Thread: Ivory pinning with washers- yes or no?

I am working on a Sheffield 7 day set with ivory scales, and have finished up all of the cleaning. I have seen various information about pinning ivory- some say to use washers and others say don't. What do you do, and have you seen any benefits or drawbacks to the way you do it? I am leaning towards using washers but want to get this right!

Collars will reduce the risk of damaging the ivory, but the classic look is collarless. Almost all of the ivory sheffields that I've seen have been collarless.

Most Ivory was pinned collarless. Just did a two day set, collarless. Take your time, go slow, its nerve wracking but well worth it. IMHO

You could pin them up with teeny washers. Peening over them. Looks collarless?

Also pinning dry ivory is more risky than hydrated ivory. If you soak the ivory in light mineral oil for a few days ahead of the pinning it is suppose to make it more forgiving when you pin. I do like the look of collarless over collars, however Sharptonn did some of his tiny washers and peened over the pins in such a way that it hid the washers. It looked pretty slick. I have to admit I did try it and it looked easier in the tutorial.

there's a guy on ebay selling teflon washers...they do a realy nice job and they don't stain the ivory....i have used them on a few razors and i am satisfied.

Make sure your holes match the new pins, and are a bit larger and tapered. Some old pins were thinner than the pin stock we use today.

Harbor Freight sells a diamond burr set for a few dollars, that contains a tapered burr. Just a few twists by hand is all you need.

It gives the pin a bit of room to expand, otherwise, you will crack the scale.

You might want to practice on some old scales or popsicle sticks to get the length right, so the head mushrooms to the size you want.

I vote pin it naked

Originally Posted by MedicineMan

I vote pin it naked

I note the absence of the standard request for lots of pics...

+1 to taking it sloooow and going either with no washers or with hidden ones. As for pinning naked, well, that's for each to decide on his own.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Make sure your holes match the new pins, and are a bit larger and tapered. Some old pins were thinner than the pin stock we use today.

Harbor Freight sells a diamond burr set for a few dollars, that contains a tapered burr. Just a few twists by hand is all you need.

It gives the pin a bit of room to expand, otherwise, you will crack the scale.

You might want to practice on some old scales or popsicle sticks to get the length right, so the head mushrooms to the size you want.

Tapered from the outside, I'm assuming.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk