Advice on ivory scales please

[Biltong & Boerewors]

Spent today cleaning up the corrosion on the blades and pinned them.
Just took my time and did it right. I did use collars on the pins, so I had enough confidence to pin them tighter than what they were. They are fine now, not as tight as I prefer, but at least they don’t flap around.
I am very happy with the result.

Tomorrow I will hone them and put them through a balsa progression. No doubt in my mind they will be great shavers.

Thanks for the advice and support guys!

 

[Steve56]

Don’t know why my phone camera can’t show their real color. They look much paler on the photos. In real life they have a beautiful buttery patina

All phone cameras over saturate color, some more than others. Open the image in your photo app, then reduce the saturation by 10-20 points. That should help.

 

[Doc226]

Ivory is not as fragile as most think. Unpinning requires drilling out, a new sharp bit is a must. I usually file the mushroom flat and the drill out. Never use flush clutters.

I usually lightly sand the inside and outside of the scales and then buff, they end up looking like new.

Re pinning is fine as long as you don’t miss the pin, many, many, many light taps are needed, a little loser than most others is a good place to stop.

 

[Biltong & Boerewors]

Ivory is not as fragile as most think. Unpinning requires drilling out, a new sharp bit is a must. I usually file the mushroom flat and the drill out. Never use flush clutters.

I usually lightly sand the inside and outside of the scales and then buff, they end up looking like new.

Re pinning is fine as long as you don’t miss the pin, many, many, many light taps are needed, a little loser than most others is a good place to stop.

Yeah, after working with it I am more confident that ivory is not as fragile as I thought. It’s because I have seen so many broken or cracked ivory scales that I thought it must be fragile.
My project went well without any mishaps.
The razors shave great and the ivory feels good in the hand.

 

[firebox]

I recently used Barkeeper's friend on two 'new' old blades. It darkened the steel where there were imperfections. It's a great product for a lot of things, but maybe not razor steel. I was able to polish out the staining with some Flitz and a felt wheel on a dremel.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

I recently used Barkeeper's friend on two 'new' old blades. It darkened the steel where there were imperfections. It's a great product for a lot of things, but maybe not razor steel. I was able to polish out the staining with some Flitz and a felt wheel on a dremel.

BKF is good for converting light areas of active red rust to black, which is inert. But the same chemical process can put a bit of patina on clean steel. It helps if you don't leave it on very long. A warm vinegar soak works similarly and will patina the blade too. As a matter of fact I have a razor that has a tiny bit of patina at the edge from testing the bevel with a cherry tomato when I was honing.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I've thoroughly enjoyed this thread.

Thanks for starting it, Biltong. It's been very entertaining. Well done, to all the contributors.

 

[Bevel]

When cleaning ivory scales you can scrub them with lemon juice on a rag, rinse, dry them off and leave them in sunlight.

 

[Steve56]

Jewelry polishing pads have been the best thing I’ve found for cleaning/polishing ivory. No chemicals needed. They work really well on some types of blade rist/oxidation/pitting too. Best price has been on Etsy.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

You can make new thrust washers, by smashing no. 0 wide brass flat washer with a hammer on an anvil or any flat steel. Make them as thin as you want, you will need to re-drill the hole, easy with a 1/16th drill bit in a pin vise.

Or clean the old thrust washers, soak in Simple Green or any degreaser to wash off all the black tarnish, then a quick soak in Vinegar 10-15 minutes. This will make them pinkish, put the washer on your fingertip, a dab of any metal polish on a paper towel on the bench and polish the washer on your fingertip.

They will turn black again as the brass tarnishes but can be cleaned with WD40 and paper towels.

I have been using PETE clear plastic from water bottles to make clear thrust washers using a leather hand punch. Punch a ¼ in. disc then a 1/16th in. hole in each. They are bullet proof, very smooth yet can be tightened and will never tarnish like brass. Also, they are near invisible when used with transparent scales.

 

[Steve56]

I recently used Barkeeper's friend on two 'new' old blades. It darkened the steel where there were imperfections. It's a great product for a lot of things, but maybe not razor steel. I was able to polish out the staining with some Flitz and a felt wheel on a dremel.

Read the labels. Never use acids on carbon steel.

 

[Steve56]

I have been using PETE clear plastic from water bottles to make clear thrust washers using a leather hand punch. Punch a ¼ in. disc then a 1/16th in. hole in each. They are bullet proof, very smooth yet can be tightened and will never tarnish like brass. Also, they are near invisible when used with transparent scales.

TY, Great info Marty!

 

[ebonysw45]

I have two ivory scaled razors with broken ears at the hinge
and they both have washers on the hinge pin.

I also have ivory scales with washers that are fine,
but my only two razors which are broken in this way,
have washers.

I think that ivory is fragile enough so that a missed hammer strike
past the edge of the washer, may be a problem.
That might also account for the looseness.

The razors in question are a Bengall and an A&N CSL.

View attachment 1443631

Did you ever repair these? If so how? Thanks

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

There are some very skilled Swiss Army knife customizers who unpin the knives and repin them with hex screw pivots after customizing them. I bet they could do a wonderful job on this type of project.

 

[Legion]

There are some very skilled Swiss Army knife customizers who unpin the knives and repin them with hex screw pivots after customizing them. I bet they could do a wonderful job on this type of project.

One day I am going to rescale a SAK in ivory. As yet my only donors have been razors, so too narrow for all but the smallest knives. But I’ll score some old piano keys some day.

 

[DrStrange]

Did you ever repair these? If so how? Thanks

I have no ideas on how to even try to repair those.

 

[J B Addis]

Did you ever repair these? If so how? Thanks

I have no ideas on how to even try to repair those.

This is an experimental repair somewhat in that vein I did a while ago. The replacement piece is mammoth. Yeah, the grain and coloration don't match, yeah the glue joint is undyed so it's really obvious, but it was only a proof of concept. Unlike horn scales, ivory seems to be too thin and inflexible to directly glue-splice without reinforcement. The solution was to glue a backing to the end, in this case two layers of standard printer paper well saturated with glue, forming a substance similar to paper micarta. This backing is thin enough not to interfere with centering, is similar in color to the scale material, and supports the joint just enough to keep it from flexing. The backing is about an inch long (I apologize for the blurry third image, my phone's camera is not manually adjustable for focus to the degree necessary for this). The joint is slightly scarfed, and in the future I would scarf it further if possible. I used CA glue, but probably a good hard curing epoxy would also work. I've wriggled the pivot plenty and flexed the scale around as much as would be commonly encountered in use to no ill effect.

If done with a little more attention to detail it could, dare I say, have an appreciable element of wabi-sabi to it.

 

[life2short1971]

In the future you drill the pins out on ivory scales.

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

Going back to the Swiss Army Knife customizers, would adding some 316/titanium liners between the ivory and blade be a good idea? This would give the ivory some protection. Maybe even make the liners slightly larger than the scales.

If these are going to be users and not shelf queens that would be worth the investment. Some of the customizers have 3D scanners and CNC machines, so it is not such a technical challenge to make the liners.