Thread: My Newbie W&B Ghetto Restore - PICS!

Ok, I have the scales completely depinned now. When I depinned them originally I just removed the pivot pin. For whatever reason, the bottom pins were acomplete PITA to remove. I had to grind them off with a dremel cutoff wheel. Then it took forever for them to pop out. I took great care in removing them though.

Here are some pics of the freshly removed scales.







Here is a link to the full size pics and others I didn't post...

Next up I will soak them in Neetsfoot oil for awhile, then dry them off then repair the crack with epoxy.

I was a little low on neetsfoot oil this morning, so I figured I would share what I did to conserve...

I put all the scales into a ziploc baggie and poured a small amount of neetsfoot oil into the bag. Then I held the bag straight up, this reduced the (wasted) surface area and completely submerged the scales. Lastly, I stood the bag in a plastic container and suspended the top so the surface area didn't increase. I think i used about a quarter of what I would have if I just poured it in wider bottom container.

Not really too big of a deal, but it seems to be working well. Plus, I am not using nearly as much oil as I would have.

Hope this helps someone else...

Last night I began to restore the scales from the W&B Barbers Notch. They are the first set of scales in the above post. After soaking in the neetsfoot oil for most of the day I dried them off then began sanding. I used the following sandpaper...

240 dry
400 dry
400 wet
600 wet
1000 wet
1500 wet
2000 wet

Here is what they look like now...









So how did they turn out? Comments would be appreciated...

Originally Posted by Maximilian

I would double check the scales from the 1. Joseph Rodgers & Sons as I believe those to be real tortoise.

If they are not then they sure are the best imitation I have ever seen.

They look very real to me!

Great transformation on those scales. I see you followed the tips as was suggested.

Thanks for the recommendations Max, I think they came out really nice. I had to sand the scales down a bit more than I hoped, as there was an X cut in the back of one. So that took awhile to sand down. Im going to see if I can find some micromesh on the cheap - locally. If not no worries, they look a 100x better already

Next up...

Im not sure if I should replace the wedge or not. It appears to be made out of metal.

Also, I have to get them pinned and honed... Ill have to send them off to get honed as Im not equipped for that.

Your wedge is probably lead, I'd clean it up and use it. Nice work by the way...especially on the recontour of the broken toe.

Everything you've done so far looks great.

You've done a great job on those! You really made the best of things by re profiling the broken tip too.
If you don't mind advice though, when you hand sand, don't press so hard. You're leaving a few scratches. Try to get an even finish before you progress to the next grit, & keep the pressure a little lighter. Hopefully, that way, you'll eliminate the deeper scratches & end up with an even finish, whatever stage you take it to.
This isn't meant to be a downer. I think you've done them proud! Just thought it might help.