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My rescale #1

Toff

Well-Known Member
Hi All,
I have been collecting/accumulating/hoarding some really old steel in the form of straight razors. I finally did my first re-scale. Since the blade is seriously pushing its second century, Shiny scales would not cut it. I produced a very mild satin finish on the scales and pins. I only cleaned and sharpened the blade. Oh yes....she shaves well!
Oshow1s.jpg

StackF1s.jpg

Stackside2s.jpg

I am here to learn, so tell it like you were Billy!
Respectfully
~Richard
 
Oh, wow, these are really great looking scales I'm telling you! :thumbup:

I love the proportions, the curve, I love the square end. The JPEGs are of rather poor quality, heavily compressed, so it's hard to tell anything how the finish looks like, but from what I can see - they really look flawless!

Damn classy, fantastic!

regards,
Matt
 
Are you really, really sure ;) you did not dismiss some of your previous attempts as 'practice'?

Really professional looking scales! :) What is the material? How did you finish it? Give us the details?

Very nice, indeed. :thumbup:
 
Thank you all!
Yes,vGeorge, It is truly my first attempt! I had the basic idea of form from another intact old razor. When I could not think "what to do next?" I set the tiddly bits down and then came back when I was rested. All together it took about 7 hours, and I was lucky that I didn't break something; on me or the razor! The bevels are a labor intensive feature as they change angle along their length! The really good guys, we buy from, would take about one hour, because they have made jigs and fixtures and do not waste motion.
The material is black acrylic that has been finished with fine abrasive in a straight line fashion on each facet.
Thanks again!
Respectfully
~Richard
 
Great - seems you finished this project entirely manually. Even better then for it.

Where did you source the acrylic from?

I should take the plunge one of these days.
 
They are very nice. Great job!:thumbup:
I really like the nice clean bevel (the one on the scales, I mean). I've tried something similar, but it came out as more of a round-over than a nice bevel like that. Quite impressive!

Cheers,
-Chris
 
Hi,
Thanks for the kind words!
Here is a photo of the end, blade almost bottomed against the scales. As you can see, the blade is a near wedge grind, but I did taper the "wedge" to thin at the bottom. Altogether a fun project with basically hand tools.
Endsm.jpg

Respectfully
~Richard
 
Lovely work Richard, I like how you went for a satin type finish on the scales

Its very satisfying is it not, how does it shave?

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
It is indeed lovely work. The longitudinal bevel adds the right class to the design, but personally, I would have not copied that bevel onto the short end of the scales.

Considering the kind of razors you prefer, I would like to encourage you to work with horn and bone.

Great work. :thumbup:

Bart.
 
HI Ralfy and Bart, Thank you for the kind words! It/I is/am getting better as a shaver. Only the third day since honing. It will be back on the stones after the first few shaves. I like the feel of the blade held as a "Kamisori." I copied the bevel from another razor of the same era.
hallscalesm.jpg

I liked the scales and hope to duplicate the style and feel better in my next restore.
Respectfully
~Richard
PS, Bone and horn coming after I have apprenticed the trade for a while! I may have to make my own blades if the drought of old blades does not end.
 
If you had not said this was your first try, no one would have known. Don't ever worry about how long it takes to make a set of scales. First off, no one cares except you. Second, the time you spend usually depends on not only the learning curve, but also the amount of detail you want to achieve. Even experienced scale artists sometimes spend this many hours on one pair of scales.

Great job.

Ray
 
I love it:love:

Just have to start on doing some myself, will be my first rescaling project ever...
Wish me luck;)

Cheers,
rudy
 
Man, You just gave me an idea for a scale set. I think I will bevel the pivot end to where the to bevels meet in the center, then half way down the bevels will diverge to end at a 3mm bevel towards the wedge. Kind of like the Philippine flag. I will have to file the washers on the pivot end to match the bevels.
thanks for sharing.
 
Hey guys!
Sounds as though you both have a plan and I can picture Gerrit's. A great learning experience. Remember that Acrylic is quite easy to work with. I could have done the scales with a coping/jeweler's saw frame and a coarse 20-30 tooth blade. A coarse flat file and a fine one will serve to get the bulk of excess plastic off and a home made sanding block and 220 wet dry paper will smooth the edges. Keep working with finer abrasive papers double sided taped to handy shaped boards. Even drilling the pin holes is not a bad job with a 1.5mm/1/16th inch bit held in a "pin vise/hand chuck." A bit of saliva on the bit helps to release the plastic caused by drilling from the drill bit.
Have Fun!
Respectfully
~Richard
 
Dang, I can never seem to find a reason to go through this 40 bf of ebony. Just kidding i only have about 7 bf and I think that I may try that design in corian as I have a lot of that as well and the design will help to strengthen the brittle material, but I have not been able to get over the gaudiness of corian on a razor.
 
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