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Bocote for Scales

I think I cut this in the wrong direction. Can I use this wood for scales?

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I plan on having a wood wedge and a CA finish, but need to know order or things.

I usually give the final shape of the wedge and wedge pin area of the scales together and sand the edge while held together with a bolt-this leaves a very nice tight and clean fit. How do I go about doing this with the wedge and a CA finish?
 
It's a bear to do and I still haven't figured it out 100% yet.

I cut and final fit the wedge to the scales before finishing, then finish everything. You can't obviously do this after finishing. Sanding the CA is tough, and not rounding the edges as you do is even tougher. I would recommend gluing some wet/dry to a small sanding block so you eliminate the rounded edge risk. Also, unlike the sticky thread on CA finishes, I would sand every coat instead of every 4 or 5 just to eliminate heavy sanding sessions. Also, I wet sand with mineral spirits instead of water - don't know that that makes any difference though. The sanding block does though.

On the wedge, I just do a few light coats, since it's not going to see heavy wear.

That's just my current process. I'm sure others here can comment further.
 
I think the way you cut it looks FANTASTIC! Lots of contrast.

I personally wouldn't try and remove the oil from the wood... wet sand to 800 with baby oil and then buff with a clean cotton cloth and I think you will be very happy with the results.

Tom
 
I think the way you cut it looks FANTASTIC! Lots of contrast.

I personally wouldn't try and remove the oil from the wood... wet sand to 800 with baby oil and then buff with a clean cotton cloth and I think you will be very happy with the results.

Tom

I'll try that. Do you have any pics of what it looks like?

I have been having trouble thinking of a good way to apply the CA finish on both the scales and wedge while keeping the fit.
 
I'll try that. Do you have any pics of what it looks like?

I have been having trouble thinking of a good way to apply the CA finish on both the scales and wedge while keeping the fit.


Yeah, you won't be able to do it that way. You will have to CA each piece individually and then assemble them. CA will set way too fast to work in the little gap between the scales.

You can however, do this with Shellac.
 
Yeah, you won't be able to do it that way. You will have to CA each piece individually and then assemble them. CA will set way too fast to work in the little gap between the scales.

You can however, do this with Shellac.

I was thinking of sanding the outer portion of the scales, gluing the wedge in with the hole drilled, shaping the wedge and that portion of the scales together, then sanding everything to 1000 grit.

After everything is nicely smooth, then apply the CA to the scales and wedge at once-what do you think Trick?

I would use epoxy to glue the wedge with a temporary bolt in the wedge hole and a rod in the pivot hole to keep things lined up.
 
I was thinking of sanding the outer portion of the scales, gluing the wedge in with the hole drilled, shaping the wedge and that portion of the scales together, then sanding everything to 1000 grit.

After everything is nicely smooth, then apply the CA to the scales and wedge at once-what do you think Trick?

I would use epoxy to glue the wedge with a temporary bolt in the wedge hole and a rod in the pivot hole to keep things lined up.

How will you get the CA in between the scales though - especially down at the wedge - if they're already assembled? And more importantly, how will you sand and polish the CA in between?

One thing you could do is glue the wedge to one of the scales, assemble temporarily, shape it all, then disassemble and CA finish them - the wedge would be a permanent part of one of the scales. Also, if you're using wood for the wedge, you don't really need epoxy - that's just messy and time consuming. CA will work fine (especially if you're just going to pin it all anyway) or regular Titebond II wood glue.

The Red Imp that I just did was done by gluing the wedge to one scale only then dis-assembly for the finish work.

If you're going to use a more forgiving finish, such as shellac, then you could easily assemble everything with glue, shape it, and finish it as one piece - I just don't see it happening and loooking good with CA.
 
What's the story with shellac on scales? How many coats? Or does it not matter that much with oily type woods? I really like using it for woodworking and I love how fast it'll dry when mixed down.
 
I use it just like I would on furniture. Lot's of thin coats - wet sand between them. I am currently using Zinsser Seal Cote sanding sealer, which is nothing more than blonde dewaxed shellac, pre-mixed. I don't thin it, and I just pad it on. Usually 6-10 coats depending on the finish you're going for - inside the scales, I just do enough coats to protect, as I'm not worried about a smooth, shiny finish in there since you can't see it.

I haven't tried it yet on any oily exotics - I mainly work in domestic hardwoods. If you look through some of my threads, I have three scales done in shellac - The red imp in Walnut, a Henckels in Osage Orange, and a Gold Dollar 208 (Paco664's razor) that is in Mora - which is very similar to walnut in every way but with more grain distinction. I haven't tried something like Cocobolo or Bocote, although, all three razors I did were oiled with Watco first, so my guess is results would be similar.

I will do a pretty heavy build if I'm going to polish out the scales - I use Tripoli on a buffing wheel to do that. If you're going to hand rub out to a satin finish, I just use a green scrubby and some paste wax - which is what I did on the Osage Orange scales.
 
I use it just like I would on furniture. Lot's of thin coats - wet sand between them. I am currently using Zinsser Seal Cote sanding sealer, which is nothing more than blonde dewaxed shellac, pre-mixed. I don't thin it, and I just pad it on. Usually 6-10 coats depending on the finish you're going for - inside the scales, I just do enough coats to protect, as I'm not worried about a smooth, shiny finish in there since you can't see it.

I haven't tried it yet on any oily exotics - I mainly work in domestic hardwoods. If you look through some of my threads, I have three scales done in shellac - The red imp in Walnut, a Henckels in Osage Orange, and a Gold Dollar 208 (Paco664's razor) that is in Mora - which is very similar to walnut in every way but with more grain distinction. I haven't tried something like Cocobolo or Bocote, although, all three razors I did were oiled with Watco first, so my guess is results would be similar.

I will do a pretty heavy build if I'm going to polish out the scales - I use Tripoli on a buffing wheel to do that. If you're going to hand rub out to a satin finish, I just use a green scrubby and some paste wax - which is what I did on the Osage Orange scales.

Excellent info. Thanks! I have a few straights that I'd like to do in hardwood. That Bocote has the grain I am looking for.
 
No problem. It's really not rocket science - especially if you're coming from a woodworking background. Same finishing rules apply here, and the same finishes work well. Just think smaller scale, and you're there.

One other word of caution - and I touched on it in above - make sure you use a small sanding block with the paper glued to it and trimmed to size for sanding the insides of the scales, otherwise you risk rounding the edges and having an unsightly gap at the wedge. I still wrestle with that problem.
 
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