Thread: Question regarding extra/stabilizing pins

Originally Posted by SharkHat

I got the impression that the OP was talking about pins to stabilize two piece scales to a liner, not a third pin.

Ok.

But I was mainly addressing the third pin thing because it was mentioned in subsequent posts and it also was a two-birds-with-one-stone comment.

On a two-piece set of scales with a liner, the pin at the top of one of those materials could (should) be strategically placed to serve both purposes... To secure the top half of the material to the liner, and to provide the proper spot for the third pin. I do not like leaving a pin at this juncture holding everything together with the tensile srength of the glue in the hole. There is too much movement and it will eventually give way. My knife scales are done with just epoxy, but I also have dovetailed bolsters and epoxy holding the material to the steel as well.

Nenad... the inches you quoted were close enough for me to understand the point you are trying to make. Partially my fault. I was in a hurry when I answered the post. I'm not necessarily talking about a 360 degree swing through. I'm referring to a swing of a 6/8 or larger blade swinging through the other side of the scales enough to expose the heel of the blade to cut the crap out of any passing flesh.

In addition to that, all razors don't have that 1/16 inch thickness butt spacer. Some are a little wider to help accommodate the thicker blades. 6 - 7 mm (1/4 inch) In some razors, the blade doesn't quite get close enough to the spacer either to keep the blade from travelling too far. Without that third pin, it is common for the wider blades heel to come shinin' through. I do have some razors that also will do the 360 degree thing also.

Randy... I promise never to change the OP again

Yes, the question was about extra stabilizing pins for multi panel scales, rather than the typical "third pin" frequently used on razors.

The pins I am referring to would only go through one scale, not the pair. They would help to stabilize the scale and hold the material on the backing. Are they necessary? Should they be peened or are they decorative. I see them mostly on multi panel mother of pearl or ivory scales, but they are not on all multi panel scales. I have never seen extra pins on single panel scales unless they are strictly decorative.

I understand what Bill says about an extra pin being used to stabilize material and be used as the "third pin", but what about a two piece scale that meets in the middle, or a 3-4 piece mother of pearl scale? Should I peen these?

Thanks for the tips guys.


Matt

Sorry I misunderstood the original question, Matt, and contributed to the muddying of the waters. To answer the question you actually asked: No, I wouldn't peen them, and if I did, it would be veeeeeerrry lightly. Scale material's pretty thin, and some substances (certain woods, ivory, and especially MOP) are prone to cracking with very little pressure. You might get away with peening the liner side (if using a liner), but I wouldn't risk the visible side. CA or epoxy should hold it in place just fine. What I often do it to roughen the pin up a bit with sandpaper before gluing it in place. Gives the glue something to hold on to, and lessens the odds of it working loose. Hope this helped a bit.

Should I peen these?

I would.

You just have to be careful. Put the tiniest, I say the tiniest, chamfer on the edge of the hole you drill. You are only trying to kill the sharp edge. I use the chamfer tool with my fingers and only make about 1 1/2 revolutions to do it.

Practice on some scrap first.


Go look at Making Scales 104 on my blog. http://razortips.blogspot.com/

None of those pins were peened with washers and the oosik is bone. I do the same thing to mother of pearl on knife scales.

OK, Bill, I see the point, I once managed to catch the blade when closed from between the scales when cleaning it closed, that's the main reason I changed the scales to bigger on my meathchopper... As for the scale pins Bill already answered that question, they are tapped, but when you use epoxy to glue the scales, the small pins are more decorative than usefull... Since Bill is modest guy, I'll post the pic from his website, showing something similar:



Nenad

So you could peen any pins in without using washers? I like the clean look of the pins on that oosik piece. Thanks for the advice guys. I've got some 5 piece MOP/MOP scales that have been sitting idle because I haven't taken the next step. Now that I've got a few suggestions I'll give it a try. I suppose I'll try peening some glass sheets together. If I can do that without shattering them, the mop should be a breeze.

Thanks again,


Matt

One thing to think about (and this advice comes more from Ron Lake than from me): When pinning (and peening) fragile material (like MOP), use very soft pin material. He uses gold pins, I think. They spread faster, meaning you use very light hammer blows to spread them, lessening the chance of a fracture. Not sure about this, but it makes sense. I've never used gold for anything other than a wedding band, and I didn't make it.

We didn't use gold for our wedding bands, we used titanium. Anyone know a good source for straight up gold rod? That can't be easy to source, or cheap!

Thanks though, good idea. Certainly brass would be softer than most, though not as soft as gold.


Matt

you can use silver too, that's what I used for pinning my (now Jeff's) satinedge... It's soft too...

Nenad

Originally Posted by superfly

you can use silver too, that's what I used for pinning my (now Jeff's) satinedge... It's soft too...

Nenad

...and a helluva lot cheaper than gold.