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Gold Dollar with bone scales

I picked up 4 GD 66's a while back and honed up one right away to shave ready and I've been shaving with it since. I've also got a GD from Buca that I learned to shave with. I love 'em both but those nasty scales and the ridiculous looking silk screened logo had to go so I grabbed my second GD and got to work.


I made a few sharpie marks and headed to the barn with my black and decker wizard


I didn't really follow the mark at the stabilizer and just did what I could to take most of it off. Here it is after grinding and some time with 220 grit.


Here it is after 320 with a chunk of bone I plan on trying to use. I build guitars and I bought this bone at petco to use for making bone nuts...I figured I'd give it a shot.


I had nothing between 320 and 1000grit laying around so I hit it with 1000 for a while...the original machining marks aren't out of the blade and I'm not sure I care...probably won't go for a full mirror finish. I marked out some rough lines for scales


roughed out a little more at the band saw and spindle sander for some thickness sanding


There's still a ton of work to do on the scales. We'll see if they actually turn out.
 
Looking good so far! I love the shape of the blade. Hope you have a belt sander to thin those bone scales though!
 
Very nicely done, make those scale thin or you will have trouble. Bone does not flex too much and even less if it is thick.
 
Loving the shape you got to the blade. I have like 4 or 5 factory GD's in a box waiting for me to do something with, I may try to replicate that blade style on one.
 
Looking good so far! I love the shape of the blade. Hope you have a belt sander to thin those bone scales though!

Thanks pmaster, I have a ROSS, Rigid Oscillating Spindle Sander...most used tool in the shop. It can take off more material than you want and FAST lol


Looking very good indeed, congrats :thumbup:

Thanks Cachorro

Great project!

Judging by what I've seen that you've done with GD and other "blanks" I hope it turns out as well as what you might turn out on your worst day!!!

Very nicely done, make those scale thin or you will have trouble. Bone does not flex too much and even less if it is thick.

10-4 Doc, I'm not sure exactly how thin I'll be able to go, but I'm figuring it's going to have to be pretty thin and hopefully not brittle.

Loving the shape you got to the blade. I have like 4 or 5 factory GD's in a box waiting for me to do something with, I may try to replicate that blade style on one.

Thanks Shave_Rat, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get the stabilizer ground down and blended in with the shoulder/tank but it turned out ok with A LOT of hand sanding with 220 grit.

How to you mod the blade? Bench grinder?

Black and Decker Wizard(dremel type tool) with a sanding drum.
 
This whole project came out of a desire to have a nicer straight that was 6/8 or larger...vintage or new. I have a couple of vintage 4/8 ish razors that I cleaned up, honed and rescaled and I like them ok, but there's nothing like whacking down whiskers with a heavy blade like the 2 gold dollars I have. I know they get quite a bit of love on this site and not so much on others, but I wanted something similar to size and weight and really didn't know where to even start.

After looking at some prices of razors in the BST and vender/hobbyist sections I figured making my own from a GD was going to be the next best thing...and a heck of a lot cheaper. I liked the look of a barber's notch for some reason and I already made sets of scales with mahogany and flamed maple so bone seemed like a logical step that would have an expensive classy look to it.

So this is my attempt at getting a razor that has the size, weight, and look I want without spending $100 or more... I hope I don't disappoint myself.:biggrin1:
 
I went out to the barn...for about 30min...it's freakin' 10 degrees outside, anyway.

I did a little more thicknessing on the scales...no shaping yet just thickness and got them down under 1/4" about 3/16" or less in most places



Then with a couple of scraps of paper and a drop or 2 of titebond I glued/clamped them together so I could start really shaping them and thinning them out substantially. I used double sided carpet tape like I use for my guitar templates and the router table but last time I was making scales the tape was allowing the scales to slide a bit too much. The one problem I have is that in the end of the one scale there is a hole that runs through it at an angle and it exits right at the edge of the scale. I'm probably gonna need to make a bone dust/super glue patch in there like we do when we cut a nut slot too deep for a guitar and need to fill it back in and start over. I'll have to experiment at getting this hole filled in and hopefully it won't look like a patch job. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to shape them and get the hole filled
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Very cool. I have 2 dogs and when I work in bone or horn, they can smell it! Left a half finished bone set on a table for a minute and my lab chewed it up real fast. LOL
 
Looking good so far. Knowing your work with guitars(fellow TDPRI'er) I think this will come out great!

Ha, No way man. What's your forum name over there? I haven't been on in seems like forever...After the 2012 build challenge I kinda took a hiatus from guitar building and started a motorcycle build which I just wrapped up in August. My addictions go in phases...I'm sure I'll be back to guitars sooner than later!!!

Very cool. I have 2 dogs and when I work in bone or horn, they can smell it! Left a half finished bone set on a table for a minute and my lab chewed it up real fast. LOL

Thanks buca, The same thing happened to me with a nut for a guitar...I turned around and it was in his mouth(black lab)...I caught him early enough that he hadn't chomped it in half yet!!!! BTW I still shave with the GD I bought from you. Tomorrow will be shave #50 on that one...I might need to touch it up soon I think I'm starting to lose the edge.

nicely done so far. I like it.

Thanks KW Driver



Any opinions on what to do with the bone to "finish" it? I've heard go easy on the oil because it gets translucent...I've also heard to hit it with an epoxy or CA glue to seal it up? Not sure what to do about that...
 
Just sand up to 2000 and use some white metal polish like (i.e. MAAS) and it'll buff to a mirror shine! Make sure you use clean sandpaper though every step of the way.
 
Ha, No way man. What's your forum name over there? I haven't been on in seems like forever...After the 2012 build challenge I kinda took a hiatus from guitar building and started a motorcycle build which I just wrapped up in August. My addictions go in phases...I'm sure I'll be back to guitars sooner than later!!!
It's me, Gitlvr.
I've been too busy working on other folks' guitars to do any building of my own My last Challenge was 2013. Haven't finished that one yet, LOL. I won't be entering anymore of the Challenges. Don't have the time, and I'm not paying a fee to essentially build a guitar the way someone else wants it built. Besides, when I do start building again, I'll be going in a direction away from Teles. I need to build an acoustic or ten, lol.
 
Last night I got a some more work done on the ROSS and thinned things down quite a bit and even began shaping by hand with 220 grit...they're a smidge less than 1/8" right now


I'm not sure if I like the shape...I don't feel like they are wide enough in the center...Especially with a large blade like the GD. I feel like it's probably gonna look mismatched. I'm wishing now I hadn't cut so close to the line before I get them down to the right thickness.


On this side you can see the hole down at the bottom...



I dumped a ton of bone dust down in the hole and dripped some CA glue on it...hopefully it will sand down well and not stick out like a sore thumb


I'm still not sure if I'm gonna like how the blade looks in these skinny little scales...I should have made them more beefy...no pun intended
 
I think the work looks great. As for size, you won't really know until you try, but you should be able to lay the blade flat and put one of the scales in position on top of it and get an idea.
 
You could potentially reshape the end where the pivot hole will be and make it in a slight V form or something, or just taper it more.

I always find this shape of scales to be hard to get just right...
 
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