stop paying big money on little scales

M

magnum .44

Joined
Jun 12, 1999
Messages
1,110
it's outrageous to pay $10- $20 for a pair of scales. that's why i stopped about 8 monthes ago. i buy huge amounts of exotic woods for very low prices. i buy every wood in large boards. i bought a peice of macassar ebony that cost $90, which i can get nearly 80 scales out of. all you need to do is buy a good bandsaw, like i've been telling you guys for monthes now, and tune it up. this $500-$1000 investment can save you $100's on scales. a good saw to buy is eatheir a delta 14" with a raiser block kit, or jet with raiser block kit. then it can handle boards up to 12" tall.
to tune it up buy a bandsaw guide book, that reveiws all the ways to tune up a saw so that it'll cut absolutely perfectly. next is buy CARTER guides made for the saw, they are a big improvement. next would be to buy a tri-master blade for it by LENOX, as wide as your bandsaw can handle, since it's carbide tipped it should last a very long time. last but a fasttrack bandsaw fence, if you don't have a fence. i'm able to make cuts on my bandsaw that are absolutely perfect, require no jointing, and no planning. it just takes a little time and patience and you'll start saving money on scales.
 
Magnum,
I like going to Woodcraft or other places in town that carry some of the exotic woods in smaller quantities and I am able to find some quality pieces. I bought a 1/4" X 3" x 24" piece of cocobolo for $10 US. I can get at least 4 sets of scales out of it. Whereas from one of the supply houses I would pay about $5.00 for one set.

Although I am able to this, not everyone has places like Woodcraft or Texas Knifemakers Supply in, for example, Buna, Texas or Pumkin Hook, NY. That is why most folks have to order scales from the supply houses.

I have found that it is very hard to get wood with good figuring in quantities of board feet. The big furniture guys have it pretty much bought up. If you know of a place where I can get some Thuya burl or Snakewood in quantities for a reasonable price, please let me know.

C Wilkins

 
I've got relatives living down near Brownsville, Texas. When I visit them we go over the border to do some shopping. I remember seeing some really ugly dark wood carvings about the size of a duck. I think they sell for about $10 and from the weight, they seem to be ironwood or something like that. I was thinking of buying one the next trip and cutting it up for scales.

Has anyone tried cutting up one of these chunks of wood from Mexico?

Carl
 
Most of it is ironwood. If you're careful you can get pretty decent scales out of them.
I buy almost all my supplies in bulk. I've been cutting up 25 lbs of mammoth that I bought for the last couple of weeks.
It's definitely the way to go if you make a large volume of knives every year like I do.
I will spend the extra on really spectacular scales for a custom order.
The important thing is to have a really good bandsaw. And for the harder stuff I use a bi-metal blade. You also want to get it stabilized or do it yourself (depending on the material). Many times large pieces (no matter how long they've been sitting) aren't completely dry in the middle.

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Gene Osborn
Center Cross Metal Works
I Carry My Crosses for Christ to Give any Glory to God.
 
Magnum I was thinking of buying one of Grizzleys $180.00 band saws for cutting metal. I am on a limited budget, wife keeps telling me the kids need things like shoes and clothers, and have noticed other makers are haveing some luck with these bandsaws.

Can these bandsaws be up graded later to make the precise cuts that your talking about.

Thanks,

Jim

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The warrior will endure great personal hardship in order to stand on a hill, howl at the moon, and proclaim his domain over all he surveys. Fredrick Lovert- Author
 
cl, you can always mail order machinery, local wood cutters usually have exotics. you have to really look for a peice that's figured.
cjensema, it's a better idea to buy one with a flat suface you can get good cuts.
centercross, i'm glad you agree that you need a good bandsaw.
dt-trainer, i don't think you'll be able to get accurate cuts from the grizzly saw, they're good for cutting out blanks from steel, but not for resawing and accurate ripping. i haven't found a place that sells upgrades for grizzly saws yet. i'm gonna suggest that you save your money and go for a 14" delta, you'll be glad when you did, don't try and cut blades out on it though. once you get the delta 14" fallow the other suggestions i wrote, and you should be able to cut very accurately.
 
Mr. Magnum is right concerning the Grizzly saw. I have one and it is fine for cutting out blades but for accurate cuts on wood (or any thing else), it really isn't the saw. I use mine to cut scales at times but as far as being accurate, "you get what you pay for". It does have a pseudo flat table for a rest and I only use it vertically. I bought this saw specifically as a very economical means of profiling blades. That, it does well. I can't expect anything more. It will cut wood but don't expect it to do the job of a 14" Delta or Jet.

C Wilkins
 
Dt Trainer
If you can't afford or don't need a big bandsaw check out delts's bentchtop bandsaw.It has a capacity of about 7" blade to frame, and a thickness capacity of about 6" or 7" too. You can't cut any huge boards on it if you want it for resawing, but you can get a decent rip fence for it and some other stuff that wil help you cutout scales from decent sized boards. The saw itself is under $200

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
If you don't want the expense and space consumption of a band saw, by all means invest in a GOOD fine tooth cabinetmaker's tenon saw or small back saw. with a little practice you can cut nice scales all day with a thin kerf, quiet too, and you won't be throwing fine sawdust under power all over the place. After all what is the added time spent compared to all the other hours spent on the knife? Great for accurate cuts on bone, stag, etc.
 
well, with all the time saved with using anindustrial bandsaw, you could reduce the price of your blades, becuase you wouldn't need to add in the money for all those hours spent cutting them.
 
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