Thread: Scale Painting and Finish

I have a few projects coming in the mail and I'm trying to come up with ideas for scales. I have one idea that I can't figure a way to do without painting the scales. I'm curious if anyone's used paint and what they finished with to protect them.

I was going to use spray paint, then some clear spray enamel before doing a CA finish (12 coats, 400 grit every 4 layers, on the last coat work up to about 1500 grit and buff). Will the CA interact poorly with the spray enamel? Is the CA going to protect the wood and paint well enough? What's a good, cheap wood to work with? I'm thinking oak since I might be able to snag some scrap from the lumber yard for free. I don't see a reason to use anything fancy since it'll be covered.

Also, because I want the design to be symmetrical, the plan is to cut and sand both scales, then prime, then temporarily pin them together with twist ties or something so I can have the painted designs meet perfectly. Afterwards I can separate them for the enamel and finishing.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions. This is my first restoration and it's pretty ambitious, so keep an eye out for a sweet looking razor or a complete disaster.

A few thoughts:

1. Why use oak? Oak is not cheap, nor particularly well suited to painting. I would just use something relatively durable but inexpensive, with a closed grain. Might I suggest soft maple or birch?

2. If you use a good quality enamel I see no reason for the CA. And vis versa, if you use thick CA I see no need for the enamel. I think the simplest way to make sure you don't buff off the paint by sanding/buffing clean through the CA would be to prep, paint, use fine sandpaper to take off any big burrs, then do a poured epoxy finish.

3. You might be able to find the wood you need at your lumber yard, but often they only carry construction-grade lumber- yellow pine, sugar pine, etc. in assorted framing sizes. If you're lucky, they'll have poplar... but maybe your lumber yard is better than the ones around here. If you're just looking to do one set, Rockler offers a fair number of woods that are already planed and thicknessed down to 1/8 for an affordable price. Woodworking Tools Supplies Hardware Plans Finishing - Rockler.com I believe.

Here is a some scales that have paint on them, they have held up well.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...re-scales.html

I agree that a close grained wood would probably work better. That is unless you want a textured finish that oak would give.

I would tend to stick to the same same type/brand of finish from start to end. For instance if I used Krylon for the pigmented finish I would also use the same family of Krylon products for the clear topcoat as well. Using the same type of resins and solvents for both the pigment and clearcoat is the safe way to go.

I would do some experiments on scrap, otherwise you are experimenting on your final product.

Charlie

Originally Posted by BKratchmer

A few thoughts:

1. Why use oak? Oak is not cheap, nor particularly well suited to painting. I would just use something relatively durable but inexpensive, with a closed grain. Might I suggest soft maple or birch?

2. If you use a good quality enamel I see no reason for the CA. And vis versa, if you use thick CA I see no need for the enamel. I think the simplest way to make sure you don't buff off the paint by sanding/buffing clean through the CA would be to prep, paint, use fine sandpaper to take off any big burrs, then do a poured epoxy finish.

3. You might be able to find the wood you need at your lumber yard, but often they only carry construction-grade lumber- yellow pine, sugar pine, etc. in assorted framing sizes. If you're lucky, they'll have poplar... but maybe your lumber yard is better than the ones around here. If you're just looking to do one set, Rockler offers a fair number of woods that are already planed and thicknessed down to 1/8 for an affordable price. Woodworking Tools Supplies Hardware Plans Finishing - Rockler.com I believe.

Thanks for the help!

Oak was the first hardwood that came to mind. If the two choices you pointed out take paint better, than I'll go with one of those. I checked out the site you posted and it could be the spot if the lumber yard down the block doesn't work out.

Will the epoxy resin be strong enough? I'm careful with all of my razors, but I'd prefer if the scales were stronger than, say, celluloid. The thinking with the enamel/CA finish was the enamel would seal the paint in case the CA affects it, and the CA would be a durable coating for the finished scales. If the epoxy is tough enough, I might do that instead. How many coats of epoxy? Two?

for colouring you can use watersoluble dies
for example here:
W. D. Lockwood Water Soluble Dyes at Tools for Working Wood

Thanks for the link!

I just looked through and I have a specific color scheme in mind. As far as I can think of, paint is the only way. Unless I did all sorts of different woods and inlayed them or glued them together, but considering my novice-ness I'm gonna stick to paint.

I just joined the forum. I just made my first set of scales out of oak. I stained it red oak. I dont like the open grain look.What is a good finish? And please tell me what CA stands for? I build custom race motors, wood is new to me.


Thanks
Robby

Hey Bing - I have a couple of pieces of birdseye maple already cut to 1/8 inch you could have. The grain doesn't have enough contrast to look real good with a clear coat, but it would work fine for a project like yours. If you are interested PM me your mailing address and I send them out tomorrow.

Regards - Walt

Originally Posted by robbyrazor

I just joined the forum. I just made my first set of scales out of oak. I stained it red oak. I dont like the open grain look.What is a good finish? And please tell me what CA stands for? I build custom race motors, wood is new to me.


Thanks
Robby

Unfortunately oak is always going to have that open grain (unless you completely cover it up). If you don't like the open grain, get something like maple, or numerous other species with tighter grain. I wouldn't bother with staining the wood either, just get a piece of wood that looks right to begin with.

CA is cyanoacrylate, or superglue. It can be used for a hard, high-gloss finish.

Originally Posted by PDobson

Unfortunately oak is always going to have that open grain (unless you completely cover it up). If you don't like the open grain, get something like maple, or numerous other species with tighter grain. I wouldn't bother with staining the wood either, just get a piece of wood that looks right to begin with.

CA is cyanoacrylate, or superglue. It can be used for a hard, high-gloss finish.

Using something like CA or a hand-rubbed oil finish will fill the pores of the wood, making it feel smoother. Otherwise, that open grain is going to stay open.