So we decided to re-scale one of our newly acquired razors. The one you see here was obviously re-scaled by someone who did not have a clue what he was doing. As you can see, I have already made the scales I intend to use, and this will become our starting point.
In this step, we will do two things. First, we will make the blade ready to fit to the scales, and second, we will pick the wedge material we want to use.
Some of the razors we remove scales from have the pivot hole worn larger than we want it to be. This is usually seen at its worst in the larger blades such as wedges or choppers. This is a blade that has a lot of excessive wear. See how the pivot pin can be mounted off center.
This oversized pivot hole will never allow the pivot pin to be tightened down properly, and the pin will just bend and the blade will still work itself back and forth without becoming snug.
To solve this problem we will install a brass bushing inside the hole that the 1/16" pin can pivot on eliminating any misalignment or pin collapse when we peen the ends down.
It is a little hard to see, but there is a brass tube going through the hole with the pin extending out the upper right of it.
There are several ways to get the bushing mounted in the hole. One is to fill the hole with epoxy and drill it the same size as the outside diameter of the tube, install the tube and cut it flush with the blade and file as needed for a smooth fit.
The other is to drill the hole larger to fit the brass tube, and again, cut it off and file as needed.
And sometimes, the tube will just fit the hole. Don't count on this happening too often though.
Once you get the tube installed it will look like this.
And it will line up like this.
Do not, under any circumstances, allow this pivot pin to be allowed to move laterally. It will just bend when you try to tighten it. When we do mount the blade, we will use washers as pivot points against the scales to eliminate wear.
After we have the blade ready to fit and mount, we need to decide what material we want to use for the wedge. I have never seen a vintage razor that didn't have a true wedge. Not until people started using scale material that was too hard to bend or just couldn't figure out why a wedge was needed, did you start to see flat spacers replace wedges. Some even try using resting pins to make up for their mistakes.
If you look at your razors, you will see that the gap in the scales needs to be close at the wedge end, wider in the middle and start to close up again at the pivot point. All of this allows for the configuration of the blade itself. This is usually narrow at the toe, wider at the heel where the tang enters the scales and narrower at the pivot point.
So what are we going to use for the wedge? Here are some choices I have picked.
From right above the scales going clockwise, here is what we are looking at:
Ebony with brass liner
Ebony plain
Horn
Brass
Faux Ivory
Cocobolo
Red Micarta
and the horizontal slab is reconstituted Turquoise with black lines
I thought maybe the Turquoise would work, but it didn't. The simplicity of this razor and the natural color of the Amboyna made me decide just plain black Ebony was the best choice.
In the next step, I will show you how to determine where to set the blade and the wedge. How to mount the wedge and how to make sure everything is lined up correctly while the glue is setting.
Questions are welcome
Ray
In this step, we will do two things. First, we will make the blade ready to fit to the scales, and second, we will pick the wedge material we want to use.
Some of the razors we remove scales from have the pivot hole worn larger than we want it to be. This is usually seen at its worst in the larger blades such as wedges or choppers. This is a blade that has a lot of excessive wear. See how the pivot pin can be mounted off center.
This oversized pivot hole will never allow the pivot pin to be tightened down properly, and the pin will just bend and the blade will still work itself back and forth without becoming snug.
To solve this problem we will install a brass bushing inside the hole that the 1/16" pin can pivot on eliminating any misalignment or pin collapse when we peen the ends down.
It is a little hard to see, but there is a brass tube going through the hole with the pin extending out the upper right of it.
There are several ways to get the bushing mounted in the hole. One is to fill the hole with epoxy and drill it the same size as the outside diameter of the tube, install the tube and cut it flush with the blade and file as needed for a smooth fit.
The other is to drill the hole larger to fit the brass tube, and again, cut it off and file as needed.
And sometimes, the tube will just fit the hole. Don't count on this happening too often though.
Once you get the tube installed it will look like this.
And it will line up like this.
Do not, under any circumstances, allow this pivot pin to be allowed to move laterally. It will just bend when you try to tighten it. When we do mount the blade, we will use washers as pivot points against the scales to eliminate wear.
After we have the blade ready to fit and mount, we need to decide what material we want to use for the wedge. I have never seen a vintage razor that didn't have a true wedge. Not until people started using scale material that was too hard to bend or just couldn't figure out why a wedge was needed, did you start to see flat spacers replace wedges. Some even try using resting pins to make up for their mistakes.
If you look at your razors, you will see that the gap in the scales needs to be close at the wedge end, wider in the middle and start to close up again at the pivot point. All of this allows for the configuration of the blade itself. This is usually narrow at the toe, wider at the heel where the tang enters the scales and narrower at the pivot point.
So what are we going to use for the wedge? Here are some choices I have picked.
From right above the scales going clockwise, here is what we are looking at:
Ebony with brass liner
Ebony plain
Horn
Brass
Faux Ivory
Cocobolo
Red Micarta
and the horizontal slab is reconstituted Turquoise with black lines
I thought maybe the Turquoise would work, but it didn't. The simplicity of this razor and the natural color of the Amboyna made me decide just plain black Ebony was the best choice.
In the next step, I will show you how to determine where to set the blade and the wedge. How to mount the wedge and how to make sure everything is lined up correctly while the glue is setting.
Questions are welcome
Ray