What do I need?

[Jooky]

Ok, so I am thinking about picking up one of the cheap DA/Gold Dollar razors that are on ebay to have something to play around with. What do I need to replace the scales on it? I am thinking of maybe trying to put some horn scales on it. Do I need to buy knife blank horn? How thick should the scale material be? What is needed to cut it? Will a regular jigsaw work? Or do I need a real bandsaw or something? What about shaping the scales? Just sandpaper and time or do I need a dremel setup? From what I have seen here, all I need is some 1/16th brass rod and some tiny washers for pinning. What about nickel-silver rod? Is it easier or harder to work with than the brass rod? What about making a spacer? I am not trying to start a business or anything, I just want to learn how to do this kind of thing.

[mdunn]

you need something to cut and shape the wood/horn (I make mine with a handsaw, plane and sandpaper, but its the slow way)

im not sure about nickel-silver rod, though I suspect it would be a bit hard to pin easily (though if you anneal it....)

spacer material can be anything you want, made any way you like

[Jooky]

you need something to cut and shape the wood/horn (I make mine with a handsaw, plane and sandpaper, but its the slow way)

im not sure about nickel-silver rod, though I suspect it would be a bit hard to pin easily (though if you anneal it....)

spacer material can be anything you want, made any way you like

When you say handsaw, are you talking about a razor saw or a jeweler's saw? I assume you aren't talking about a regular handsaw.

The nickel silver rod I am talking about is used for knife handles, I am not sure how hard it is, but I would think that you could discolor it by trying to anneal it.

How hard is horn to work with? Does it cut and shave easily? Or does it crumble and splinter? I understand that it smells horrible to sand. What type of grit should be used to start shaping it without gouging?

I hope to give this all a shot sometime after Christmas. While I don't think I will ever be a good enough craftsman to sell my work, I would like to try to "fancy up" some of the vintage razors that are sitting around on ebay or the antique stores.

[mainaman]

you can try G10, micarta, they can make some pretty nice looking scales

[Jooky]

From what I have heard, the G10 stuff is very difficult to work with. I think I should probably pass on it. How is micarta? I have seen some nice looking micarta scales and I understand that it is a nice durable material.