Thread: where do you get your ideas for scales.

i have been racking my brain for the last few days trying to come up with original scale idea, to no avail. those of you that make custom scales, do the ideas just come to you or do you have to brainstorm to come up with the idea. and when you start out, do you use a general scales pattern and work off of that.

If I have the old set, I use the top curve and the bottom curve as a safe base to start at, and just free hand from there...

Of the very few razors that I have re-scaled, I have tried to pay attention to the curve of the spine, and what the curve of the tang/point looks like.

I have a shumate barber that has a round point, so I kept the front slightly round to mimick it, then extended the rear to match the angle of the tang, and a nice curve in between. I thought it came out great.

Just my 0.02.

Although....I like to look at pics from gssixgun, Maxamillan, and Undream, because their stuff is just in a completely different league.

M

I've been having the same trouble myself lately. I find the opposite of Maxi. If I look at other designs I can't get them out of my head, but if I just start drawing then I find myself making random designs. I found this out when freewriting one day. I just do the same thing for drawing. I don't care what I draw as long as I am drawing I eventually start combining ideas from my drawings, but I find that I sometimes run into a new problem. I will make new designs that I swear I'll come back to, but when I do I don't like how it will match the new blade. I have a dozen or so designs that won't work with any of the blades that I have gotten lately.

-G

I have yet to rescale a razor myself, but Glen's idea seems perfectly logical--use the old scales to draw a template for the new scales you are creating. After doing that you can probably become a little bit creative with the original shape.

I'm not actually looking at the old scales or their design. I'm looking only at the steel. I look for the curves of the actual razor and attempt to mimick them. Old scales....gonzo (unless they are in good shape...then they go in the toolbox for backup)

M

I free hand every single set on paper, no 2 sets alike, sometimes I pay attention to spine curve, sometimes I do not, depends on the razor.

I tend to keep scales fairly straight, and I think even though I free hand every set, my style has begun being evidently clear especially in the last 6 months. whenever I set out to do something a little different it always ends up similar to other sets I've done. Experience also makes that happen, because, I know what works and what works well.

i try to use an existing set of scales for an outline. The outside is easy, the internal design gets more interesting.

Thanks for your tutorial. I like your scales and you are artists!
It is a lot of work but the results are so beautiful.

I have yet too make a good set of scales....I have bandsawed through entire forest, contributed to global warming , and still have not reached a satisfying result..