Thread: Good Idea/Bad Idea?

I know less than nothing about it but ..... I am thinking of the solid Abalone scales without liners on a Livi I have. Wouldn't that present all of the projected problems that the mineral scales might have ? The razor isn't out of balance and flexibility hasn't been a problem so far. OTOH if I were to drop it that would be a tragedy.

I know that W&B as well as others made MOP scales with liners, probably for reinforcement. If you do try the tiger eye or whatever scales and they are heavy a large wedge like a 'barber's use' might balance it out ?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I know less than nothing about it but ..... I am thinking of the solid Abalone scales without liners on a Livi I have. Wouldn't that present all of the projected problems that the mineral scales might have ? The razor isn't out of balance and flexibility hasn't been a problem so far. OTOH if I were to drop it that would be a tragedy.

I know that W&B as well as others made MOP scales with liners, probably for reinforcement. If you do try the tiger eye or whatever scales and they are heavy a large wedge like a 'barber's use' might balance it out ?

Abalone, MOP and other shells have a layered scructure (natural laminated composite material) which makes them more resilient. Minerals have a regular chrystaline scructure which fails differently.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I know less than nothing about it but ..... I am thinking of the solid Abalone scales without liners on a Livi I have. Wouldn't that present all of the projected problems that the mineral scales might have ? The razor isn't out of balance and flexibility hasn't been a problem so far. OTOH if I were to drop it that would be a tragedy.

I know that W&B as well as others made MOP scales with liners, probably for reinforcement. If you do try the tiger eye or whatever scales and they are heavy a large wedge like a 'barber's use' might balance it out ?

In addition to what floppyshoes said, abolone is 10x lighter than minerals. Weight and lack of flex are my biggest worries.

That said, I want you to succeed Khaos. I really want to see these scales. Just trying to brainstorm all the foreseeable pitfalls so you can avoid them in your undertaking.

I really think a really thin piece of the stone with an acrylic backing would work. Thin like a veneer, ie, just for show.

Have plenty of ventilation and/or mask. Malachite is toxic in particle form.

I hope it works out. I have kilos of lapis lazuli from Afghanistan that would be interesting to see used some day as scales or spacers. Deep blue with sparkling pyrite would be nice.

I realize that it's a wood, and not a mineral, but isn't ebony a product of africa as well?

I think a nice dark ebony with tiger's eye inserts would like classy.

Of course, I see no reason not to attempt your original plan if you have the means. At this point, you'd be going into it with your eyes wide open with regard to the potential for failure; and you could probably avoid a lot of the suggested problems by starting with a razor that already has inflexible scales. i.e. SS scales.

You could do the same (to a degree) for balance by putting them on a large wedge or meat chopper.

The ebony with inserts is a great Idea. Thanks a lot for all your input guys. Over the past few days I've been trying to find a junker with an even (not tapering) tang/monkey tail so I can test this out. Where I live there is a lot of high quality shale and slate (if i can find a big enough piece slate suits my purposes better) So I was think once I find a suitable piece of rust I'll sand/maas the tang, make up some slate/shale scale cus its easier to form, and test various methods of trying to make all the hinging/flex problems work.

Right now I'm thinking if I put a silicone washer and a brass washer between the razor and scales on both sides of the tang, then use a microfastener as a pin so I can bolt it down and put pressure on the silicon washers, potentially I could get the friction high enough to keep the blade open, yet able to open and close easily still. I did the mechanics of this and on paper its feasible if I can get silicone with the right range of k-values (not too hard not too soft) and am able to tighten down a microbolt enough to create a sufficeint normal force.

I'm no expert but Scales just don't need to be flexable, I have used a set of scales made from thick ebony and they are solid as rocks. The key is to eather make the "wedge" as wide as the tang so that the scales don't flex, or to make the wedge the exact angle needed to make the tang end the correct separation to prevent flex. The only problem I see is the balance issue, maybe it could work with a huge wedge style razor, but for a hollow grind they would be way to heavy in my opinion.

With regards to this project, does any one know of any junked wedges someone would be willign to part with? Like hunk of metal junked. Purely to check the pinning method and balance issues, if it works I'll pop the scales off and get a good blade.

Probably. I get **** razors in the mail all the time.