New scales help!

So i've finally decided to make my own custom set of scales for an early razor. I took an old style lead spacer and shaped it into a squarish form to fit with the general look of the scales. I used an old set of cap washers and I couldn't wait to pin the blade....and this is exactly what I did.

Pretty soon I noticed that the blade is off center, but I thought that it will be fixed as long as I will continue to adjust the pinning by hitting the opposite side pivot pin, like I did in other pinning projects....well I was wrong.

I tried and tried with no success, so I felt I have no choice and I un-pinned the blade. Luckily no damage have been done to the scales nor the washers.

First I thought it was the blade that maybe bent but after I checked with other blades I have I found that they're all off center in the same direction. My conclusion is that the scales may cause the problem, but since these are my first custom scales I really don't want to dispose them as I worked for hours on making them.

I'm adding some picture of the scales for you guys to observe and may notice something crucial that i've missed (I know that on side is slightly more curved that the other, this accrued only after I buffed them).
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They are bent,perhaps from heat generated by buffing,try to get them straight,may solve the problem

OK so I straighten them up but nothing happened...
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then I placed a brass rod and saw this:
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I thought that drilling one hole and placing it over the other scale then mark the place and trill the second one will be effective (since I still don't have a drill stand), well, that wasn't a good idea huh?
Any thought of how can I still save the project?

Hard to tell but from the pics you may need to bush that pivot hole,looks pretty worn.Good luck.

Always best to drill with the scales together. You could try to oblong the hole slightly using the drill bit, kind of work it in a way like a file so that it brings it more in line.
Also...is it just my eyes or is your brass rod bent? If it is then there's no real way to fix that...needs to be straight.

You could use double sided tape, stick them together and dril out the holes with a 5/64 bit, it will leave some play at first but will snug down as you peen.

one of your scales is not straight and possibly the pivot pins are misaligned.
Are those made from horn?

Yes those are brown horn scales. I notice that the pivot holes are misaligned so I alined them using a 1/16 driller when one hole got slightly wider to one way and the other to the opposite direction. When placing a rod between them now, it sits straight.

My concern now is for the brass rod, can I use the same diameter rod although it's have more space around it now in the pivot holes or should I get a slightly thicker rod?

you can straighten the scales before you pin the razor:
do a search on straightening sales and centering blades, you will find a lot of good tips and info.

You could try pinning the blade first. Then when you pin the wedge end you can push lengthwise back and forth on the two scales to mess with the centering as you pin the wedge.

The technique works sometimes but not all the time.

Charlie

Sound like a very good idea but I would really want to avoid unpinning the wedge as well, I don't think I could save either the scales or the washers after it.

It's easy. Pin the blade, then open it, and fit a long length of spacer material between the scales from wedge to pivot, same as the width when the balde is shut. and sit the scales in a tall jar of just-boiled water. do it next to the sink with the cold tap running. Pull the razor out every 30 secs or so (it usually only takes a couple of minutes) and see if the scales flex. Once they become plastic enough, curve them to accommodate the blade and while holding in position douse with cold water to harden them again. You might have to do it a couple of times, and/or you might have to over-bend them if they tend to relax back a bit.

The long spacer is to prevent the scales closing right up or deforming - they go surprisingly plastic. You must thoroughly dry everything - the tang will rust if you don't. Leave the blade out for a good while, as the horn takes on water and takes a while to let it go again. You may need to buff (slowly - no heat generation) or oil the scales after this.

Regards,
Neil

PS: forgot to add that the spacer should be flexible - something like hard wool felt cut to size and taper.

Thank you very much for all the advices!
Neil, that sounds easy indeed, but I couldn't manage set the images right in my head (never heard about this method before)...
Should I unpin the wedge for this? what thickness should the spacer be? what happens if the scales will start to bent too much?
It sounds like a quick and easy way to fix the problem but also an easy way to ruin them with non experienced hands.

The scales should be pinned both ends. Don't unpin the wedge.

If you do not have a thin spacer between the scales, then when they get hot and plastic and soft they can collapse towards each other when you bend them, leaving very little space for the blade to rest in. If you cant find a long flexible spacer, you can make little spacers, like the wedge, and space them between the scales, quite close together, while the blade is open, so you have the correct gap. Make them so that they don't fall out, but do not push the scales apart. Then when you bend them, the gap is preserved. In practice the horn that is very close together at the wedge takes most of the bending stresses, along with the centre of the scale on the outside of the bend, which must elongate slightly or push the opposite scale out slightly, so a bit of closing up is inevitable.

If you have any scrap horn left, practice with it. If it is about the same thickness you will get an idea of how it will behave when you bend it. If it is thick enough you can probably do without the spacers - I generally only use them with thin horn scales of around 2mm and under - these tend to collapse together when hot and wet!

Regards,
Neil

So, i've decided to jump into the water and try Neil's advice. well....IT WORKED!
It took 4-5 tries before I was satisfied with the results but it was super easy and quick.
I won't say more but I'll let the pics do the rest.

Straightening those scales (pardon me for the sink's condition:-) :
Attachment 128679
I created the spacer using a q-tip head and a folded piece of cardboard

And the final result!!! My first fully restored, custom-scaled razor. I wanted to leave some of its character without polishing him into a mirror shine, so I hand sanded it with 800-1500 grit and moved to the 400-8k micro fiber cloths.
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The only thing is that I accidentally miscalculated the scales length and I made them a little bit short, only 5.2" which causes the blades toe become very close to the lead wedge (almost touching it). But in general i'm quite happy with this first time experience.

Good advice from Neil. Just want to add that drilling off centre is the least likely culprit for misalignment, unless the pin is really snug in the razor. More often it's an asymmetrically ground tang. From your pics I'm guessing yours was closing to the pile side ?

Yes, it was.
BTW, anyone knows where can I find some proper lead material for making spacers in future projects? Somehow I couldn't find it anywhere...

I got a bit of lead sheeting (roofing offcuts) from a scrap metal dealer. They wouldn't sell less than 1 Kg, which cost a couple of pounds, and is enough to make spacers for several thousand razors.

You can buy lead flashing - it is around 4 inches wide, maybe 6 inches, from builders merchants. You then need a flat surface to hammer it into a wedge on.

Regards,
Neil

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OrSh

Yes, it was.

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Thought so. Look at your 2nd pic. You can see the tang is not ground symmetrically. If your pinning alignment had anything to do with centring it would actually correct the problem. Razors like that are the source of much cussing & hair pulling till you do a few successfully. Looks like you're well on the road now . :tu

Fishing weights & hobby shops sell lead tape 1/8 X 3/4 X 6 inch for sail & motorized planes.

You could also try asking around to see if anyone who works on stained glass in your area has scraps. SWMBO's aunt builds stained glass windows for a living (usually commercial projects) and has TONS of it sitting around. I mean, 5 gallon buckets everywhere filled with cut off pieces 1"-3" in length. You could make lots of spacers from that, and since it's such a pliable metal, could be shaped rather easy.

If the blade is actually touching the wedge, you can file a bit off the back of the wedge if you have a flat file small enough to fit between the scales. Be careful of the lead dust when filing.

I tried to file it with a flat file but since there is not enough space between the scales its very hard not touching the scales...somehow its not that bad and although it really close to the edge its still not touching it.
The other problem is that today I checked the scales again and I found out that the blade is off center again! same problem, it goes too much to the right and is lightly touching the sides of the inner scales when closing :cry: