Thread: Wood for scale

Hello all good people,

I know you all read similar post already and search 1000 times regards wood for scales but I have quick questions:

1. What are best woods for scales from list below?
2. Should wood type be soft, hard, very hard?
3. Which wood types are better water resistant?
4. What references should I use regards scale vs. razor weight as I think would be quite bad to have a razor with overweight scales?
5. Does this forum has any table like chart which can be used as reference when making wood scales.

I am assuming table we will be based on personal preferences but at least this will be some references for beginners. If not I would be more then welcome collect info/opinion and create one table. Your opinion is a gift as I will using it for further reference during restoration.

WOOD FOR SCALE:
Acacia (Australian Blackwood)
African Blackwood
African Mahogany
African Padauk
African Rosewood
Afzelia Burl
Alder (superior)
Amendoium
America Walnut
Anigre
Aromatic Cedar
Ash
Australian Cypress
Balsa
Basswood
Beech
Big Leaf Quilted Maple
Birch
Birds Eye Maple
Birdseye Maple
Black and White Ebony*
Blackwood
Bloodwood
Bocote
Bolivian Rosewood
Brazilian Cherry
Brazilian Rosewood Dalbergia Spruc
Briar Burl
Bubinga
Bullettree
Butternut
Camphor
Canary Wood
Caribbean Cherry
Caribbean Rosewood
Caribbean Walnut*
Cherry
Chestnut Burl
Chichipate
Clear Spruce
Clear Western Red Cedar
Cocobolo
Common Hickory
Curly Anigre
Curly Cherry
Curly Goncalo Alves
Curly Koa
Curly Maple
Curly Redwood
Douglas Fir Clears
Douglas Fir Rough VG
Eastern White Pine
Eucalyptus
Euro Beech
Fiddleback Mahogany
Figured Eucalyptus
Figured Goncalo Alves
Figured Quartersawn Sycamore
Figured Walnut
Flamed Birch
Gaboon Ebony (blackest wood on eart
Genuine Mahogany
Genuine Teak
Hackberry
Hard Maple
Hard White Maple
Heart Pine
Hickory
Hickory White
Holly
Honduran Rosewood
Imbuia
Iroko
Japanese Cedar
Jarrah Burl
Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry)
Jelutong
Kiaat
Kingwood
Koa
Kurupay
Leadwood
Leopardwood
Lignum Vitae
Limba - Black
Macasser Ebony
Madagascan Rosewood
Madrone Burl
Mahagony
Makore Q.S.
Maple
Mesquite
Monkey Pod
Morado*
Mun Ebony
My Lady
Olivewood
Osage Orange
Padauk
Palo Rosa
Pau Rosa
Pernambuco
Philippine Mahogony
Picturewood
Pink Ivory
Pomelle Bubinga
Pommele Makore
Poplar
Purpleheart
Quartersawn Anigre
Quartersawn Red Oak
Quartersawn White Oak
Quilted Makore
Quilted Maple
Red Heart
Red oak
Red River Gum
Redheart Chakte Kok
Rhodesian Teak
Ribbon Stripe Sapele Mahogany
Santa Maria
Santos Mahogany
Sapele Mahogany
Sapwood
Satinwood
Sitka Spruce
Snakewood
Soft Curly Maple
Soft Maple
Spalted Maple
Spanish Cedar
Sugar maple (A. Saccharum)
Tambotie
Teak
Thuya Burl
Thuya wood
Tiete Rosewood
Tiger Curly Maple
Tigerwood
Tulipwood
Two Tone Quilted Bubinga
USA Cypress
Verdelago
Walnut
Walnut Caribbean ( Nogal )
Walnut Crotch
Walnut Peruvian ( Nogal )
Wenge
White Cedar
White Mohogony
White Oak
Wormy Maple (Ambrosia)
Yellow Pine
Yellowheart
Yew
Zebrano (Zebra wood)
Ziricote

Regards:-)

That's a big question you asked there, as you can use any wood on that list if you know how to manipulate it to your purposes. Softer woods, spalted woods, highly figured woods, wood with frost fractures and eyes and bug holes and whatnot may need to be stabilized to work with. Some others might only require a polyurethane finish, some just a CA finish, and depending on the tools you are working with, you may not be able to easily cut very hard wood without splintering it. I personally use wood cut into blocks about 1.5 - 2" x 6" long, and use a belt sander to shape them from there.

