[flyfisher]

The process of carving fish scales can be tedious and is time consuming. I've tried various burners and drawing scales in with 6H pencil but have also been on the lookout for other methods.
Recently I purchased a Kolrosing knife from Pinewood Forge which has provided a feasible alternative to other methods of creating scales.
The Kolrosing knife is light and its handle allows it to be held as a pencil. Its very sharp tip permits scribing the scale outline. Also, since fish scales are not uniformly sized across the fish body the Kolrosing knife permits appropriately sizing the scales.
It seems that this technique works best on fish with less pronounced scales than say a carp. Those scales may require more undercutting than can be achieved with the standard Kolrosing tip, although I understand Pinewood Forge would modify a Kolrosing tip to suit individual needs.