Thread: Removing... I don't know what they're called

I'm curious how to go about removing the metal (overlays?) on razor scales. I'm sure this has been talked about several times but as I didn't know the correct word I couldn't search for the threads.

Essentially I have a really old crappy razor I picked up for $10 to practice honing, etc with just to get technique down. The scales are in horrible condition but the silver logos are very salvageable. I thought maybe one day I could purchase (or make) another set of scales to use these decals on. Can I put them back on with gorilla glue or is there a certain procedure?

Thanks!

Some people use acetone to melt the scales away. I have also seen someone just pick at it to get it off. They are not very thick and are fragile if we are talking about the same thing. A hair dryer might also work to heat up the scales and release the metal. Good luck.

In the picture below, I want to remove the FWE logo.

Will using a hair dryer remove any of the paint?

I believe those are just held in place by the pin. But don't qoute me on that.

Don't know about the paint but even though the pin is not holding the inlay on the scales it does need to be depinned before you attempt to remove the inlay because the 'washer' probably is on top of the inlay. W/o the inlay the paint will look weird. A lot of the razors have that 'paint' worn off.

Originally Posted by ats200

I'm curious how to go about removing the metal (overlays?) on razor scales. I'm sure this has been talked about several times but as I didn't know the correct word I couldn't search for the threads.

Essentially I have a really old crappy razor I picked up for $10 to practice honing, etc with just to get technique down. The scales are in horrible condition but the silver logos are very salvageable. I thought maybe one day I could purchase (or make) another set of scales to use these decals on. Can I put them back on with gorilla glue or is there a certain procedure?

Thanks!

Search the workshop forum using the words removing inlays and you should find five or so very useful threads.

You can remove the bolsters from those scales with acetone but you'll end up losing the green coloring which is painted and very fragile. The acetone alone will already discolor them. First dismantle the scales especially the pin at the wedge.

Thanks Max, I wish I would have read this about 10 minutes ago.

I removed the pins and wedge and started trying to remove the bolsters. I'm not sure if all are like this but mine seemed as if they were heated up and burned in to the scales. The green paint actually looked like it may have been wax. (so just the fact that I'm getting new scales would have lost me the color)

I didn't have acetone so I ended up boiling the scales to soften them up a bit and used a very thin nail file to get under the bolster. It seemingly worked out well but I had to re-form the metal to the scale after it was off as it bent a little.

I guess all of these are learning experiences in a first time restore.