Thread: Buying new scales

Originally Posted by Ookla

As far as equipment and facilities to make scales are concerned, you can make them just fine with the use of hand tools in your garage.

I don't even have that! Ah the joys of living in an apartment... :P

Originally Posted by chaiguy

I don't even have that! Ah the joys of living in an apartment... :P

I'm a college student in an apartment. I finished a set of scales last night.

Hobby Saw: $5
4oz Hammer: $5
Hand Drill: $10
Sandpaper: $7
Brass Rod: $1
Walnut Sheet: $5
Wire Cutters: $5
Super Glue: $2
Rubber Cement: $4
100ct Washers: $8

You are good to go. A pocket knife helps for cutting the rough shape, but it's not a necessity.

Oh, and I wrote a nice long explanation for another member about how to do the whole thing without tools, and I decided to add it to the wiki here...

I live in an apartment too so I hear where you're coming from. Here's my list of materials I use for restorations:

ball peen hammer, jeweler's anvil, dremel, sandpaper, TI scales from CS, and Dovo pins....that's it.

Yeah, it's not the fancy stuff the pros are using but you know what, it gets those beater razors in shape and onto my face.

Originally Posted by chaiguy

I don't even have that! Ah the joys of living in an apartment... :P

I'm currently working out of an outdoor storage closet off of the patio at my apartment. Shoehorned a small workbench in there and I'm good to go with my dremel & some hand tools. I'm thinking with a little creative shelving I might be able to squeeze a small drill press and a belt sander in there as well. Don't let lack of space hold you back!

Excellent! So there is hope after all!

Just got back from Canadian Tire with my brother in law and picked up a dremel (actually a Mastercraft rotary tool--came with a flexible shaft attachment that will be great for buffing and polishing!), a small pair of side cutters and a file. Will be looking for a 4oz ball peen hammer and some sandpaper, etc tomorrow. The anvil is a good idea too. What about a vice?

@freeman, that's amazing what you've done. A drill press would be great to have.

@DPflaumer, couple q's: what the heck is "walnut sheet" and what sort of hand drill do you use?

Thanks guys!

I buy planks of walnut at a craft store in town, it is 24" x 3" x 1/8", the perfect thickness for scales which is great without machinery to saw it down to size.

And I use a tool from the welding aisle at the hardware store. It looks like a thick aluminum pen and comes with 14 bits or so in varying sizes. But you can pick up a 2 pack of 1/16" drill bits and those work in it. Just be careful about making the hole straight.

Hope that helps, feel free to PM me with any questions you may have on the process I use in my apartment. I don't have an anvil, I just use the hardened steel center of the wire cutters to do the pinning. I used to use a file handle, but my roommate gave the file back to the guy he had borrowed it from.

Ah, gotcha! I now see what the rubber cement is for. Very cool, thanks for the tips, and a nicely-written article!

No problem, thats what we are here for. Oh, and make sure you get size 0 washers and 1/16" rod, be it brass or nickel.