Newbie entry ... I was told not to ...

[Rapier]

So ... I was told not to try to rescale myself ... with no experience. Told not to best way to get me goin'

Essentially, I had bought a Wapi to learn how to shave with an SR on, I LOVE the thing ! I therefore got some TI horn scales, despite being told not to try this on my own. It went well !!! I am rather proud of my peening, looks very nice. However, my scale/blade adjustment SUCKS, the blade does not hit the scales but it closes much closer to one than the other. What can I do to have the blade sit DEAD center. I am not averse to undoing the job I have completed.

I have searched the following on B&B and come up with a HUGE pile of nonsense characterized by a significant noise/signal ratio:

scale(s) adjust(ment)
peening
peening adjust(ment)
scale(s) center

So, I now turn to the community. If I have made a gross error in my search querry of if the knowledge is "out there", please let me know. I watched the youtube restoration videos, I did the google searches, not much on the actual adjustment part.

Thanks,

PS: For some eye candy, here is my setup to rescale my wapi.

View attachment 130391

 

[richmondesi]

Signal to Noise ratio = a lot of nonsense Welcome to B&B

To determine the way to fix it, you need to make sure you know exactly what the problem is.

Is the tang straight? Are the scales even and straight? Is the pin bent or not truly perpendicular in relation to the construct (meaning both scales and the blade)?

After you have a good answer to those questions, you can figure out how to fix your problem

 

[Munxcub]

I've only made one set, and like you was a total newb. I had never even shaved with a straight before. All I did was follow the instructions in undream's videos, everything Bill Ellis has said, and also Legion's DIY acrylic scale thread.

Made damn sure the scales were symmetrical, holes drilled straight with a drill press, the blade was straight, no issues, no adjustment necessary.

Did you cut/shape both sides simultaneously?

 

[natchez]

IMHO, we learn best by doing, so go to it. My first and only rescale is rather ugly, but functional. I still shave with the razor, so it is not all bad. Enjoy!

 

[Rapier]

@Munxcub: Whoa !!! You are already way more skilled than I if you made your scales from scratch as I just bought TI scales and rescaled my Wapi. I had one set of holes to drill and one pin to peen. Though now I am eyeing some left over teak

@natchez: I agree, and as long as nothing irreplaceable gets broken, putting theory to practice is the best way to learn.

It was a good experience. My guess is that maybe the drill holes were not perfectly straight. I should have secured the scales and then measured their alignment before drilling. They "seemed" to be very well aligned but I did not verify this in any fashion.

Thanks for the support/responses,

 

[Munxcub]

Thanks dude, they were from scratch, cut from a clear clipboard actually. Totally puked it together from random piece of plastic and whatnot I could find around the house lol... There's a few flaw but I am super pleased for my first time. Highly suggest just jumping right in and trying it out, how else will you learn?

And I really like what Bill says... if it looks good it probably is. So don't get too bogged down.

 

[Freedom]

Firstly check your scales are aligned properly
-are the wholes lined up etc etc

Next check your blade
-Place the blade on a flat surface, put your finger over the pinning whole and press down at that point, note how far off the table the tip is and what angle the blade is tilted at (the angle from the sharp end to the spine, does it point down to the table and how much). Now flip the blade over and repeat this process.

This will give you an idea of how much the blade needs to be centered, generally its very easy to fix problems where the height form the table is different and this is the case for almost every razor; however blades that are largely out of tilt are a lot hard to fix, something I can't really explain mainly because I don't have enough experience.

Fixing methods, how I understand it there are three main ways to fix this issue.

-Adjust the blade
This is something I tend to stay away form unless the adjustment needed is tiny, basically you put the blade in a vice with three nails placed to try and bend the blade when the vice is tightened, many blades have been snapped and will continue to be snapped doing this, so I advise against it.

The next two rely on the principle of using the scales to center the blade, what I mean by this is that the blade is centered not because the pinning rod keeps the blade straight but because the tang of the blade rubs against the scales as it closes and this contact is what lines the blade with the scales

-Adjust the washers
Fairly simple add and subtract washers between the scales and the blade, to make small adjustments you can always hammer a washer to thin it out (you might need to punch out the whole again).

-Adjust the scales
A bit more complex and if you over do it you toast the scales, what you do is sand a small angle over the pivot hole of one of the scales this adjusts the point of contact with the scales and blade adjusting the angle it aligns at.

It is really helpful to have some Microfastners ( 1/16th nuts and bolts ) to temporarily fix the scales in place to check how your adjustments are going.

 

[Rapier]

-Adjust the scales
A bit more complex and if you over do it you toast the scales, what you do is sand a small angle over the pivot hole of one of the scales this adjusts the point of contact with the scales and blade adjusting the angle it aligns at.

It is really helpful to have some Microfastners ( 1/16th nuts and bolts ) to temporarily fix the scales in place to check how your adjustments are going.

This sounds like my option, will buy a set of 1/16 bolt/nut and try sanding slowly. My OCD is not allowing me to leave this as is.

Thanks !!!