Thread: Inspired

I'm now totally inspired by all of you restoration gurus. Thanks especially to Vlad who recently I have found most encouraging.

So a question about scales, wooden ones.

In NZ we have many native woods the most sought after being kauri. The kauri trees were decimated by the early settlers and now this tree is protected, plus it take 100's of years to grow. Having said that, swamp kauri is available. This is 100,000 yr old kauri that is reclaimed from peat swamps and made into the most stunning and very expensive furniture etc..

Does wood have to be specially treated to make scales ?. This swamp kauri is extremely stable and will not warp and has a very tight grain. I'm thinking it perfect for making scales.
A little advise please before I invest in a band / jigsaw etc..

Gary

I am assuming that being stable it is not water absorbent, tight grain is also an advantage so it sounds good for scales. I never heard of kauri but will try to get more information about it.

You can try different finishes to find one whose finish and application appeals to you the most and one that you feel comfortable working with.

1. Fine sanded to 1500 or 2000 grit. If the wood is hard and has a tight grain this might give great results. It works for Cocobolo, for example.
2. Finished with a penetrating oil like Tung Oil Sealer. I use polymerized tung oil sealer which is tung oil, heat treated to polimeriaze it and diluted with mineral spririts to make it thin.
3. Danish Oil. I never tried that.
4. Cyanoacrylate. This is chemical name for crazy glue. Apply several coats and fine sand it to 2000. Very hard, shiny finish but feels like plastic. I tried it and liked the gloss but not the plastic feel of it.

Afterwards get woodworking polishing/buffing compounds, for these you will need to get yourself a buffer and buffing wheels. I use Tripoli and White Diamond polishing compounds then buff with Carnauba Wax. I know Bill Ellis recommends "Conservator's Wax" but I had trouble getting it in Canada and from the US the S&H was doubling the cost of an already expensive product.

If you can't get the wood already in 1/8" (3mm) thick planks then you need a bandsaw. Otherwise a jigsaw, belt sander and a buffer is all you will need. With the buffer being optional but highly recommended. I would recommend you try and get the wood already in the right thickness and minimize your investment unless you are sure this is something you want to have for other uses or know you will be making scales for a long time.

If you do splurge for a bandsaw then you may skimp on the jigsaw. You can buy 1/8" (3mm) wide blades for the bandsaw and these will let you use the bandsaw just like a jigsaw. One catch though, you can't cut off your fingers on a jigsaw.

I only bought a bandsaw a few months ago when I started making boxes and it is an awesome tool to have but I am weary of cutting my fingers off. I hope this healthy fear does not go away. If you don't have such a fear watch a few videos of meat packing plants where they show how beef carcasses are split on bandsaws, bones and all. That aught to put a healthy fear into you. If it does not then don't get a bandsaw.

Costs and catches:

jigsaw - $100 to $200, fairly simple. I think all come with variable speed control which is vital.

belt sander/disc sander combo $80 - $3000 (Bill's Burr King) depending on how high you want go. I have an $80, 4" (10cm) wide belt model, 36" (91cm) long belts. The only drawback was that to change the belts you had to remove the sanding guard. I spent a day and modified it so that the sanding guard is permanently bolted on out of the way for changing belts. Otherwise it was a pain to swap belts, now it takes 10 seconds. If you can afford it go for a model that allows you to quickly change belts without having to unbolt/unscrew anything. If you have even more go for a variable speed model. Get one with a disk sander, these are usually standard. You will need 50, 100, 150 and 220 belts. Approximate grits. You can always use 80, 120, 180 and 220. Before you buy the model make sure that the belt size is standard and you can source it readily in all the grits you want.

bandsaw - this one is more expensive, about $600. I went for a 14" Delta model. 93.5" long band blades and up to 3/4" wide. Look for adjustments of the blade guides and bearings. The same cost General model looked much better built than Delta, except where it counted. The Delta has micro screw adjustable guide and bearing positions, the General just had a tightening screw and then these would freely float. Impossible to adjust accurately. Don't bother with any small models they are toys. I was broke and wanted to get an 8" model for $100 but after 3hrs of trying to adjust it gave up and returned it. It would not cut straight. The cut actually bowed because the whole thing was flimsy and you could not tension the blade enough to make straight cuts. For resawing get a .5" (12mm) or wider blade. Usually the widest blade that will fit into your saw is good. The wider the blade the straighter the cut. For curve cuts 1/8" (3mm), 3/16" (4.5mm) or even 1/4" (6mm) blade width will do. Same as the belt sander, make sure that blades are standard industry size and you can easily source them. Buy at least 2 resaw blades. These go fast, especially if you resaw really hard woods. You don't want to get stuck because the blade is dull and you don't have a replacement.

You will also need to buy a workshop vacuum and connect it to the bandsaw and belt sander to suck up the dust. It is a lot of dust.

buffer - $100 or more. I use a Delta grinder, replaced the grind wheels with buffing wheels. If you can afford it go for the tappered spindles and optionally variable speed. The tapered spinles will allow you to swtch wheels fast. The variable speed will allow you to slow it down when you need it. I already had an extra grinder and could not afford to spend more.

I may have answered too much but if you are going to get into it you should know your options and $.

Thanks Vlad,

I'm sure I can get the wood cut in slices, the rest I guess is how much work I wish to put in.

Cheers

Gary

I'm gonna leave my burr king out of this for now. The three tools I use the most are a Baldor 3/4 horse buffer, a tilt-head Sears band saw, and a Foredom. There are many sander/grinders on the market that you could use. The problem with most of them is that they go too fast. An alternative is one of those oscillating spindle sanders for doing the inside curves of scales.

http://tinyurl.com/rov7y


For that wood, you need to put about a half inch bend in the center by grasping the ends of the scales you just cut out of it. If it breaks easily, it needs to be stabilized before you use it. Or you can use it on lined scales.

You can go here for that one.

http://razortips.blogspot.com/

I just want to play a bit at first without investing into too much stuff so I'll see how I go.
There's always small files and elbow grease if I'm only going to make 1 set to start with.

Cheers for the info.

Gary

The swamp kauri wood is simply beautiful! A friend has made some handles for his custom knives with this wood. A pic would not be able to show the shimmering effect of the wood.
You are very lucky to be where the wood is found. Here in the USA it is rather expensive but worth it. I have some boards of it and will be usng them in the near future for handles on razors. Follow Vlads advice and sandpaper then up to 2000 grit.
The results are worth the effort.