Interested in making scales, need advice

[Burlynate]

I would like to make some wooden scales entirely by hand, excluding the drill holes, what types of wood would be for making scales this way? What thickness should I be looking for? Aside from sandpaper, what will I need to do this?

The razor is just a cheap modern razor that I got for a dollar and I don't even know if the edge is any good so I don't want to spend money on anything other than the bare essentials

 

[Legion]

Most hardwoods would work. Ebony was popular in the old days but I see no reason why other hardwoods like maple, snakewood, rosewood, etc. can't be used.

There are places on the net that sell small blanks for people to make knife bolsters out of. They might be relativity expensive but if you only want small quantities of exotic timbers it could be a good option. Thickness... about 1/8", I guess. It depends on how much shaping you want to do.

Ideally you would want an electric band or coping saw, a drill press, a belt sander and a disc sander. But, of course, all the things these tools can do can be done by hand if you are patient.

You would need a hand coping saw to cut out the blanks, double sided tape to fasten them together while shaping them (makes it much easier to keep them exactly the same), lots of different sandpapers, a hand drill, a small hammer and something to use as an anvil for peening, snips and files for the rods, something to seal and waterproof the wood...

That is all I can think of now, but I'm sure others will come up with more.

If you are going to invest in a power tool, you can't go past a Dremel for usefulness. They can do all sorts of things and you can get attatchments like this!

Which I just bought myself not one hour ago!

I was worried about drilling pin holes freehand but this workstation is more than just a drill press. Very handy.

 

[Burlynate]

Most hardwoods would work. Ebony was popular in the old days but I see no reason why other hardwoods like maple, snakewood, rosewood, etc. can't be used.

There are places on the net that sell small blanks for people to make knife bolsters out of. They might be relativity expensive but if you only want small quantities of exotic timbers it could be a good option. Thickness... about 1/8", I guess. It depends on how much shaping you want to do.

Ideally you would want an electric band or coping saw, a drill press, a belt sander and a disc sander. But, of course, all the things these tools can do can be done by hand if you are patient.

You would need a hand coping saw to cut out the blanks, double sided tape to fasten them together while shaping them (makes it much easier to keep them exactly the same), lots of different sandpapers, a hand drill, a small hammer and something to use as an anvil for peening, snips and files for the rods, something to seal and waterproof the wood...

That is all I can think of now, but I'm sure others will come up with more.

If you are going to invest in a power tool, you can't go past a Dremel for usefulness. They can do all sorts of things and you can get attatchments like this!

Which I just bought myself not one hour ago!

I was worried about drilling pin holes freehand but this workstation is more than just a drill press. Very handy.

Thank you for your reply, I thought I would need 1/16" blanks, 1/8" are much easier to find online. Just glancing over different types of hardwoods and I'm leaning towards using wenge, although I am open to other recommendations

 

[Burlynate]

I've received an assortment of 1/8" hardwoods from ebay, a few of them are very porous, others are very smooth, should both types work equally well?

 

[amcardon]

Not sure where you're at but yesterday I was in Woodcraft and they had a 12 pack of laminating strips of hardwood (1/8" x 1" x 36" if I remember correctly) for $16, enough for 48 scales! Anyway, there were 2 each of padouk, purpleheart, maple, cherry, ash and walnut. Cheap way of having a lot of wood to play with/practice on!

Drill press will be invaluable, belt sander is nice but can easily be done by hand. You can finish your scales with CA (thin superglue), oils, wipe-on poly, wax pretty much anything that will create a waterproof layer of protection for your scales.

Search around on here and straightrazorplace for posts by gssixgun as he has lots of tutorials for razor restorations and handmade scales. Bill Ellis also has a CD you can buy (that I haven't seen yet) that I've heard has excellent info on making scales.

Just my newb $0.02!

 

[Burlynate]

Not sure where you're at but yesterday I was in Woodcraft and they had a 12 pack of laminating strips of hardwood (1/8" x 1" x 36" if I remember correctly) for $16, enough for 48 scales! Anyway, there were 2 each of padouk, purpleheart, maple, cherry, ash and walnut. Cheap way of having a lot of wood to play with/practice on!

Drill press will be invaluable, belt sander is nice but can easily be done by hand. You can finish your scales with CA (thin superglue), oils, wipe-on poly, wax pretty much anything that will create a waterproof layer of protection for your scales.

Search around on here and straightrazorplace for posts by gssixgun as he has lots of tutorials for razor restorations and handmade scales. Bill Ellis also has a CD you can buy (that I haven't seen yet) that I've heard has excellent info on making scales.

Just my newb $0.02!

Thank you, I just tried using my coping saw to cut out the scales, broke 2 blades in 5 minutes, I'll probably end up borrowing my dad's dremmel, Thanks for the info about finishing

 

[John C]

Thank you, I just tried using my coping saw to cut out the scales, broke 2 blades in 5 minutes, I'll probably end up borrowing my dad's dremmel, Thanks for the info about finishing

You might want to cut youself a bench pin to help with the cutting.
Take a scrap piece of 1 x 4 wood about 6 inches long.(pine will do)
Cut a "V" shaped wedge out of one end. About 1" across at the end and going 3 to 4 inches into the pin (block).
C clamp the pin onto your work table.
That's it!
Now when you're cutting your scales the saw cuts up and down in the notch, and you can brace your scales on the top of the pin.
Also remember to keep the saw straight up and down. Leaning the blade to the side can bind your blade and cause it to break easily.
You might also want to try and use some bee's wax on the blade to help lubricate it.

Hope this helps
Cheers!