Thread: First set of scales under way

I cut up one of the more interesting looking boards of wood I had and made scale blanks outof it. I didn't even use up all the board. The pic is of the blanks. Yes, I made five blanks but only have four blades, but one blank is cut against the grain, so I fully expect those scales to snap at some point. I just cut those out as an experiment, since it shows the most variation in the pattern.

I shaped them with my disc/belt sander, but I won't use that to shape them any more. From now on I will use files and hand sanding to shape them further. The blanks are about 10 mm thick at the moment, so using them as single scales is impractical (would have to sand them down a lot, which is a waste of wood), so I really need to split them. Just hope I can do a better job of it this time around.

The wood really smells strong when you work it. I wear a dust mask, but I still smelled it. Either it smells on its own, or I managed to burn it a bit when I was sanding it...