Straight Razor Scales from Scrap and from Scratch

(Edited 7th Jan 2014. A few dozen people actually reads this post, so I'll do my best to justify their time. This is my second scale, and this post is not meant to be a tutorial, but a sharing of my attempts to rescale a razor. If you are a woodworker, it is not as difficult as it looks. The more care, the better your work. I'm being casual here)

Replacement scales are usually made because the original are broken or badly warped. Or the maker must be feeling very creative. In this case, the original scales worked fine, just that it tends to cause the razor to rust badly in the same spots.
I suspect it was some substance embedded in the scale. Perhaps moisture gets trapped in the micro fissures in the scales.

A Kobar razor by F. Emde of Germany.

Teak was chosen because of its oily nature, and also for its dimensional stability when wet. Warping or twisting is a very undesirable feature in razor scales, since the blade may hit the scales on closing on a twisted scale.
The donor wood in this case are some leftover flooring material in my "maybe-someday-you'll never know" scrap pile.

Step one:
TRACE THE OUTLINE WITH THE ORIGINAL SCALES.
Unless you want to be creative, there is little incentive to reinvent the wheel. I traced closely, and even copied the position of the pivot holes.
 With its curvy grain pattern, I chose a piece with a grain curvature approximating that of the original plastic scales. ( Photo below shows grain that does NOT follow as well. )

Step two. Cut out to shape. There's no need to cut to line at this point. Shaping can be done later, when the blank has been split in half. (Yes, after it has been split. If you try to shape it before you split it, you will have problems splitting equally)Use a marking gauge to scribe two parallel lines along the blank, with a gap slightly wider than your saw kerf.

Step three: Split the blank. Don't worry about being precise here. You will need to plane or sand down to thickness later.

A word about thickness; How thick should a razor scale be? As thin as the material will allow. Ivory can be thinned to the point of translucency, followed by bone. For Wood,  it depends on the species used; Boxwood can be planned very thin and yet retain some strength. Balancing a razor's blade on your face is quite a feat. I do not see any merits of using a heavy scale, unless it's to balance beastly blades like a 1" Wade & Butcher dreadnought.

Step four ( It's begining to feel like I'm doing an Instructibles Article) Thicknessing comes next. (My 2cents? As thin as the wood can manage.)

Step Five: Tape the two halves back again with thin double-sided tape. The ones sold in craft shops for mounting artwork is fine. Then shape with spokeshaves and rasps and sandpaper. Finally put in a bevel all around the perimeter. Take your time.

Now, what's that brass colored piece? Its a wedge that I cut and tapered from an old brass key.

I could have used lead too, if I have some, never mind the toxicity. Brass is slightly better: (Copper & Zinc alloy, with traces of lead) I  felt that most straight razor users are more prone to be killed from slit throats than toxic materials in their razors.

Tapering the section of the wedge is important in two ways:
1) It forces the scales to widen at the middle to form a belly to make room for the blade. when the scales are peened to the wedge.
2)It looks better. (That's my opinion)

Step six: Drill the pilot holes for the pins, then even out the burrs with steel wool. If you intend to oil the scales, now's the time for the base coat.

Step seven: Seperate the two halves. Carefully.

Step eight: Peen the end assembly first. This will make the final shaping of the wedge easier. You can sand the brass and teak together. Note the Vee formed by the scales.

Step nine: Anticipate.

Step ten: Prepare the collars and washers. Shown below: Peening hammer, completed wedge, brass pin (not cut to length yet) 2 collars, 2 washers); all these on a 4" x 4" jeweller's anvil.

You will need to thin-out the brass washer (these go on both sides of the razor's tang, under the scales) If you do not, the assembly will be bulky. Simply whack with a hammer. Photo below shows before and after flattening. The pin hole will somehow get smaller. Restore to size with a small needle file.

Step eleven: Peen everything together, and check for fit and action; tighten with more taps with hammer if necessary.

Even with a thinned out washer, the gap and part of the washer remains partially visible. Note the bellied profile of the razor. Courtesy of the tapered wedge.

*Some tangs of very old razors are not parallel. So even if you did everything right, the blade would still bias towards one side.

I would help immensely if you bother to file and smooth out the cut pin. This example shows what results if you don't: uneven peen shape.