My latest project... Plexiscales
I posted earlier about my first attempt with plexiglass, though, it was more or less just a test to see if it would work (I put the first blade I ever restored in it). Even though it came out nicer than I thought and shaves quite well, I knew I could do better. So, I set out to design some better plexiglass scales with a nicer blade.
And the results...
Before
before back
before front
before face
After
closed front
closed top
full front open 1
full front open 2
all
As I'm still learning, and the last time I touched any wood/plastic work was grade 8, I decided to keep the scales simple. No elaborate or fancy designs that I could screw up :)
I traced out some old scales I had and used that as a template. Cut those out and then spent a while rounding out the edges with sandpaper. I actually progressed from 100 to 2000grit sand paper. I originally was thinking of stopping and leaving it as a frosted look; it did kind of pull a neat change of opacity when I put them in water, made them more transparent than when dry. A neat effect, but overall I felt it didn't look as nice, so, I polished them clear.
Like my other plexiscales I only used superglue for the wedge at the end. The glue fills in the striations left from the sanding, so when the pieces are together it's transparent and blends together as one. Unfortunently I failed to sand the wedge perfectly flat, so there's a small part that the glue failed to fill and is opaque :shrug:
I drilled and pinned the blade with little hassle. The blade sits almost perfectly center despite the very slight misalignment in the scales. It's barely noticable and doesn't effect the razor at all; it's probably less than 1/64" but I notice it because I'm abit of a perfectionist.
I should have made the wedge thinner so that the blade rests higher in the scales. The edge does not protrude through the back side of the scales, even with pressure, but, it's close. It's also one of those flaws that won't effect performance in any way but will probably bug the hell out of me.
I'm not sure if I want to pin the end, as well as put a third pin in for the shank to rest on (so that the blade sits slightly higher). I feel the razor has a certain charm in it's minimalist (so to speak) way, but it also looks kind of plain. What do you guys think? I guess it kind of depends on my pin/collar supplies too. Somehow a bunch of collars that I order from vlad seems to have dissapeared :shrug: I think one of my cats was knocking around all my stuff :mad:
The blade itself is in good condition. It was hard to sand off and lose that nice "King Cutter" that was across the face. I guess that's the price I pay for wanting a nice (but not flawless) mirror polish. Despite all the sanding, there's still some minor micropitting near the edge. I'm not sure if it will effect shaving - it's so small and minor I doubt it - but I guess I'll find out tomorow.
She wasn't the easiest to hone. It came pretty sharp when I got it and I didn't want to risk injuring myself so I dulled it. As a result, I had to hone through that, but even after establishing a good bevel, it just didn't hone as smoothly as my others. Never the less, with the help of my pasted paddle, I got 'er to a nice keeness and the only thing left to do is the test shave.
Anyway, lemme know what you guys think. And if anyway cares, I can post the results of the inagural shave as well.