Thread: Washers

A question about doming washers, does the doming process alter the size significantly? Is there any need to start with washers a size smaller?

It depends on how much you dome the washer, it will get slightly smaller, not larger. As you peen, it may flatten out slightly.
The outer dimension will become slightly smaller, and the inside of the hole also slightly smaller on the bottom edge as the top of the washer is stretched and the bottom compressed. The ID hole should be enlarged to allow for the pin to expand.

I also enlarge the pin hole in the scale and taper it, so it is larger at the top to allow for expansion, a tighter fit and reducing the chance of splitting the scale.

Domed washers will bite into a soft scale, plastic or horn at the outer edge because the edge is where the pressure is, so the collar is under spring tension that can minutely flex as opposed to a flat washer that is under even pressure. As a razor is opened, it flexes at the pivot and pressure varies depending on the position, due to the tapered tang.

If you dome your own, you can control the amount of doming/curve height and width. It only takes a couple taps to dome a washer, I usually dome to a progressively smaller size divot to get the size and amount of dome I want.