Stabilizing wood razor scales

I have a pice of spalted oak that I want to make a few sets of scales out of. It's 1/16 inch thick so this may not even be possible but I found a guy who's willing to try to stabilize it. Any tips on working with stabilized wood on straight razors would be appreciated.
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It works really well. I have used two methods for stabilizing spalted maple:

1) runny CA glue: make sure it is the runny stuff, not the usual thick CA. That will just sit on the surface while the runny stuff soaks right in then hardens, working much like any resin, and works *great* with thin stock such as you have
2)cactus juice: which works great especially for thicker stock but is more involved - vacuum chamber, heat curing

It works much like a hardwood in my (limited) experience. One thing to remember is that when you do work it, you're releasing dust from whatever it is you stabilized it with. So take appropriate precautions to avoid breathing the dust.

Give it a shot and let us know how it goes. Good luck!

:tu

I cannot help with stabilizing but it is very thin so perhaps an alternative would be to epoxy it to a piece of 1/16" G10. G10 is extra super tough stuff and you don't need much for stability.

I wonder if a thin piece of metal as a liner like I see on some custom razors would be helpful for thin stock................

If you have enough length you could try epoxy two layers of the oak together. That would get you to 1/8, provide some added strength, and you could shape down from there. Maybe end up with a cool grain effect around the edges.

I have 32 inch so there's plenty of room to play around. I'll experiment more as I get curious

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Making scales for the Joseph Rodgers you recently showed in a different thread? This oak would be nice with it!

I have the original scales for the Joseph Rogers. I'm thinking about putting these on a Wade and butcher 7/8 once I finish it.http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...8de0da7a7f.jpg

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Some of the custom fly rod guys stabalized all sorts of things to make reel seats. Apparently it machines much like plastic when done. They were using CA in a vaccum. This makes me wonder if the wooden boat resoring epoxy would be good too. It's supposed to pennetrate wood well. They used a glass pickle jar and vaccum pump untill the bubbles stopped with lots of warnings about pickle jars in vaccum exploding. They stabalized birch bark. If you can make a reel seat out of that you've done something.

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I think that that will be too thin for scales even stabilized but like RezDog stated you could get it stabilized which would make it more sturdy then use a thin liner like G10 to stiffen them a bit more.

As far as stabilization and depending on the method the person uses but most are immersed in acrylic to fill voids and then pressurized for a time to really settle into those cracks and crevices and voids then allowed to harden.

I have worked with stabilized for some time now and in doing so, I like the end product. My latest was a set of scales from buckeye burl that was stabilized to give a German razor a facelift from the plain and mundane black bakelite scales. Here is the final product with brass bullseye stepdown washers and brass pins as well as nylon internal friction washers and ivory acrylic wedge.

Attachment 241702

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Originally Posted by Michael70

I think that that will be too thin for scales even stabilized but like RezDog stated you could get it stabilized which would make it more sturdy then use a thin liner like G10 to stiffen them a bit more.

As far as stabilization and depending on the method the person uses but most are immersed in acrylic to fill voids and then pressurized for a time to really settle into those cracks and crevices and voids then allowed to harden.

I have worked with stabilized for some time now and in doing so, I like the end product. My latest was a set of scales from buckeye burl that was stabilized to give a German razor a facelift from the plain and mundane black bakelite scales. Here is the final product with brass bullseye stepdown washers and brass pins as well as nylon internal friction washers and ivory acrylic wedge.

Attachment 241702

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I was thinking the same thing when I got it and especially for a 7/8 quarter inch thick spine Wade and butcher. I figured if push came to shove I couldn't just adhere it to a piece of brass. Either way this won't be a easy project.

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Originally Posted by aaron1234

I was thinking the same thing when I got it and especially for a 7/8 quarter inch thick spine Wade and butcher. I figured if push came to shove I couldn't just adhere it to a piece of brass. Either way this won't be a easy project.

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You can do it! Let your imagination run with this for sure. I usually buy stabilized pieces in the range of 3/8" to 1/2" thick and dissect down on the band saw to get it in the ballpark of the thickness that I need for scales then put it on the belt sander to smooth out and take a tad more off. But the scales you have can be done in a few ways like the suggestions given. The one suggestion to double up the material and epoxy together to get a 2/16" would be great and would definitely work. That way you would not have to purchase or acquisition a new material as a liner.

Looking forward to seeing the final product which I know will be a nice piece. Just take you time and think it through. Good luck my friend.

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Originally Posted by Clayglen

Some of the custom fly rod guys stabalized all sorts of things to make reel seats. Apparently it machines much like plastic when done. They were using CA in a vaccum. This makes me wonder if the wooden boat resoring epoxy would be good too. It's supposed to pennetrate wood well. They used a glass pickle jar and vaccum pump untill the bubbles stopped with lots of warnings about pickle jars in vaccum exploding. They stabalized birch bark. If you can make a reel seat out of that you've done something.

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Yes. The product is still available.
Its called Git- Rot. You apply it, it soaks in, drys like concrete.

+1 on using 0.5mm G10 as a liner for fragile woods

For you guys that want to stabilize more wood etc, an vacuum pump will deliver high quality scales that are easy to work with. An neighbor was throwing out a pump unit, heavy duty, I snagged it and gave it a flush with flushing oil, Good As New. Look up Vacuum bagging for the idea to use it, use caution, made all the difference in the task for me.