the spine from the heel to the toe was slightly, but evenly, off the surface.
• Pushing the left side of the tang against the surface, I noticed that the spine at the toe was further from the surface than at the heel.

This would mean that the spine, in relation to the tang, is off-center. The direction of mis-alignment is to the right while looking at the spine. This would account for the inability of the razor to close.

In searching the forums for offset blades in scales, the prevailing discussion has been centered around the pivot hole in the blade, off-center pivot holes in the scales, or even off-center wedges. None of the forums discussed that posibility of the blade being off-center.

Has anyone tried to 'align', or 'adjust', the spine in relation to the tang?

I was thinking of maybe sandwiching the blade between two flat pieces of wood, putting this 'sandwich' between the jaws of a vise, and cranking the jaws together until I felt that the blade alignment was corrected. Any thoughts on this?

Bob

BTW: After 220, 320, 400, 600, and now 1000 grit hand-sanding, the blade looks totally awesome (especially after a MAAS treatment). However, I will probably hand sand with 2000 grit before putting the blade in the scales.

[mparker762]

I've heard of that trick working, but I've also seen it break the razor.

I've got a lovely TI Egyptian Palmwood razor that is bent like that, but it closes centered in the scales because TI thoughtfully bent the scales to match

[Sunsi]

I was about to say the same thing. Surely the scales are easier to bend then the blade...

I'm a noob so take that with a pinch of salt...

Si

[minstrel]

Which is easier to bend, plastic scales or hardened steel blade? Personally, I wouldn't dare try to bend the blade. If the scales break you can get new ones relatively cheaply. If the blade breaks...

Just my 2 cents.

[pete_bogg]

I understand the idea of bending the plastic scales, but how?

I guess I could drill another pivot hole on the right scale toward the wedge end, which should 'pull' both scales to the right. I could also install the third pin in the blade rest (presently glued on one side), which should allow greater stress support for the plastic. I would also have to fill the the existing hole with a mix of superglue and the plastic that was removed from the new hole (must keep this looking pretty).

I still think that bending the blade where the tang / shaft transitions to the spine would be easier than doing the above, but I also understand the brittleness of the blade, especially one not heated before bending.

Any thoughts on the aformentioned 'doctoring' of the scales?

Bob

[vladsch]

You can also compensate for the bend in the tang by adding a tiny bit of wedging around the pivot hole so that the blade is tilted correcting the warping. If the blade catches on the right you need to wedge the pivot toward the front of the blade on the right side of the scales and away from the front on the left side (inside part agains which the tang rubs).

This will tilt the blade tip in the right direction. Figuring out the angle of the wedge is a trial and error process. The high end of the wedge should be about 1/10” from the pivot hole and only about 1/64” high or less.

I use a tiny drop of CA around the pivot hole on the side that needs wedging. When it sets I file/sand it down carefully to make a wedge that goes down to nothing at the pivot hole. If the blade shifts too much because of over correction you need to file down the wedge. If it corrects not enough then add more height to it.

The blade will probably go into the scales without touching them but will not sit exactly center and parallel to them. Sometimes after the correction it looks like the edge is rotated slightly (the spine sits center but the edge looks closer to one side). Either way it is better than catching the edge on the scales.

I would not try to bend the blade straight. The tang is usually not as hard as the rest on most old blades but trying to straighten it out can snap it anyway. It is much safer to adjust the plane of rotation where the tang touches the scales.

[pete_bogg]

Welcome back Vlad, and thanks. I like this idea better than trying to drill additional holes in my scales.

From what I determined last night and what you confirmed in your reply, the correction wedge would indeed have to be very small. I had to rule out drilling another pivot hole because the new hole would have been too close to the existing hole.

I will mess around with the correction wedge this weekend. I still have some time before I actually put the blade in the scales, since my 2000 grit paper hasn't come in yet.


Thanks,

Bob

BTW: I need to post photos of my 'vlad style' sanding stick and jig

[pete_bogg]

Looking into what Vlad suggested, I started simulating a wedge by using layers of masking tape 1/4 inches wide. At 1/4 inches toward the pivot pin from the third pin, I needed the equivalent of 4 layers of masking tape. The layers of tape were acting as a 'ledge', moving the flexible scale away from the blade's shaft. (This is similar to what is used on automobiles to lift the windshield wiper arm from away from the windshield when at rest, only backwards.) I moved the tape an additional 1/4 inches closer to the pivot pin and it didn't work. From my experimentation, I don't think a wedge that would fit around the pivot hole would work, as Vlad suggested. It probably would if the scales were made of a material that did not bend so easily. I wished that I had kept the scales that I broke removing them from this blade. I could have fashioned a sliver of the material to glue to the new scales to create the aforementioned 'ledge'. Now I have to find a small piece of black plastic to use. Oh well.... Bob

[garythepenman]

Just caught up on this one. most razors have uneven tang bevels..even good quality blades. The tang is often in-line with the spine on one side and bevelled on the other.
I usually use just a thin washer at the pivot point on the same side as the blade leans to. This does the trick more often than not.

Hope the pics of a mint DD I fitted scales to helps.

Gary

[pete_bogg]

Thanks Gary.

I put the washer on the left side and it worked great. I actually felt so good about the blade closing correctly, that I went ahead and pinned the scales to the blade last night.

I think that I will post photos on another thread I had aready started regarding the restoration of this blade.

Bob