Been a while since I made some scales... This shape caught my eye and I don’t think the scales are salvageable. Ran-tan-Ka-rus, made in Sweden and I think it is an Engstrom. Seen a “Red Devil” version but no cool scales on this one. I have wanted to blend a few materials in a set of scales, and I was playing around with contrasting woods or a wood/bone combo. Not the greatest picture, but hopefully you can see where I was heading. The original scales didn’t do the blade shape justice, so I’m going to try and use the shape to accentuate the curve. Landed on the dark wood with the bone, interlocking the shapes to help the “swoop” factor. This took me a lot longer than you might think. Next is what color would make this pop. I had turquoise, bronze, white, copper, mink, green... but I think I am settling between the copper or green. Leaning towards copper but still have some work & time before I need to decide. Enjoy your projects. Tom
Decided on Copper... but added a twist. Created the mold and taped down the wood and bone. Then remembered those barber chair scales... I really liked the purple blending/swirling into white. So mixed up a couple of colors: And completed the pour. I’ll give it about 6 hours and then see if I can swirl the transition. I do like the contrast. Tom
Put in the swirl at the 6 hour point and I learned something... I like how the left side turned out, but the right side mixed more than I would have liked. When I initially swirled with a toothpick, that side didn’t have enough white, so I went back... looks like it caused it to blend. Something to remember for next time. Then again, I never really know what the pattern is until I finish sanding.
Today felt like a good day to start the shaping process. Out with the coping saw, and then jumped to the dremel with a 60 grit sanding drum to rough in the shape and thin them out. I shift to a 240 drum for a bit and end at the 400 before seeming to step back with 180 grit paper laying on a flat DMT325 plate. I still have some work to do before I stick them together and contour the shape... I’m thinking a rounder look, but not sure. The swirl section came out pretty cool, but won’t know completely what I have until I’m done sanding. Haven’t seen them in natural light yet. Tom
Saturday’s progress... No more Dremel, so all hand sanding, mostly 180 grit. Taped the two side together to finalize the shape and help with thinning. My son’s first comment was, “if you were going Viking themed, why not purple?” Honestly, I was even thinking Viking, but it does look like that would have worked. I am struggling bringing out the entire piece of wood as it was uneven and must have been thinner towards center of scale. Not sure if I can get to where I want without going too thin... whoops. Here is what I was hoping to get to. The swirl pattern is really interesting. The flecks of copper and white pop at different lights and I think will show more depth after the super glue finish. As far as the wedge, I was initially thinking bone, but I have a large enough piece of the swirl section left to sandwich between the wood. If I can get an interesting pattern, that could be a cool option. And I am toying with adding something to the bone... but it already is a busy design. And the blade had some hand sanding up to 2000. Enjoy your projects. Tom
Really dragging on this one, but thought this was a cool in-progress shot. I like to apply my super glue coats before I go to bed so they can harden up before I sand. 4 coats of the thin stuff, giving each coat about an hour+ to dry before the next. The scale on the right is before sanding and the left is after starting with 800 grit. 600-800 is a good range for me to start, so I don’t burn through the layers and I can sneak up on the finish. By sneaking up, I mean these shiny low spots will gradually go away while hopefully not going through to the wood. But if I do, I’ll just do it again. Got to get outside and make the wedge... just need the rain to stop.
Ended up using the extra swirl section for the wedge. Didn’t have quite as interesting a pattern, but the flecks of sparkle can be seen on the end, and there is a swirl of white at the top... good enough. I have quite a few of these nail head pins to use, which are easy to pin as long as you really push them to be tight before you start tapping. Here is the finished product: And here is the backside, which has the cooler swirl pattern: Some glamour shots for fun And one more: Time to hone her up and take for a spin. Enjoy your projects. Tom
Thank you both! Always hold my breath to see how they actually turn out, and I am really happy with these.