Making scales - thinning down stock?

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foofie

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Sep 25, 2011
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I am looking to make some wood scales for a couple folders. All of the wood/micarta I have is too thick - looking to get if from about 1/4 inch to about 1/8 inch.

Any suggestions on how to do this, with minimal tools?
Hand sanding is my fall back - but looking for something a bit faster? This may be a good excuse to buy more equipment.

I tried a friend's HF 4in sander - the thin pieces of wood would slide under the guard and get sucked in. Too much clearance between the guard and the belt.
-- I was considering - random orbital sander? Never tried this on a small piece of wood - not sure if it will stay put? Perhaps if I put it on a silicone/sticky pad?
-- gluing the scales to a larger piece of wood, then orbital sanding that? I worry that even with CA debonder, the 1/8 inch scales may crack a bit?
-- good old elbow grease?

On a separate note - to avoid this problem in the future, would buying thicker stock, then using a scroll saw help? I can't imagine the scroll saw cuts too straight (meaning - I wouldn't cut too straight...).
Or is the secret to buy it closer to the proper thickness to begin with?

Thanks for your thoughts.
 
I don't know what tools you have, but I use a band-saw to cut my larger pieces down to size.
 
I wish I had a bandsaw. Or space for a band saw. I have hand tools, Dremel, drill press. Open to getting more if it will help. A planar would be nice:D
 
Buy a belt grinder from Harbor Freight, it is so useful! But drill the holes for the pins in place before sanding the scales down. Or you could send them down and then true them using a cutting bit in the drill press to work like a mill, I do that sometimes but only to remove very small depths of material.

Or you can get the cuts along all 4 sides started with a dremel cutting wheel and then finish with a hacksaw.
 
If you don't want to invest in new machines you could roughly thin down scales with sanding drums in your dremel and then flatten them out by hand
 
Glue the pieces of scale with two tiny drops of super glue. Hold them slightly offset to a larger pieces of wood ... when you have them to thickness. Using a rubber Or wooden mallet . Gentle tap the scale off. Clean up the holder piece on the sanding belt. Then repeat what’s above ^....
 
^ This is a good technique.

Alternatively, get yourself 2 pieces of metal bar or plate - these could be "mending plates" that you can buy in any hardware store - that are the thickness (or very near thickness) and a bit longer, than your scale stock and your intended final thickness. 1" wide plate could be good enough but 2" or more will provide a better width of support. Attach those with screws or double stick carpet tape to your work surface (or a piece of plywood that you can take and clamp anywhere) on either side of your scale material carpet taped in between. So: a plate - your scale - a plate - side by side.

Using a random orbital sander with varying grits - I'd start with 60 or 80 and end with 150 to 220 - sand your scale material to the thickness of the plates. By the time you are at the thickness of the plates the finer grit will not effect the metal plate thickness (perceptibly) for many sets of scales. Ideally, alternate the orientation of the plates, even different faces, every time you set them up to get more consistent use from them.

My 2¢ - I would not use a belt sander. TOO aggressive and generally not a very useful tool compared to a good random orbit sander. The RO can be plenty aggressive with the right grits of abrasive but is also useful for finish work.
 
Disk sander works best IMO. I have a small 5" I purchased from Menards for $40 and its accurate as hell. I put a piece of masking tape around a 1,2,3 block and on the backside of my material for the glue holding technique. I use the 1,2,3 with the mitre on the disk sander to keep everything square. I dont worry about drilling the holes until the scale is fitted up to the liner and rough shaped, which is also done on the disk. I should also mention, I get one side flat by hand on the disk sander before I glue it to the 1,2,3 to true it up. This way both sides are flat.
 
Honestly, I would save time ( time is money) and order some 1/18" or thonner G-10, Micarta, or wood. Most wood sellers will slice up a block for you at little or no additional cost.

No Cal has lots of makers there. I bet most would be glad to cut up a block of wood for you if you asked.
 
if you only need one side flat a 60 grit flap disk in a angle grinder takes material of extremely fast and you can do some rough contouring with it. I often do this for scales that are already attached when coke bottling a handle. The flap disks last a long time and are cheaper than 2x72 belts.
 
foofie said:
I tried a friend's HF 4in sander - the thin pieces of wood would slide under the guard and get sucked in. Too much clearance between the guard and the belt.
Click to expand...
This is easily corrected with a couple of c-clamps, vice grips, etc, and something flat and straight to add to the existing 'guard' as you say to narrow the opening.
 
fishface5 said:
Buy a belt grinder from Harbor Freight, it is so useful! But drill the holes for the pins in place before sanding the scales down. Or you could send them down and then true them using a cutting bit in the drill press to work like a mill, I do that sometimes but only to remove very small depths of material.

Or you can get the cuts along all 4 sides started with a dremel cutting wheel and then finish with a hacksaw.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Fishface.
I just bought some cutting bits for the press - need to mill out a slot for a liner lock in the scales. Will try this on a piece of scrap and see how it goes.
 
