Thread: Cracked scales

Hi all,

I have this old IXL by Geo Wostenholm & Son's, Washington Works, Sheffield, England.
The scales are cracked. Looks like someone pushed the blade into the scales too hard and they cracked.

I thought about drilling a hole and putting a small copper or brass rivet as a fix. Would it work?
I have some small carbide drill bits in the 0.028-0.055 inch range and a dremel drill press.
How hard is the piece of steel that is sandwiched between the scales?
What is the material the scales are made of?

Thanks.

Hey there,
I have seen razors with repairs much like you mention. The immediate problem I see is this: Chances are your scales are very brittle, and if so it would be very easy to damage them further during the drilling part, and even more so during the peening. The ones I have seen repaired have all been horn, yours seem to be some plastic substance? It is hard to make out in the picture, but I can't recall ever seeing bone or other natural materials stamped like that.
Brass is ideal for peening, and much used. Copper not so much.
I'm guesstimating that piece of steel to be about as hard as lead That is most likely what it is, if it is metal.
If you do decide to go ahead and try, I'd vote drill very slow with little pressure, and be very gentle while peening.

Best of luck.

They look to be celluloid from the pic... Yes what you are thinking might work out...

Here is more info then you will ever need including what parts you need and how to pin

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html

Don't use copper. Having recently saved a razor where a previous restorer used a copper pivot rod I can tell you that:
- copper is too soft and warps.
- Rusts and gets horrible green patina everywhere.

One option to save the scales is to line them with clear acrylic. Look up some of the work by Baldy on the forums who has done this relatively recently.

Looking at the scales, I'd check if they were bone or Ivory first with the hot pin test.

You could depin the razor, give the scales a very good cleaning then put a drop of thin CA on the crack. Thin CA will wick into the crack. Then you can give them a high grit sanding (600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 and higher if you have it) and then a pass on a buffer to polish them back up. I have fixed a few sets like that.

I've never done this on plastic scales before, but epoxy resin has always been good to me. I imagine it would bond that crack, and give your scales added protection and a nice polish.

I got her drilled and riveted. I made a brass rivet. Not sure what the metal between the scales is, but I know it is non-magnetic. Could be lead. Should I be concerned about the lead toxicity?

As for the scales, it looks as though they have some type of grain to them, as in wanting to split lengthwise. Not like modern plastics, which are mostly homogeneous. Any tests I can run on them? Any tutorial on identifying scale material?

I would love to depin it and give the steel a really good scrubbing, but I don't want to take chances on cracking the scales at this time. Maybe later. Might replace the lead spacer with something else too, while I am at it.

Thanks.

I got her drilled and riveted. I made a brass rivet. Not sure what the metal between the scales is, but I know it is non-magnetic. Could be lead. Should I be concerned about the lead toxicity?

Only if you intend to eat the razor. Or if you intend to sand the lead, and breath the dust.

Charles

That blade have ivory handle. it is not plastic.
i just simply glued with glue.
i may be wrong but it still holds.
gl

No Tongue Tip Tests then? I had high hopes for that.