Thread: A question to the Custom Scale Experts and Amateurs

I have found that half the razors that I pin into my custom scales don't naturally center the blade and I have to bevel the inside of the scales at the pivot to correct the plane of rotation to center the blade.

I used to think it was the way I made the scales or sanded the tang but then I had a chance to make two identical sets for two identical blades. One would not sit centered.

I did not sand the tangs of these so my restoration technique was eliminated from the list of suspects.

When I reversed the combination of blades and scales I had the same identical centering problem for the same blade on different scales. So the scales were not the issue, it was really the angle of the grind of the tang.

Tightening the pins does not correct it. I have to bevel the inside of the scales to get the blade centered.

Anyone else encountering the same issue or is it just me and my blades?

If you do encounter this then how do you handle it?

I'm not an expert, but I haven't had any problems with that. Most of the time, mine center up fine. I make sure they're dead flat and square before drilling my holes.

Yes I was wondering the same thing myself
Kind regards Peter

I am removing all material that Lerch may find offensive or construe as a personal attack... bye bye, now...

Joe, I drill my holes when the scale halves are still stuck together and lying flat on the drill press. I realize that I can be off but most of the time the blade has a bit of play on the pivot pin. So the pin angle does not guide the blade. It is the sides of the tang that control the plane of rotation.

Bill, I am glad to hear that it happens to almost everyone including a seasoned veteran like yourself. I was begining to think it was some form of mild autism on my part.

I don't have a Burr King so grinding the tang to straighten it out is an option I only wish I had. I resort to shaping the pivot pin area on the inside to get the blade straight.

Lately, if the blade does not center, I add a large drop of thick CA around the pivot hole (on the inside of the scales) and let it set. I then file that on an angle to compensate for the blade offset. I don't want to touch the scales which cannot always be shaped especially when they are lined or when the shaping would be visible on edge.

I did not want to admit this in public lest I be the only one with the problem.

In my limited experience, I've noticed that the hole drilled into the tang is sometimes off, as well as the tang being the issue.

I've either lived with the problem (if the blade is not resting on the inside of the scales), or tried to offset the problem with small washer's (the paper thin one's from older razors...not the thick dovo washer's).

C utz

I have also experienced the same problem, and I have found it to be more of an issue with blade with generously proportioned tapered tangs e.g W&B.

I worked around the problem by adjusting the wedge, however I have often pondered whether there is a formula relating to the thickness of the tang in relation to the thickness dimensions of the wedge also taking into consideration the distance between the blade pivot and the end of the blade. Just a little something to ponder!!

John

I think C utz might be right... the pin hole is probably not drilled right.

I had a strange experience with my DOVO Micarta. I took the scales off and redid them a bit, taking off some thickness, and making them nice and even. When I was reassembling the razor, I put a piece of brass tubing into the pin hole, to compensate for the with difference. When I assembled the scales the blade was sitting perfectly centered, not like before.
I was using the razor like that for some couple of months, until I decided the pin washers were no good, so I replace them. Now, the blade is sitting off centered. What the #$^@? I took it off, thinking I might hit the pin too hard and bent it. I repined it, but no luck. The blade is still off center.

Now, after reading this thread, it occurred to me that I have probably turned the brass tube in the pin the other way around when I first repined the razor, and maybe the pin was cut unevenly, or the knife marks from one side on it were compensating for the angle or what ever... I might try again...


cheers,
Nenad