There is a very informative and helpful thread that "legion" started in regards to making your own scales. It is here. In it there was some general talk about the wedge. There were a few comments about tapering the wedge and I wholeheartedly agree. However, I started this thread as a separate topic so as not to derail all the good information that was over there on that one. While the discussion on making scales could easily include a sidebar on wedges, I felt I might qualify as a poacher to have interjected a more detailed discussion about them. Hence, everyone can provide their own take on wedges on this thread.
Let me just say, up front, that most of the wedges you will see on vintage razors have been tapered either slightly or acutely. They did it for thousands upon thousands of razors for a lot of years. It must have been done for a reason. I submit that this is one time that thinking outside the box by making them parallel isn't going to be all that beneficial.
I have seen several novice restorers make the mistake of putting in parallel wedges. Some of them, no doubt, have their own theories for doing it. One theory is probably that they don't have the equipment. Another theory is that they don't know how. And the third theory is that they don't see it as a problem to begin with.
Don't get me wrong, having a parallel-sided wedge isn't the end of the world, but, you haven't discovered Atlantis either. I'm also not trying to bust anyone's chops. Just because a razor looks good, doesn't mean it is functional, or will remain functional for very long. I'm merely trying to pass on the fact that wedges need to be tapered.
The exception, as there is always an exception, is that a tapered wedge is not needed if it is almost the same thickness as the tang up there near the pivot pin. If you do put in one of the thicker wedges, you will most probably need to put in a third pin to prevent the blade from swinging all the way through the scales.
If the parallel wedge is thin and the tang is thick, the razor will not stay together for any length of time. Something will definitely give. You will either grow a gap at the forward edge of the wedge between the scales, or the scales will snap up there where the scales have to make a big dog leg around the tang and to the pivot point. This is not true of some of the modern plastics, as they are more flexible and they kind of develop a memory allowing them to adapt pretty well to the stresses they come under. The scales that will never make it are the ones that are lined, very stiff, or too thick for the application.
View attachment 138709
Let me just say, up front, that most of the wedges you will see on vintage razors have been tapered either slightly or acutely. They did it for thousands upon thousands of razors for a lot of years. It must have been done for a reason. I submit that this is one time that thinking outside the box by making them parallel isn't going to be all that beneficial.
I have seen several novice restorers make the mistake of putting in parallel wedges. Some of them, no doubt, have their own theories for doing it. One theory is probably that they don't have the equipment. Another theory is that they don't know how. And the third theory is that they don't see it as a problem to begin with.
Don't get me wrong, having a parallel-sided wedge isn't the end of the world, but, you haven't discovered Atlantis either. I'm also not trying to bust anyone's chops. Just because a razor looks good, doesn't mean it is functional, or will remain functional for very long. I'm merely trying to pass on the fact that wedges need to be tapered.
The exception, as there is always an exception, is that a tapered wedge is not needed if it is almost the same thickness as the tang up there near the pivot pin. If you do put in one of the thicker wedges, you will most probably need to put in a third pin to prevent the blade from swinging all the way through the scales.
If the parallel wedge is thin and the tang is thick, the razor will not stay together for any length of time. Something will definitely give. You will either grow a gap at the forward edge of the wedge between the scales, or the scales will snap up there where the scales have to make a big dog leg around the tang and to the pivot point. This is not true of some of the modern plastics, as they are more flexible and they kind of develop a memory allowing them to adapt pretty well to the stresses they come under. The scales that will never make it are the ones that are lined, very stiff, or too thick for the application.
View attachment 138709
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