Thread: kevors new scales

Hey guys, this is the thread for my first straight razor project: custom scales.
I want to start out with something relatively easy. So I'm going for some wooden scales with no fancy artwork.

The wood I've chosen is Cocobolo:

Read about the finishing with wax, gonna try to finish the scales with furniture wax.

This 5/8" blade will be the cutting part:

Nothing fancy, but it is a really nice blade

Pins are ordered so I hope to get all my goodies next week and can get started.

Will post updates for anyone who cares :P

Awesome! I've yet to make my own scales, but would like to some time in the future. Be sure to post pictures of the process/product. :gl

Originally Posted by StraightRazorDave

Awesome! I've yet to make my own scales, but would like to some time in the future. Be sure to post pictures of the process/product. :gl

Yer, that.

I have a razor that needs a rescale as well.

Hey Kevor,

It is awesome that you are trying your own scales. Cocobolo is a good choice. It is very hard and remarkably beautiful. As you work with it you will notice it is very aromatic. To me it smells very spicy, like pepper. It does in fact have an oil that can be quite irritating to the sinuses. You may want to wear a mask (I mean a filter mask, not like the Joker or something). I have done many projects with coco laminated with contrasting woods. I found that it has a tendency to stain lighter woods (like maple). One more thing, if the picture you posted is the actual chunk of cocobolo branded for your project, while the knot is very pretty, resist the temptation to use it for scales. You will find it much more better to use wood with grain that runs the length of the handle. As the strength of the razor scales is important, you want to avoid any "short grain" situation. What that means is if the grain runs across the scale , that will be a weak spot and if enough stress is applied, it will break.

Good luck. Have fun!
Brad

Hi, first update!
Just got back from the shop (Arnhemse Fijnhouthandel) and got some wood. The smallest piece of Cocobolo was 86 euro, which was a bit too expensive for me. Plus it was a rather thick piece which would mean a lot of work to get some scales.
So after looking around a bit I found a really awesome piece of Palisand Santos. It was 24 euro and a lot thinner than the Cocobolo, so I can make more scales out of it with less work!
Some pics:




I also got this piece, it might not be the right material (maple), but I do love the way it looks!
I'm gonna try to make some scales out of this wood, then go to the expensive Palisand


So, now still waiting for the pins/washers....

That Palisand Santos looks beautiful. What are the exact dimensions of the wood you bought?

Looks like you will need to buy a whole lot more razors to get full use of that wood

I can't make out what type of maple that is, but it should work fine either way. It's a great wood to work with.

Hey Piet,
The Palasand is 8.6*103*900mm and the lovely maple is 5.5*55*450mm.

Since I'm probablly gonna need more then one go on the scales to get the desired results, it's not too bad it's way too big :P Besides, making the scales is a lot of fun for me, so why not make some more?

Yesterday and today I've been busy with my test-scales, from the Maple wood.
To be honest, the wood isn't as bad as I thought! Got one scale cut and sanded, gonna start on the other one in a bit This one still needs some fine work though.

Some pix:
Drawing with pieces of Maple


Rough cut


Sanded both scales to the same size, Piet suggested me to glue them together, which worked real nice.


Cut the lines into the scale. Don't know if it's clear on the picture, but the lines are somewhat like this: >---<, like in the drawing.


Sideview


Overall I'm pretty happy with the first scale. Its far from perfect, but it looks nice with the blade behind it.
Does anyone have an idea how to accentuate these edges?

So far my break, let's continue with the second scale

If you bevel the scale before drilling for the pins you're going to be in for a hard time when it comes to centring the blade. I know it's a bit late to let you know that, but hey, at least you'll know for the next go! Apart from that, looking good so far.