The Far-Eastern Wood Butcher: Prime cuts from the far east.

You're so right. I should be writing about Whittlers instead of Stockman knives. Afterall, this is a wood working blog. But do you whittle the whole day? Perhaps. Can you peel an apple with a whittler? Maybe, but not as well. What if you forgot the butter knife at a picnic, or you somehow need to spey or neuter an animal in an instant?.. (ok, I'm pulling your leg, but I'm referring to the ubiquitous spey blade in your stockman.) A stockman knife (Also called your Gandpa's EDC) will do all of the above with ease, and it will WHITTLE. My shallow pocket and minute brain says that Whittlers are for collectors. Try buying a Stag handled split-backsping whittler. They are not cheap. This is one of the forty stockmen I've purchased online. The other 39 are on their way. And yes, I have issues. The stockman bug maybe. Wait till my wife sees them: I like to imagine myself as a craftsman first, woodworker second. Now you see why I bought this brand. Looks so ...

(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) R eplacement 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 sca...

Everyone has their favourite methods. I tried some that was published. Citric acid, Vinegar:  Good for small rusted items like screws and bolts. An overnight soak leaves even the fine screw threads clean. Will re-rust rapidly if not flushed with tap water, dried and oild/waxed. Coke (the drink) and Aluminium foil: Most useful for folks with limited cleaning arsenal, works well on lightly spotted or tarnished chrome bumpers or bicycle frames. (Now you know why there's an ant farm under my Bailey No. 5's chrome lever cap) Sandpaper: Works on most metals, but removes patina and leaves scratches. Sanding in just one direction (lengthwise) helps the aesthetics greatly, as in sanding a hand saw blade. Electrolysis: Works like magic, all rust gone, no trace of any cleaning... or is there? Look closely, and you will see patches of discoloration (ok, I'm being very picky here), and the bare, rust free steel surface has a matted look. If you soak an item that has many cap...