If you told me how you intent to work the wood, and how you intend to finish it, that would be helpful. My advice, from the woods you have listed, would be to avoid working with due to their difficulty (at least initially) purple heart wood, snakewood, and cocobolo. If you look for wood burl blanks, figured wood, burled and spalted wood on ebay, you can find some nice wood to work with. Wood is more dependant on the piece, not the type. Find a nice piece that has pretty figuring and go from there.

To answer some of your questions:
1) ebony, mahogony, snakewood, cocobolo, and padauk all seem to be pretty "waterproof."
2) Wood should be of a consistency to be 1/16" thick, with some flex, without cracking or compromising its strengh. If its 1/16" thick and is in danger of breaking, it's too weak, and should be discarded or stabilized, or finished in a type of finish that will give it strength.

Of your listed wood, I like working with gaboon ebony, birds eye maple, quilted maple, and Afzelia Burl. But, to be honest, I only make scales out of highly figured wood. Show me a set of stabilized, highly figured spalted marcian birch birl and I'll be all over it!

I have found that the harder woods make the best scales. Specifically the hard, oily woods are my preference. My favorite wood is Thuya which is a burl and beautiful but very soft and easy to break. Most burls (the nicest grain) need a liner as well as CA to make it durable enough.
Woodsmandave above listed snakewood and cocobola as woods to avoid but I have found them to work well and buff up with a great shine. These hard woods are oily and more water resistant than the others. Maple, ebony, cherry, oak, snakewood, etc are all hard woods. Ironwood is especially hard. They are harder to hand sand but stand the test of time better. Like I said, I love the burls and they are easy to sand because they are very soft and crack easily. They also usually have checks and voids so as you sand, you never know what is going to appear.

You can adjust the balance of the razor with the size and type of scale wood. A metal wedge doesn't hurt either. Many of the larger blades like a WB 8/8 is difficult to balance as you can imagine. I usually work with 6 X 1 X 1/8 stock. Good luck .. it's a lot of fun making scales.

I'll work with just about anything, but some of the ones I prefer (and the reasons) are:

Padauk - really easy to work with and takes a beautiful tung oil finish
Cocobolo - nice colour and fairly tight grain
Bubinga (my all time favourite at this point) - has a beautiful grain when tung oil is used - almost 3D.
Rosewood - buffs up very nice on a cotton wheel, when sanded into the high grits (2000-2500)

all oily woods will work fine that includes rosewood family (cocobolo for example), ebony (massakar, black/white etc), those do not need finsihing if you do not want to use one.
You can use almost any non oily wood as long as it has the correct fiber structure and can be cut and shaped without splintering. Some woods such as burls need backing because they are easy to break and can't bend when made into scales, unless first stabilized.

I forgot to ask... is there any wood that you didn't list? lol. Have you considered starting out using micarta or G10 or even acrylic? They are durable (acrylic not so much), easy to form, pretty easy to sand and will not break (acrylic can melt if you don't watch out). And it comes in 1/8 thick stock so no cutting is necessary. Just athough for you.

Hello,

I think have I missed few wood in my list:-) Regards micarta or G10 I have not try it yet. But just today I come out with other idea... friend of my told me that he own 3D printer that can print flat surface elements (like head of Joda:-). I will try to design custom scale in CAD and let`s results after "printing"?!

Any wood will work if sealed properly,the list is endless.
You want water resistance,nothing comes close to Lignum Vitae,is still used today to make underwater bearings for hydroelectic dams and ships propeller shafts.Is 40% oil by wgt and a joy to machine.
I use alot of Lignum.

Amazing set pixelfixed! I can see that I might to update my garage tools in order to make scale or set like on your picture. Thank you for advice!

Thank you>>>>>>>>>>>