Clear Scales (the Sequel)

So HomerJay asks about clear scales here in this thread, and I thought hey, what the heck, why not?

enjoy...
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I left a little bit of the blue plastic on so as not to scratch the scales. I'll be putting wax bushings in when I pin it for real.

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say hi to the chief!
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I made a pair like this a few months ago for ha ha's. I added a piece of Dragons Blood Recon Stone for the wedge. I didn't take a picture of them but they are at my shop. If i remember I'll pull them out tomorrow. Nice work btw....

so what's the verdict, SRP? should I pin this razor in the clear scales or just sit back and have a laugh about a good experiment?

Why not pin it and use it for awhile and see how you like it ? With your obvious skill it wouldn't be a lot of work to change to a different set for that blade if you decided to. Real nice work.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Why not pin it and use it for awhile and see how you like it ? With your obvious skill it wouldn't be a lot of work to change to a different set for that blade if you decided to. Real nice work.

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I like the way you you think Jimmy.....!!!

I know that if I had a razor with clear scales, I would slice my hand open by thinking they were closed when they were not

One of our guys, Superfly, long ago made a set from the clear stuff then decided that he wanted to change it so he sanded the scales, carefully, and ended up with a frosted look. Kinda cool.

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Originally Posted by randydance062449

One of our guys, Superfly, long ago made a set from the clear stuff then decided that he wanted to change it so he sanded the scales, carefully, and ended up with a frosted look. Kinda cool.

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Here's a set I dit to look frosted and etched the W&B logo on it. I never installed them but they were fun to make.

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Nice pinning, if you want to round the edges and still keep the clear sand the curved edges progressively until at least around 500 grit paper, then take a low temperature propane torch to the satin areas. Don't melt them just heat up the surface a little and they will be clear again. Experiment on a scrap piece to get the feel for the right temperature so you don't burn or melt the scales.

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Originally Posted by Mastershake

Nice pinning, if you want to round the edges and still keep the clear sand the curved edges progressively until at least around 500 grit paper, then take a low temperature propane torch to the satin areas. Don't melt them just heat up the surface a little and they will be clear again. Experiment on a scrap piece to get the feel for the right temperature so you don't burn or melt the scales.

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If the scales get too hot and cool quickly, they will crack at the first application of a solvent like alcohol or some ammonia cleaners. Or they may crack over time for no apparent reason. The cause is induced stress which did not get a chance to release slowly. Much the same a hardening a blade and not tempering it.

So, do they then need to be tempered back by placing in hot water?

That may be one way to accomplish it. We used to use a dry heat oven at @200º for a while.

The best thing is not to stress the plastic in the first place. Too tight pins will do it and so will buffing too hard.

I recently wiped out a pair of scales by trying that and ended up with bubbled plastic. Plexiglass and acrylic do absorb moisture over time if they are not stored properly. So what happened to me is that I did not remove the scales from the oven when I shut it off and the temperature spiked and boiled the internal moisture.
Practice before you try these things!!