First Scales

[miket]

I recently bought a J.A. Henckels Twin at an antique store. The blade was in good shape, but someone had made some plastic scales for it which had warped, therefore I got it for a good price. I cleaned up the blade and decided to try and make a set of scales for it. I made them out of wood just to learn the procedure. They turned out decent looking for a first try, although nowhere near the quality commonly displayed here. The problem is that when I pinned the scales to the blade, there is not enough room between the scales for the tang without forcing the tang down between the scales. It seems to me that if there is room at the pivot point, there should be enough room for the tang, but that is not the case. What did I do wrong? I suspect it has to do with the wedge or the way I pinned it. Thanks.

Mike

 

[paco664]

unpin the pivot and put little tiny 00 size brass washers for spacers.... sometimes i cant find ones thin enough i will take a thicker 00 washer and stick it to a small piece of duct tape and sand it down....

did you put a wedge in? did you shape the wedge to make the pivot end open up? or did you do them straight?

maybe a photo or two would help

 

[miket]

I used washers and a wedge. I tapered the wedge, but maybe not enough. I will work on the photos.
Mike

 

[paco664]

I used washers and a wedge. I tapered the wedge, but maybe not enough. I will work on the photos.
Mike

i would bet not enough....

but thats the fun part... the trial and error...

 

[mycarver]

From my experience I think paco has the right idea. If you look at most razors you'll notice the spine and shaft are usually the same thickness but it tapers from about the pin hole through the end of the tail. This makes it look like ( in your case) there is room at the tail but not at the spine.
Paco also suggests looking at the wedge. Here too in many cases the wedge actually causes the scales to bow slightly allowing room for the width of the shaft/blade to settle into and with the bowed shape brings the end of the scales , near the pin hole to gradually come together to match the narrower width of the tail.
On many razors, because of this arrangement, when you open them you can see the scales flex inward slightly Also , this slight bit of tension , because of the curvature of the scales will cause the blade to remain open at different points as it completes it's arc. That's how you can prop them open slightly when you photograph them for example. The blade , because of this slight tension will keep itself raised slightly when sitting on just the scales.

 

[miket]

Here are some photos.

 

[paco664]

your wedge is not "wedged".... it should taper from a bit thicker on the inside to thinner on the out....

the way you have it is flat... which will cause the problem your having....


very pretty work tho.... very impressive!

 

[Izrahvil]

Nice form of the scales maybe a bit too thick.

Nice work.

 

[trick420]

I agree with Paco. The wedge needs more shape to it. I shoot for 3 - 5 degrees on mine depending on the razor and scale shape, and that usually does me well. Most razors (so far) have needed a gap of 3/32" at the fat part of the wedge to sit correctly.

 

[hig789]

Very nice job on your first set of scales.

 

[hillbilly]

Very nice looking. The wedge is tapered to make the scales bow out. quick fix.

 

[Sledgehammer39]

Awesome looking!

 

[Krodor]

Very pretty scales...really like the color and the grain pattern, and the swoopy-shape is quite elegant. However, I'm not sure I agree with the "quick fix", if wedging the wedge is the answer. Given the thickness of the scales, if the wedge is wedged much at all, the scales won't be able to bend back to join with the blade without a LOT of stress on the wedge pin. If it gets wedged, and they aren't able to bend back to the pivot, the scales might need to be thinned significantly, no?

AH! One other look...

the scale-to-scale distance at the pivot end is quite a bit wider than the wedge-end. Maybe just have a wider wedge piece instead of a wedgier-wedge would do the trick.

 

[Legion]

Very pretty scales...really like the color and the grain pattern, and the swoopy-shape is quite elegant. However, I'm not sure I agree with the "quick fix", if wedging the wedge is the answer. Given the thickness of the scales, if the wedge is wedged much at all, the scales won't be able to bend back to join with the blade without a LOT of stress on the wedge pin. If it gets wedged, and they aren't able to bend back to the pivot, the scales might need to be thinned significantly, no?

This ^

 

[miket]

Thanks for the encouragement. I will thin the scales down some and work on the wedge.

Mike

 

[Brent]

All in all they are really great looking scales. Really like the grain pattern too.

 

[Doc226]

Very nice, I agree with previous comments, I don't think the wedge alone will fix the problem. You may steam the scales to help bending them if you like. You may have to get creative with a jig to hold them after the steaming.

How did you finish the wood?

 

[BillEllis]

Your wedge does not have enough taper. Also, the tang is tapered, so you would have to put some spacing washers on the inside of the scales at the pivot. If you used plastic, you would not need much spacing at all. Wood is not as forgiving.

This thread may help you a bit...

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/183681-Tapered-Wedges

 

[old_dog]

My wife bought me a Dovo 504B for Christmas. My first straight razor and I am enjoying immensly. However, I do want to dress up my razor by making some wood scales. When I look at the pins in the existing scales they look like small rivets. How do I remove these without damaging anything? Then what do I use as replacement pins? I have notice several recommendations to check out microfastners.com and I have done so. But what type of fastener do I use? Great web site here. I am finding a lot of good of info for a old newbie like me.

 

[paco664]

My wife bought me a Dovo 504B for Christmas. My first straight razor and I am enjoying immensly. However, I do want to dress up my razor by making some wood scales. When I look at the pins in the existing scales they look like small rivets. How do I remove these without damaging anything? Then what do I use as replacement pins? I have notice several recommendations to check out microfastners.com and I have done so. But what type of fastener do I use? Great web site here. I am finding a lot of good of info for a old newbie like me.

buy you some cheap ebay razors to practice repinning on.... it is not something you want to learn to do on your nice new DOVO....

you can use a file and carefully remove the old pin.... there are videos on youtube....

you could also contact other members on this site that maybe local to you and can help ya out.....

best o luck...