Rhinoknives1 said:
Glue the pieces of scale with two tiny drops of super glue. Hold them slightly offset to a larger pieces of wood ... when you have them to thickness. Using a rubber Or wooden mallet . Gentle tap the scale off. Clean up the holder piece on the sanding belt. Then repeat what’s above ^....
Click to expand...
Thanks Rhino. This sounds like the standard and most predictable way to do it.
Can you clarify - about when you mallet the pieces off. Do you leave a lip of the scale material longer than the holder piece, then mallet that part to separate the two? Any role for chisel or debonder? With very thin 1/8" stock, I can imagine the tiny trop of glue being stronger than the wood around it?
 
weo said:
This is easily corrected with a couple of c-clamps, vice grips, etc, and something flat and straight to add to the existing 'guard' as you say to narrow the opening.
Click to expand...
This was acutally my first thought. I tried clamping a small block of wood to the fence, and let the belt grinder sand the bottom of the block until there was enough clearance. Sacrificial wood block guard? This kept the clearance pretty tight. The downside is there is a bit of flex in the belt, so there is still a chance the scale gets pulled under the guard. That's the problem with 2-3mm stock, I guess.
 
foofie said:
That's the problem with 2-3mm stock, I guess
Click to expand...
You want your scales to be only 2-3mm??? That's awfully thin for a scale, 1/8" is over 3mm IIRC. If that's the case, then my suggestion would be to find a place to buy them.
 
foofie said:
Thanks Rhino. This sounds like the standard and most predictable way to do it.
Can you clarify - about when you mallet the pieces off. Do you leave a lip of the scale material longer than the holder piece, then mallet that part to separate the two? Any role for chisel or debonder? With very thin 1/8" stock, I can imagine the tiny trop of glue being stronger than the wood around it?
Click to expand...
off set the gluing , leave the lengthways lip so you have some area of your scale to tap on . The length way works best. Less likely to crack off a piece. Nice gentle taps. You want the glue to give way. Not the wood. Do it with a test piece so you get an idea what to do.
 
Signalprick said:
Disk sander works best IMO. I have a small 5" I purchased from Menards for $40 and its accurate as hell. I put a piece of masking tape around a 1,2,3 block and on the backside of my material for the glue holding technique. I use the 1,2,3 with the mitre on the disk sander to keep everything square. I dont worry about drilling the holes until the scale is fitted up to the liner and rough shaped, which is also done on the disk. I should also mention, I get one side flat by hand on the disk sander before I glue it to the 1,2,3 to true it up. This way both sides are flat.
Click to expand...
Thank you, Jason.
I think this may be the way to go. I am starting to agree with the wisdom - get them cut properly to size.
That said, the disc sander will help with thinning as well as shaping. And the 1,2,3 block/mitre gauge will be much more accurate than the random orbital sander.

A 5inch disc will only have about 2.5" of surface (on the down side). If you are flattening something longer than 2.5 inch, do you just keep flipping it? Doing one half, then the other (and hoping you don't go much beyond five inches total)? Or does the 1,2,3 gauge offer enough stability to use the entire disc?
 
foofie said:
Thank you, Jason.
I think this may be the way to go. I am starting to agree with the wisdom - get them cut properly to size.
That said, the disc sander will help with thinning as well as shaping. And the 1,2,3 block/mitre gauge will be much more accurate than the random orbital sander.

A 5inch disc will only have about 2.5" of surface (on the down side). If you are flattening something longer than 2.5 inch, do you just keep flipping it? Doing one half, then the other (and hoping you don't go much beyond five inches total)? Or does the 1,2,3 gauge offer enough stability to use the entire disc?
Click to expand...
Yep, gluing to the 123 block with tape and run back and forth across the entire diameter. No issues. You'll get a feel for it pretty quickly. It'll take a little longer than a bigger more expensive wheel but it'll get the job done. Also on this little sander the wheel sticks out just enough to do gentle inside angles so start on the down side at the edge of your material and basically shave off a little as you run from l - r. I do flip back and forth as well. Again, this little sander has been the single most important piece of tooling in my shop so far honestly. I have a larger disk but I use the smaller one with 100 grit for dialing in cover flatness and most finish shaping right up to the liner edge. The table sets up pretty dang square. It's just more versatile than the larger disk, at least for doing covers and it was only $40. Has variable speed too. ;)
This little guy right here....
2402905-Master.jpg
 
I cut to size roughly with a Japanese hand saw that I find very accurate and easy to use. Then I remove material and shape with a knife and a rasp. The rasp leaves a very rough finish that needs some 60 grit sandpaper to even out. I make a lot of use of a set of files, particularly when mixing metal and wood in the handle. The half round file is particularly underrated for shaping materials.
 
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