Thread: MOP Scales?

Hey guys,

I recently acquired an old little Robeson off the bay and the thing is gorgeous. For some reason (rescale maybe?) there appears to be two washers on one side of the blade and apparently none of the other. As a result, the blade "yaws" or tilts a little and the very tip of the spike point contacts the interior side of one scale when fully closed. The scales dont look warped, I think the contact is just a result of the blade not being set properly. It also may have something to do with the fact that the pin is lower on one scale than the other (see pictures.) This might be why the maker/repinner had to get creative with washer placement.

I'd like to fix this and restore this razor, but there are some concerns.

The scales appear to be solid mother of pearl. I say this because they are very heavy for their size and just feel significantly denser than any of the plasticized scales on my other razors. Also, the feel of the point when it slides against the inside of the scale feels...biological. Weird explanation I know, but I had an old german blade that did this to celluloid and the feeling was one of metal-on-plastic. This feels more like metal-on-bone. Gritty almost. The scales are gorgeous and I'd love to keep them.

Has anyone seen scales made entirely of MOP, and if so, what are the challenges associated with working with it? Brittle? crack-prone? Do I need a special plan of attack to depin/repin this thing?

The blade is beautiful and has clear lettering and a worked spine, so it would probably be worth it to send it to a pro, but I'd rather try it myself. Any help you guys could offer would be much appreciated!

If you really want to keep the scales, I would send it to a pro. It's very easy to mess up the scales during the unpinning process. If you were just going to toss the scales and make your own, I'd say go for it. That's just my opinion(for what it's worth).

More pics Jimbo!

That is a beautiful set of scales. IMO and I would guess most others', single piece mother of pearl scales are extremely rare. I would interested to see how many are around. I have had MOP scales before, but they were the more commonly found three piece variety, which had brass liners and were consequently very heavy - some would argue dangerous to use!

I have heard that the single piece ones are more highly prized as they come from a large shell which is evidently rarer.

What I'm saying is those are quite special and you'll kick yourself if you screw up. Don't even attempt it or think about it. Consult someone like Mad Max.


Let us know how you get on!

Edit: PS I was so intensely blinded by the beauty of those pearl scales that I failed to notice that awesome filework on the razor's spine.

I haven't seen or worked with true MOP scales, so I'll leave that part to someone else. If they are MOP, I'd be extra careful as large pieces of real MOP like that are very rare and expensive. I'd hate to crack them...

If the pin is off-center and the hole through the scales is not true, IMO you'll probably have some problems regardless of anything you do. You can disassemble the pivot pin and play with different washers to see if you can correct it - I'd use microfasteners to temporarily assemble it to see if it works. This also assumes that everything else is in order.

If I took it apart, I'd also look at the pivot hole and the tang. My Robeson had an uneven tang where one side was more tapered than the other. I shaved the inside of the scales to correct this problem. Here's some info from the Wiki. I'd look through other parts of the wiki, too. If the pivot hole is too large or uneven, it could cause problems as well, so you may want to sleeve it. Until you take it apart it'll be hard to tell what the problem is exactly. If they aren't true MOP (or even if they are) the scales themselves could be warped. It's hard to tell when it's assembled.

Bulldog does have a point - if those are real MOP and you're not familiar with the process, you can easily damage the scales or razor. It may be easiest and safest to send it out. Then again, if the scales are real MOP, I don't know if you can correct warping which might mean that you'll just have to be careful when closing the razor.

If it were me, I'd really think about how bad this all is before taking on the problem. If it just means being careful with some awesome scales, well, that's something I could deal with.

[QUOTE=BingoBango;593091 If they are MOP, I'd be extra careful as large pieces of real MOP like that are very rare and expensive. I'd hate to crack them.[/QUOTE]

No ifs about it, those are real MOP. 100%. No celluloid or synthetic material even comes close to the irredescence of MOP. I can tell just by the pics.