Thread: Scales

It just occured to me, I have a huge collection of little drum sander bits and sanding drums that I bought for my dremel.



I bet they would go into my pillar drill setup, it may not be the perfect plan but I think I could probably make it work.

While I'm thinking about it, I also have some of those little wool and felt buffing attachments for my dremel so clamping it sideways in my vise gently might make an adaquate buffer if I'm careful until I can afford a proper one.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Congratulations on Jerry. My wife and we're together for a long time before we got married also. We just celebrated 30 years together.

Did you notice the leafs clock on my work bench Paul, Go Leafs.

The dremmel will work, the large drum is 1/2" tall. But you'll need heavier grt. sanding wheels than dremmel makes. And the larger drum makes it easier to keep a smooth line. Little drums have a tendency to dig out depressions along you intended, line. Leave's everything wavey, and then you have to smooth it all out, by hand.

Your local hardware store should have them.

When it comes to thinning the scales I always shoot for 0.010 inches. And no taper. The same thickness from tip to tip.
I use a Bench belt sander for shaping and thinning. To thin the scales, I use two-sided scotch tape and tape the scales to a 3x6x3/4" board that I mounted a handle on. Press the scales to the sander (One or two SETS at a time, not individual) and carefully keep checking the thickness. Rotating the board so I can get the thickness the same on all scales and both ends as it's easy to push too much on one side. Then you have too thin on one side and too thick on the other.

Save this pdf. It will print full size on 8.5 x 11 paper.
http://wiki3c.timline.fr/wp-content/...dd-chasses.pdf

What I have done with this is to copy the .pdf into autocad and trace out every scale in the file. Then I can scan a razor, trace it and test fit it to find the best fit or most appealing scales for the particular blade.

Originally Posted by STF

Thank you Mike, you must either be a mind reader or I must be really obvious. That is exactly what I was about to ask

That drum sander looks like a fantastic idea, I can feel an Amazon search coming on.

Drawing the scales free hand is going to be a challenge, art is not my strong point but at least its just on paper so I can keep trying until it looks good eh.

I'm assuming that you will thin those scales and maybe thin the end even more (taper them)?

Making templates from paint sticks is a great idea too, after I make a few I guess I just choose from my collection and don't need to draw freehand any more.

Can I use the same method for bone, horn or even plastic scales?

Can I thin bone, horn or plastic scales on sandpaper or will that hurt them?

Thanks again for the tutorial Mike, any more tips or tutorials you have to offer me will be gratefully received. I think I'm going to need them

Yep, it'll work with all materials.

For thinning scales, it all depends on what style I'm making. If their the flat sided with beveled edges, I'll use my sanding block, and stick. ( piece of 2x10 board, with a sheet of 60 grt. sandpaper held in place with thumbtacks, and a paint stick, or equivalent)

I use it for cleaning up the saw marks, from cutting blanks, and thinning scales.

I use double sided tape to hold the blank or scale, to the sanding stick.



Just peel the scales off on occasion, and check your thickness with a set of calipers.



Also....never thin the scales, from the inside where the blade goes. Only just to remove the saw marks from cutting the blanks. You want them to stay as flat as possible, for a clean and proper fit for the wedge and blade.

If the scales are to be rounded, I keep them glued together. I'll sand them in a triangular fashion, till I get the sides of the scales tapered to where I want them.

These are still in that process.







Once I reach the desired shape/contour, then I'll start thinning and shaping the pivot and wedge ends.

So...flat scales.



Rounded scales.

That's a cool link.
I made a copy for myself. Sure would have helped me in the past. I don't make many nowadays plus I have made lots of patterns and have saved lots of broken scales for patterns.
Still, a great link for someone getting started.

I use the same tape for thinning as Mike showed. I ran out of it last time so I need to pick up some more before I can continue with my scales. I do very close to the same as Mike. But I incorporated a few power tools.

Originally Posted by joamo

Save this pdf. It will print full size on 8.5 x 11 paper.
http://wiki3c.timline.fr/wp-content/...dd-chasses.pdf

What I have done with this is to copy the .pdf into autocad and trace out every scale in the file. Then I can scan a razor, trace it and test fit it to find the best fit or most appealing scales for the particular blade.

Thank you that is going to save me a lot of freehand, not sure about autocad though. I'll have to look into that but it might be a bit tricky because i haven't used it before.

I use low temp hot glue to stick them together. It comes apart easily, peels off with a fingernail and doesn't leave a residue. Then I do shaping freehand for the initial before taking them apart.


Of course it helps to have a belt sander with varying grit belts. The 1" belt is perfect for shaping. Once apart I use a caliper to check thickness as I go.

I'm not that computer savvy. So I draw my own, or use the unbroken scale as a template.

I drew one that I like a lot. It also seems to work with several different types of blades as well.

Having the template has been a blessing for making others.