Thread: Wood scale question

What types of wood do not work well and what types do? What type of treatment does the wood need before, during and after shaping? I have some red cedar that I think would look really good on an Imperial that I am restoring.
Any and all advice is most appreciated.

Thank you,
John

In General

Hardwoods = Good
Softwoods = Bad

With the addition of the very thin .030 G10 sheets you can now do just about any wood you want to by using a G10 backing..

If I were going to be using Cedar,,, I "wood" do a G10 backer and use a hard coat sealer like maybe a CA or poured Epxoy finish..

If you have some soft wood with really crazy and small grain pattern you can use eyelets so that the load of the tension is carried by the barrel of the eyelet and not the wood. Essentially with soft wood the tension on the collars is too much and they sink into the wood and split the scales. It is quite a bit of monkeying around to get beyond that. That coupled with soft woods tend to have wider grain and it is hard to find any that are cool at a size as small as a scale. The other option is some of this style of collar, which is similar but stronger than an eyelet.

Thank you for the info. This is a pretty old piece of red cedar that a finish carpenter that is now retired gave me. He had mentioned soaking it in Linseed oil after the rough cut has been made would make it a little more forgiving to work with. I have time. I just need to learn more.

If it is old cedar and very dry then an oil soak would be a good idea. Linseed oil will work as will tung oil. Keep wiping it with the oil until it stops absorbing it - which may mean several days of applying coats to it.
Once it is all oiled up, add a sealer to the wood like polyurethane, varnish, or shellac. You will want that wood to be sealed because cedar rosin plus a little water plus metal will equal rusted bladed.
You will probably need either a backer for the cedar and/or some larger than normal washers because the pin is going to sink into the cedar and tear out with the regular small washers. Try it first on a scrap piece of cedar.

Originally Posted by criswilson10

If it is old cedar and very dry then an oil soak would be a good idea. Linseed oil will work as will tung oil. Keep wiping it with the oil until it stops absorbing it - which may mean several days of applying coats to it.
Once it is all oiled up, add a sealer to the wood like polyurethane, varnish, or shellac. You will want that wood to be sealed because cedar rosin plus a little water plus metal will equal rusted bladed.
You will probably need either a backer for the cedar and/or some larger than normal washers because the pin is going to sink into the cedar and tear out with the regular small washers. Try it first on a scrap piece of cedar.

I have thought to use minwax Paste finish as the final sealer. I know that is a lot of "Elbow Grease" but some things are worth it.
Tung Oil? New to me.
I have a good amount of this wood to practice with. Not unlimited but even some I could share.

You are fortunate to have extra to work with, because often scales do not go as planned...
I would follow the advice above and get some of the thin g10 backing, it will be more work but your finished product will be better
Enjoy the process, and post some pictures!

This is the red cedar blank


I have done nothing yet.

Just looking for advice

Problem with linseed oil is it does not cure. It simply soaks into the wood and stays oily. If you want a finish that cures but keeps that oiled look you can use linspeed oil. Tried and True make a varnish oil that is polymerized Linseed oil and varnish resin. I use it on vintage rifle stocks. It will cure and give you a nice satin sheen and offers more protection than linseed oil.