Thread: collarless pinning of Ivory

I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on a technique to duplicate the old way of collarless pinning without breaking scales? I figure annealing the pin good and prayer/meditation is in order.Nervous to attempt. Thanks in advance!

If I was going to try collarless pinning of ivory I would practice on pieces of acrylic until I felt some confidence in my ability.

Good idea. It might instill some false confidence, though! I thought I might try it on some broken ivory? I wonder if there is a hollow pointed punch available to get the domed effect as well.

You can use a Nail Set to get the effect you want - BUT- be careful as the Nail Set takes away feel... I use it for Washerless peens only at the very last stages more for looks then tightness... You still have to rotate and move the tool around as you tap..


Stanley Hand Tools-58-230*3 Piece Assorted Square Head Nail Set

I actually did one of these last night. I transferred an MK10 I had to a set of Ivory scales that had a junked blade in it. I was just extremely careful while pinning and did a ton of light taps. They turned out pretty good and I'll try to snap a pic this evening.

The first time I tried this though I definitely broke the ivory scales. I'm sure there is a better method to what I have done so far in trying.

Why not just use a very fine collar?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You can use a Nail Set to get the effect you want - BUT- be careful as the Nail Set takes away feel... I use it for Washerless peens only at the very last stages more for looks then tightness... You still have to rotate and move the tool around as you tap..


Stanley Hand Tools-58-230*3 Piece Assorted Square Head Nail Set

A nail set can be very effective, but you have to really use light tapping. The set localizes pressure from the tapping and if you're off or use too hard a tap, it is really easy to crack a scale. A smaller ball peen like a 2 oz can help too.

Ivory is actually alot tougher than most people realize,but the possibiliy of disaster is real for sure.
While on the subject,I restore clocks as a hobby,alot of clock makers tools are very usefull in Razor restoration,such as clock hand removal tools,Cannot be beat for a gentle way of removing old bent pins,another real possibility for cracking scales.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on a technique to duplicate the old way of collarless pinning without breaking scales? I figure annealing the pin good and prayer/meditation is in order.Nervous to attempt. Thanks in advance!

If you're worried about errant hammer blows slipping off the pin & hitting the scales you could get a piece of suede or similar & punch a neat hole in it, about 3/16" diam. Put it over the pin & you have a bit of protection & an extra focus to centre your taps.

Great idea! I have used layers of tape to protect scales in the past. This makes sense! Thx