Originally Posted by
gcbryan
I thought I post a few "lessons learned" from my first scale making project.
I'm not a particularly mechanical guy compared to most in this sub-forum I'm sure.
I'll spend more time fine-tuning things with the sandpaper next time. I do like the "natural" looking effect of shellac.
The wedge took more time and was harder to fashion that I would have thought. It turned out to not be a perfect fit but at one point I just decided to continue on with the project just to get it finished.
I should have installed the blade before I glued the front end (wedge) together but I didn't. Therefore when I did pin the blade the scales were tight enough that I couldn't use the inner o-rings.
I could also just have glued only one side of the wedge so that everything could be taken apart.
When pinning the blade the outer o-ring from one side fell off without me noticing so as I penned one side it did flatten out the brass but there was no o-ring there.
It's still working (didn't pull though) but one day I'll redo it when I have more parts. So far the blade isn't tight enough or as tight as I'd like it. I still may be able to adjust this.
I bought some wax today and may use that on top of the shellac. Pinning in general was a little more tedious than I would have thought.
All tools used were hand tools except for an electric drill. Another lesson learned (for next time) is to put a pin through the first set of holes drilled before drilling the second set.
I visually lined things up while drilling and everything worked more or less but one set of holes were slightly offset. I did drill though both pieces of wood each time but it's easy for the pieces to not be lined up precisely.
Going thought this process from start to finish is definitely a good learning experience. As you can imagine I will do things a bit differently next time.
I'll post a picture in a day or two after I've had time to tweak a few things but this first project is nothing to write home about compared to some of the examples I've seen on this site.
It's a start however.