Thread: Broken Scale

Is there anyway to fix it, or am I SOL? I'm going to say it's plastic, but maybe it could be bakelite?

It's a McPherson Brothers Cutlers-Glasgow, FRASS RAZOR 13/16

Next question....how do I take the pins out? Yes, I do reek of noobiness....

And yes, I will be ordering Bill Ellis's CD/DVD...

Super glue, a small dot on each side of the pivot pin without touching the pivot pin.

Ok. I had thought about that, but wasn't sure how it would hold up. And I was afraid I would glue it closed.

Thank you.

Moved to Workshop by request of OP

Unless there's severe rust on the pin itself, the super glue won't stick to metal. It may bind for a second, but you should be able to carefully get it unstuck and moving again. If there's anything rough about the surface of that pin though, you may be SOL.

As for removing the pin, if you decide to go that route- you just drill em out. A dremel or drill press is the way to go, and again caution is the name of the game. I've heard of some people using a cutting wheel on a dremel, but I wouldn't go that route if you care about the scales (and in this case, you probably don't)

Ok, thanks Tyler.

Here's a pic of the blade. It's really in a little bit better condition than it looks in the pic. I guess my dilemma now is, do I glue the tip back on the scale and send it out to get honed? Or do I go ahead and drill out the pins, send out the blade for a restoration and hone, and try to fix the scale while I'm waiting? I think the scales are really cool looking, especially with the inlay, but are they worth keeping or should I rescale it?

ooh- couldn't see the picture when I made my first post. If you glue it together while it's still assembled, you've got a lot of surface area to have that glue catch on. If you trust your ability to do it carefully, make sure your CA is of the thick variety (hobby stores sell different consistencies) and just do a little dab erring on the side of too little. The thin super glue will want to travel down through capillary action and get between your scale and blade. Then you've got problems. Glue on the pin you can handle. Glue the blade and scales together, and you're going to be really annoyed.

One old model maker trick is to use a little baking soda as filler when you're using CA. It makes for a really strong bond, but it would definitely show up as a white line on those scales.

I think the scales are cool. I'd try to repair it. You can always rescale later.

Here's a thought. Is there anything I can put behind it? I'm afraid that after the gluing, it will still be very fragile. Can I put maybe a super thin piece of sheet metal behind it? Remove the pins, trace out the scales onto a piece of sheet metal, brass, or something, cut it out, then adhere the scales to the metal. Of course I'd have to do it to both sides for uniformity. Have the blade restored (any comments on that?) and re-pin it.

Oh, I can see I'm going to have to bring the credit card to Harbor Freight soon....oh boy.....

On re-pinning there is a good tutorial in the Wiki by Glen here. I am glad you posted this. I have a celluloid scale that is broken right in the center. I have been thinking about giving epoxy a try but I am under the impression that celluloid cannot be glued.

If I had your razor I would give gluing it a try and let it cure overnight. I would strop it in the morning and see if it would hold.

I broke the end off a scale a little while back and made repairs with super glue gel. The glue kind of melted the scales so the repair did not come out real pretty. Since both ends of the break softened there was no way to get a good alignment. It took a few hours to harden so it slid a little. Since this was a very inexpensive razor with considerable hone wear and a badly neutered spike I just left it. It works but could be better.