I'm in a similar situation. I'm finding that when using hand tools or even my dremel it is hard to bevel the edges of the scales correctly. I'm not the best craftsman out there but I'm hoping someone with experience will chime in so I can get a feel for how to change my process as well.

A small problem I ran into trying to use the dremel to shape the scales after cutting... because it is drum shaped and so small, I got a bit of a wavy look going down the edge. I ended up using my neighbors belt sander to fix the problem but I'm sure it can be done by hand if you are patient. Maybe even the dremel and I was doing it wrong.