I got mine today as well. Haven't had time for photos yet, but they will be coming.
BOOKMATCHED Burl Scales PIF!
- Thread starter edwinhmcbride
- Start date
Sweet!
- Thread starter
- #63
Mine arrived this evening.
View attachment 719500
They are lovely. And you should be proud of the resaw(bookmatch) you did. Excellent work. It will take minimal work to thickness and smooth these blanks out. I work by hand. No bandsaw, belt sander, nothing like that. I cut my scales with a hand held coping saw. So consistency of the base product is important. These are lovely. Well done. Now I've just gotta make certain I don't break them cutting them out.
Here they are after I hit them with naphtha to try and get an idea of what they might look like under finish.
View attachment 719502
Lighting wasn't as good as it could have been, but I think they are lovely. And I think under a CA finish they will look even better.
As soon as I begin work, I'll start posting pictures.
Thanks once again. It is very much appreciated.
The saw I used did leave some weird grooves but they should sand out nicely. They are also surprisingly flexible. The blocks were rock solid but the slats have a lot of give to them so they should not be a problem for scales.
I plan on doing CA for mine as well. Enjoy.
Those are pretty much just the vibration in the blade, IMO, and nothing I didn't expect. Thanks again!
I do think they'll be lovely. I'm torn now on which blade to put them on.
Decision, decisions.
I do think they'll be lovely. I'm torn now on which blade to put them on.
Decision, decisions.
Got mine today..... thanks!
I'll post some pics soon.
I'll post some pics soon.
- Thread starter
- #66
Awesome. I've been getting some clean sharp edges off tat coti.
Got started today. Unless anyone objects, I'm going to pout up basicly a tutorial for doing scales by hand. I know that I am no one special, and there are many gifted folk here. There are probably guys in this thread that can do a much better job than I.
But I've done several of these by hand, and should anyone who won a set of these have no power tools or experience, they can be done by hand.
But I've done several of these by hand, and should anyone who won a set of these have no power tools or experience, they can be done by hand.
Here's how I start. I use tape to hold the blank down to the board under it, and I use a succession of sandpaper wrapped around the plane body you see here. I know the bottom of this tool is dead flat because I made it so; I use it to level the frets on guitars. I start with 60 grit and run through 220.
I'm not trying to get rid of all the scratches from the different grits, I'm just trying to get rid of the kerf marks the saw left, and get a rough starting point. The shaping and finish sanding will remove a lot more wood, so I want to start without sanding the piece too thin.
This is good enough to start.
These are a bit under 1/8" or so, I think. These methods will have a bit of variance. It's hand work.
I'm not trying to get rid of all the scratches from the different grits, I'm just trying to get rid of the kerf marks the saw left, and get a rough starting point. The shaping and finish sanding will remove a lot more wood, so I want to start without sanding the piece too thin.
This is good enough to start.
These are a bit under 1/8" or so, I think. These methods will have a bit of variance. It's hand work.
I know these are bookmatched, and the idea is to use a blank for each scale, but I can't help trying to get a couple of scales out of these.
I found a set of scales that will work well for the razor chosen. Using tape , I will cut the scales out one from each side of this single blank, doing as much as I can to make them match one another.
Then just cut them out.
They're rough, I know. That isn't a problem.
I found a set of scales that will work well for the razor chosen. Using tape , I will cut the scales out one from each side of this single blank, doing as much as I can to make them match one another.
Then just cut them out.
They're rough, I know. That isn't a problem.
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The scales now have to be rough shaped to size, so I use double stick tape.
View attachment 719901View attachment 719902
Once stuck together, I use basically a sanding board to shape the outside curve. This will make both sides equal and the same.
View attachment 719904
To do the inside curve you need something with a bit of curve. I use the top of the jaws of my vise.
View attachment 719905
I just lay the sandpaper over that and sand the scales to shape.
The ends of the scales can be done on the sanding board by pulling them across the sandpaper as you roll them a bit.
View attachment 719901View attachment 719902
Once stuck together, I use basically a sanding board to shape the outside curve. This will make both sides equal and the same.
View attachment 719904
To do the inside curve you need something with a bit of curve. I use the top of the jaws of my vise.
View attachment 719905
I just lay the sandpaper over that and sand the scales to shape.
The ends of the scales can be done on the sanding board by pulling them across the sandpaper as you roll them a bit.
View attachment 719906
Now I have to drill the pivot and wedge holes. I tape the scales I'm basically recreating in Walnut to the shaped blanks. I tried to use a tiny nail to mark the holes, like you see below, but that did not work out as well as I expected. In the end, I just threww a 1/16" bit in my drill and ran it just long enough to mark the holes.
Then I just carefully drilled the holes.
I used a hand drill, so the holes will be slightly off from one side to the other(not straight), about 50% of the time. I generally use the drill bit to open the holes a bit and give enough play that the pins can be installed straight. You really have to be very close, though, because there's a point where the holes are trashed, and you'd have to toss it and start over.
Now I have to drill the pivot and wedge holes. I tape the scales I'm basically recreating in Walnut to the shaped blanks. I tried to use a tiny nail to mark the holes, like you see below, but that did not work out as well as I expected. In the end, I just threww a 1/16" bit in my drill and ran it just long enough to mark the holes.
Then I just carefully drilled the holes.
I used a hand drill, so the holes will be slightly off from one side to the other(not straight), about 50% of the time. I generally use the drill bit to open the holes a bit and give enough play that the pins can be installed straight. You really have to be very close, though, because there's a point where the holes are trashed, and you'd have to toss it and start over.
Some of the pics are just showing up as attatchment links. I don't know why, but you can view them by clicking on the links. Sorry.
Shaping is done with 50 grit sandpaper wrapped around a file. These are going to turn out nice, I think.
One side is roughed in, but that's as far as I got today.
One side is roughed in, but that's as far as I got today.
I'm not very good at documenting.....here's what I have so far.
Those look great!
I feel like I should know that razor from the little bit of maker's mark I can see. What is it?
- Thread starter
- #76
Dovo.
Beautiful work so far gentlemen.
Beautiful work so far gentlemen.
- Thread starter
- #77
Drifter it looks like the bookmatch lined up pretty nice. What are you using for a wedge.
Thanks!
I knew I recognized it, but I don't own any Dovos; all my stuff is vintage American, German, Sheffield, etc.
That's gonna be a nice looking razor/scales set when You're done, Drifter.
- Thread starter
- #79
I feel like I am lagging behind. I'm still doing metal work on some old sheffields and the scales will probably be next weekend.
I think a piece of that lighter color maple.
Thanks. It's a Dovo Palisander with some hone wear.
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