if anyone cares or wants to make 1 piece scales, or thought about it, but doesnt know the thickness of the material they should use, id say about light 7/16".
it worked out well for me today. ill post pictures tomorrow. i just took some oak, resawed it to 7/16", took about 1/32" off each side to make it nice. drew lines 1/8" on each side and just resawed down each line then one more time to get out any stock left over. yay.