Wewf, finally!

Well, it took one helluva long time, and a lot of different failed prototypes and tests, but, I finally made me a set of scales from carbon fibre.

Pics:
closed - close up - vertical - profile

The scales have a few very minor aesthetic flaws, but came out slick as hell, if I do say so myself :) It has a nice low profile too; the thickest part of the entire thing is just over 5/16" of an inch.

The scales are made from 1/16" thick carbon fibre sheet. I'm not sure the exact details but I think it's a triple layer twill weave 3k tow carbon fibre. Strong as hell, and, whatever resin was used is like cement. I added a few layers of CA to the outter sides so it could be polished up like glass. The blade sitting comfortably in the scales is a heljestrand.

These were the most difficult set of scales I've made yet. At the moment I'm doing all my cuts by hand with a coping saw. This stuff was harder to saw through than twice the thickness of any of the woods I have. It also dulled two of my coping saw blades :shrug: :mad: Needless to say, I think I'll be staying away from it until I get myself a bandsaw or something similar. Also, Sanding makes the worst mess ever. It produces this fine powder that just turns everything black; it's like sanding a piece of charcoal.

I definitely want to make some more scales for a few of my smaller razors, but, this stuff is just such a pain to work with that I'm going to have to hold off until I can get some better power tools.

actually if is really as hard as cement it would probably be easier to work with a diamond wheel on your dremmel. If you don't have a dremmel you can find a cheep alternative here: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=94076

Those look too cool for ther not to be more of them out there ;)

They look fantastic. Nice work. Very coo.

I wonder what a blade that was "blued" would look like in them?

John

Great work Jason. I had my doubts when I saw the material at first (shaping difficulties), but you've burried them 10ft under ground now.

Those are some slick looking scales. It looks like they've got a bit of depth to them even though they're just 1/16" thick. Nice job.

Looks great!
Those scales will probably out last your entire razor collection!!

Fantastic!

C utz

Lookin' good! How are they for balance?

RT

As I haven't honed & shaved with it yet, can't say for certain on the balance. Just playing with it in my hands it feels fine though. The carbon fibre resin is denser than wood, but since it's only 1/16" thick, is overall lighter. The lightness is a good thing though, as these helly's are some of the lightest blades I've dealt with.

Jason, these look sleek. :nj

I like the pattern on them and how elegantly they came out. If they are too light for heavier blades you can add a liner. Brass would contrast nicely with the carbon fiber.

Where did you get the material for the scales?

Did you need to use a respirator while sanding and shaping the carbon fiber? Lately I started getting concerned that I was inhaling a ton of crap from the buffer and sander so I started using a half face respirator. I look and sound like Darth but figured the CA dust wasn't that good for my lungs. I doubt that the carbon fiber dust is any better. :)

Thanks vlad. I really like the pattern too, especially how the weave will change from flat black to a greyish-silver depending on it's orientation in the light. I perhaps might make a video to demostrate, it's really much more pronounced than the grain of any wood I've come across :)

The material I got off of ebay from a seller called racingjeff. He sells a whole bunch of carbon fibre stuff. The auction I won was for some 24" x 1-1/8" strips. Almost ideal for my purposes.

There's also an ebay store called composite envisions that sells some really nice carbon fibre sheets. I haven't ordered anything from them yet, but if I ever need some more carbon fibre sheet, I'll probably try them. They use some really nice and glossy resins that, from their pictures, look incredible. Their stuff is more expensive though.

Search around on ebay for "carbon fiber sheet" and you should find a bunch of things too. There's also kevlar-carbon fibre mixed sheets, and vividly coloured carbon fibre too.

I usually use a respirator if there's anything that could be floating around in the air; or even if it just smells strong. I don't use anything fancy though, just the cheap ones that could filter out particles, probably no good for vapours though. With this stuff I made especially sure to wear a respirator. After having my small workspace covered in a fine black powder, I was just thinking I don't want that in my lungs. Whether or not it's extremely hazardous, I don't know, I just wore a mask anyway.

Another good thing to have around when sanding is one of those small vacs. Makes cleanup a breeze.

very impressed.well done .
Hope you wore a respirator ,that stuff is no good for you
Kind regards Peter

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Originally Posted by ToxIk

Well, it took one helluva long time, and a lot of different failed prototypes and tests, but, I finally made me a set of scales from carbon fibre.

Pics:
closed - close up - vertical - profile

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sweeeeet...
very beautiful. a work of art.
and yes, carbon fiber dust is very, very bad for the lungs.

btw, what do you use for attaching the scales to the razor?
is that one of those bolts that you have to press together in a vice, or something else?

Generally it's a combination of #0W washers b/w the tang and the scales, #0 brass washers on the outside of the svales, a 1/16" brass rod going through that gets peened.