Thread: The Start Of Restoration and Custom Scales

I won a lot of three razors on the bay, one of which was what looked to be a decent quality Wade & Butcher Barbers Use Only. Any one who has seen some of my posts know I have a real soft spot for this particular razor.

Being that the razor seemed to be in fare condition, needing some TCL, had no scales, and didn't cost very much, I decided I was going to try and rework it from top to bottom.

I decided it might be fun, and beneficial to post the process, so I might be able to get some feed back along the way. Feel free to chime in, I'm not bothered by criticism.

I will let you know up front, I have no access to a proper workshop, so I'm using a pocket knife, a dremel, and various sand papers and dremel attachments at my desk chair.

Here are pictures of the razor as it came to me.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/image...attach/jpg.gif
http://straightrazorpalace.com/image...attach/jpg.gif

Here is a picture of the razor placed in the scales I'm fashioning. I used microfasteners for this because they are easy to install and remove, and give a pretty good idea of the final fit of the scales.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/image...attach/jpg.gif
http://straightrazorpalace.com/image...attach/jpg.gif

The scales are made from paint sticks I grabbed from home depot. Someone had posted a set of beautiful scales they made from paint sticks, so I figured it would be a cheap, easy to work with material for a first attempt. If I make a mistake, I go and grab some more.

For the design, I traced a set of scales from another razor, and free handed the tail end into that design. To cut them out, I widdled the wood using a gerber pocket knife, and once it was close to the scale outline, I fine tuned it with my dremel and sanding wheel.

This is where I'm at so far. I will post more as the project comes along.

Thats a great looking scale shape, and it suits the razor very well!

I'm very interested to see the finished result!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Cant beleive those are paint sticks.What a great idea.Looks really good so far!

Thanks stubear. I once made a pair of fenders for my bicycle, and using a bench grinder at work, gave the front fender a spaded point, so I wanted to work that into the scales some how. I started making the scales before I got the razor, so I wasn't sure if it would be a good match, but I have to say, I'm very happy thus far.

I can't take credit for the paint stick idea. I came across the idea when I read a post by Brando and how he used paint sticks. The orginal post is here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ks-scales.html
For someone with limited tools or work space, the paint sticks are great. The wood is easy to work with, yet rigid enough not to flex, they are cut to almost the perfect size for scale blanks, and they are FREE! What more could you ask for.

A few things I've learned thus far:

1.) know when to put the project down for the night. I kept working on the scales last night when I was too tired to focus, and ended up over sanding one side, so now I have to cut a new one and rework it.

2.) A pocket knife can make fast work of trimming down the scales from the paint sticks, but if you don't use a light touch, the wood will split, rather easily at that. I split a few before I figured this out.

3.) If the paint sticks you are using have logos stamped on them (mine had Home Depot logos) try and find two with logos similar color saturation.
Originally I didn't check, and I used one stick with a faint logo print, and one with a very rich logo print, and when I finished sanding the logos off, the sticks were no where close to being the same thickness. A rich logo will embed the ink deeper, requiring more sanding and making the final scale thinner.

Looking good!!

Originally Posted by freyguy

3.) If the paint sticks you are using have logos stamped on them (mine had Home Depot logos) try and find two with logos similar color saturation.
Originally I didn't check, and I used one stick with a faint logo print, and one with a very rich logo print, and when I finished sanding the logos off, the sticks were no where close to being the same thickness. A rich logo will embed the ink deeper, requiring more sanding and making the final scale thinner.

I think you should leave that Home Depot logo on there and try to get a sponsorship for this project!

Great progress! Looking good so keep us posted...

Thanks guys for the words of encouragement. Here's where I'm at so far.

As I mentioned, I jumped back onto the scales when I was too tired to focus, and sanded too much, so I had to start over. Unfortunately, the second attempt didn't come out much better, so I had to make a third set. This third, and hopefully final set are coming along nicely, and should be ready for staining and epoxy soon.
I'm having a bit of trouble getting the wedge right. Without a belt sander, or grinder, it's getting tricky to get an even angle on the piece. The workable solution has been to put a piece of sand paper on a flat surface (block of ply wood) and hold the stick at a slight angle while sanding. Even so, it's difficult to keep the pressure exactly even when the wedge thins out. If anyone has suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.

As for the blade, I've sanded most of the surface rust and crud off with some medium grit emery paper. Some of the pitting is pretty deep, but since it isn't near the blade, I may leave some pits, and start working up the sanding progression. Personally I like a bit of pitting on a vintage blade like this, but practically speaking, I don't have the time, patience or equipment to do a good job removing all the pits. So to avoid wrecking it, the pits will ride.

I'll have some new picks to post soon.

Here are some photos with the razor fitted into the stained scales, but not finalized. The scales need some coating, and the blade needs much more hand sanding. Sorry about the picture quality.

Thanks for the pics. Just picked up a chopper myself. Its not a W&B but a verrry close knockoff by Tillotson. Seeing a WB Barbers use being restored gives me faith in humanity.