Thread: Scale materials

Originally Posted by Martin103

I dont know about scuba diving but most oily woods will do very well and for a long time with refinishing
when needed.
Woods like Ebony, rosewood, purpleheart, teak,bubinga, and Lignum Vitae the best one for sure used extensively in marine application.

Teak wood has been used for spearguns, long before we were born. It will handle the rinsing in your sink or the humidity in the air.

It's just not cheap.

Originally Posted by Scookum

Can't say for sure what kind of wood I might try...Depends on whats available at lee valley I suppose. In looking at my scales, it wood (pun intended) seem like 1/8 thick should do the trick? Is there a standard thickness I should use?

1/8 is a good thickness. Depending on your finish you may want to thin that stock down a bit further. For example a bunch of coats of CA (and I presume resin too?) can add some extra beefiness that you may or may not want. But if you choose an oil-friendly wood and go with the tung oil, 1/8 should serve you well.

As for the selection at Lee Valley, it varies. But you can usually find bocote, zebrawood, cocobolo, purpleheart, rosewood, different maples, and some others I can't recall off the top of my head. They will usually have a few 1/8x3x(24? not sure of the length) pieces of each to choose from. But remember the most important thing: don't clear them out!! Leave a nice piece or two for me to pick up.

Happy hunting!

EDIT: evidently I missed a few (although not all these are in stock at all stores all the time): About Exotic Wood - Lee Valley Tools

EDIT II: make sure you grab the 1/8" stock and not the 1/4" as they have both.

Thanks, the more I look the more I like black walnut...

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

Nothing tops Amboyna burl for sexy scales! Leevalley has it in pen blank form. 3/4 x 3/4 x 6. Just big enough for razor scales. I did a wade & butcher with it and it's just gorgeous wood.

Would you mind putting up a pic of this piece?

Dave

This is not an easy wood to work, I have had the thin blanks simply snap in my hands, it needs a tough hard finish that penetrates well to strengthen the wood... I have moved to using a Vacuum Chamber to pre-treat the Burls, before even starting now, as the wood is too expensive to mess up...

Myself I don't use Burls without either a CA or Epoxy finish.. I tend towards the CA as you can use Thin CA as a penetrating washcoat for the first couple of coats then switch to a Medium CA for strength after, in fact the Gorilla brand is my fav for this wood as it is supposedly "Shock Resistant" don't know if that is true or not, but I read that as it was slightly flexible heck it works good, and I can buy it here in the Boonies..

This is a CA finish Amboyna Burl




And another razor same finish

I don't know if I could bring myself to sully such a beautiful piece by using it to cut my facial hair. I shadowbox might be a more apporpiate place of honor to a master craftsman.


Very well done.

Alright,,,Alright,,,,, if I was stranded on a desert island, with the choice of a clam shell or the Amboyna Burl pictured above, I guess I would choose the Amboyna Burl.

....it would be a tough decision though.

Hrm. That might be fun to try, nicking an air-hose would prove to be more interesting then nicking ears...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

That kinda depends on the wood,,,
Properly applied to the correct woods you should be good past your lifetime, even Scuba Diving

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

Glen --
A buddy of mine over on Saginaw Bay (MI) made some scales out of black walnut a few years ago. Well, he sold them some time ago, so I'm wondering how you think that particular wood may hold up over time.

some woods rot, some resist rot, and some do not.

the most rot resistant 'round here are: Eastern Redcedar, (American)Black Walnut, Black Locust, Osage Orange. Osage, a/k/a Bodock or Hedgeapple is the most dense and my first choice. It's a bear to work because of its density, but will last forever, and has two natural colors that i like. Un-oxidized it has a bright green/yellow hue, allowed to oxidize naturally it turns to a deep orange/brown color. Walnut would be my next choice, easy to work-and tight-grained.

Woods that rot three days after they hit the ground: oak, hickory, maple, elm, etc. I am told (have been shown) that it has to do with how water does or doesn't move through the cell structure.

BUT ANYWAY, I might try some curly maple from the scraps of my flintlock stock. It will need a finish. I won't bother finishing walnut or bodock...

Pistol grip makers are now using resin-impregnated (under vacuum) woods-which allows use of "unstable" and low density woods where they couldn't be used before. Spectacular colors/grains can be found in Boxelder Burls and Buckeye Burls.





but i've not worked any "stabilized woods".

yet