WetShaving
This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
New subscribers welcome!
Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.
Check out these alternative front-ends for this server:
https://gem.wetshaving.social - a nice modern interface
https://old.wetshaving.social - designed to look like old.reddit.com
Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social.
Community Rules
Rule 1 - Behaviour and Etiquette
-
Be Respectful. Do not bully, flame, or harass others.
-
Malicious comments are not allowed but heated discussion and salty banter is okay.
-
Low effort replies and complaints about content will be removed.
Rule 2 - Content Guidelines
-
Mail Calls, Simple Questions, and SOTD posts belong in the recurring weekly threads.
-
Posts must have sufficient content to generate a meaningful discussion.
-
Images, links, or videos must include additional text that summarizes the topic.
Rule 3 - Reviews and Disclosure
-
Use [First Impressions] in the title if your experience with the product is limited.
-
Use the [Review] in the title if you can provide comprehensive details with enough familiarity to answer follow-up questions.
-
Disclose how the product being reviewed was acquired (e.g., PIF, loan, or purchase). If the product was provided to you directly by the maker or vendor free of charge or at a discount, you must disclose this fact even if the item will later be returned to the maker or vendor.
Rule 4 - Advertising
-
Vendors are to keep marketing within the biweekly Deals/New Products threads.
-
Non-vendors may post topics about products if it will foster a compelling discussion.
-
Do not solicit donations or share fundraisers without mod approval.
Rule 5 - Inappropriate Content
-
All NSFW/L content must request mod approval and be flaired appropriately.
-
Non-shaving related NSFW/L content is not allowed.
Rule 10 - Moderator Discretion
- The rules may not apply perfectly to every situation. The mods have final discretion.
view the rest of the comments
So, I've been meaning to try myself at rescaling straight razors. I've had a Wade and Butcher hollow ground and an unnumbered Friodur 8/8 with busted scales, a Torrey blade without scales, replacement scales, and pinning sets lying ready for months, and today I used a company-wide R&R day (i.e., Djunior in daycare, wife working) to get my feet wet. Also, it was a great excuse to get a tiny drill pressπ
I got cheap plastic scales for the Torrey as training scales, and pretty Ralf Aust horn scales for the Wade and Butcher and the giant Friodur.
It turns out that the whole process is a little fiddly,
but overall more straight forward and easy than I anticipated, and I'm overall quite happy with the result,
just that the cheap plastic scales on the Torrey close off centre.
Nothing major though, and they were meant as the training scales to mess up anywayπ
And the others turned out great
I'm impressed by all the gifted people here! Good job, and very good illustrated write up!
Thanks!
Nice work!
Thanks! It was fun π
That looks great! Awesome job!
Thanks buddy!
I have not replaced scales, but I have re-pinned a razor. Just removing the pin was fiddly for me and seems that way in the videos I've watched. I don't have a tiny drill press, but I gaffer-taped the razor to a piece of wood with a hole drilled for the pin on the razor's underside. Then I used a tiny punch on the top-side pin and carefully hand drilled it.
I'm probably way over-thinking this, but if you already have a small drill press, a tiny end mill might be a good way to remove a pin because it can cut horizontally (to remove some of the peened surface) as well as vertically.
I've always just used flush cutters and a punch to get pins free. So far it hasn't caused an issue for me.
I've done that too. I have small Hakko flush cutters (too delicate) that I use for electronics and cable flush cutters (general purpose). I used the larger cutters but worried that I would damage the scales with them. It's probably just an experience thing. I've done very little of this.
Was that on scales that you wanted to save? I'm not sure I'd manage to unoi remove a pin with a flush cutter without some damage to the scales
Yessir. I just unpinned and cleaned up someone's razor a couple weeks using this method. If your tool is free of damage and smooth, it shouldn't really be an issue. I might also add that I crimp a side then rotate and make the actual cut to help minimize the force needed.
Interesting! I have a Heljestrand I'm planning to unpin for a good clean up, keeping the scales. I'll give this a try.
I think replacing scales is much easier. I just cut the pins of with a flush cutter. A tiny one sold for trimming solder leads was enough, the pins are soft. Probably some copper nickel alloy.
I have mill bits just like you describe for this. I've used them to mill aluminium before, so I'm thinking they would work well on the pins.
Congrats! Next, I see a jewelers polishing station in your future :)
Not a full blown polishing station, but i do have floppy wheels, and cotton and rubber cones for that Proxxon drill that you can see in the drill press, and I've polished my first Rubberset with it π