Thread: Scale materials.

Ideally, they should look nice, of course, but the other properties that are good are:

1. waterproof or water resistant. (this is where wood is weak).
2. strong and shatterproof
3. relatively lightweight (solid brass = no good for this reason).
4. readily sourced
5. easy to work.

Now the rest is up to your imagination as far as materials and ideas go but to help get things "rolling", so to speak (no pun intended), here's one hint:

Urethane? Or is it some kind of reactive resin?

I guess that would depend on the bowling ball. I've told my wife to be on the look out for "pretty" bowling balls at yard sales.

now if i only had a powersaw that could cut through a bowling ball, that would rock.

good luck.

vgod

Very cool. Look forward to seeing them (not as much as I look ofrward to seeing my micarta handled razor in a few months, though!!)

Originally Posted by vgod

now if i only had a powersaw that could cut through a bowling ball, that would rock.

good luck.

vgod

No need for power tools, you can mill lumber (or bowling balls or any soft materials for that matter) with hand tools. It's just easier, faster and more accurate to use power tools. My bandsaw only has 4" of clearance so I'd be forced to make the first few cuts with a hand saw myself. Either that or I'd stick it in the freezer then drop it from an overpass, then pray the pieces are a useable size.

Neet idea to use a bowling ball anyways. I wonder if your razor would end up smelling like a bowling alley.

I've searched like the dickens to find a place that sells bowling ball blanks or slabs. You can't seem to find it in lengths longer than 3" or so. Guys turn it on lathes to make duck calls.

I've heard of people cutting bowling balls on band saws but like anything else or maybe more than other things they say it can be.........dangerous. Most bowling balls are not solid homogenous material all the way through and the cores are not usable for scales so it's like cutting the usable rind off the bowling ball.

Pen turners use this material as well, but the size of the blanks that are available for that purpose IIRC are only 5" long. I hear it turns and polishes like a dream.

I think it's a cool looking material and would be great for razor scales.

Chris L

Chris,

I just searched for info on how bowling balls are made. I found out that they are usually made of resin urethane today. The resin is cast around a core. I then did a search on resin urethane and found a place that sells the stuff to cast it. So it looks like you can just buy the material and cast it into whatever shape you want. The link I found if for a place called Environ Molds, but I'm sure there are other places to get it too.

has anyone ever tried using granite?

hey Dan, I don't know if they'd smell like a bowling alley but the cool thing is you can then use that spray disenfectant to clean them

Red