Card Scrapers

[Bigdog72]

Something new for for me. What is the best type of holder for a scraper and what is the best way to put an edge on one?

 

[NCPete]

run a file flat along the edge, and then burnish it with a piece of tool steel held at about 3-4 degrees from level. that will give you a nice bur that will pull nice shavings off almost anything

 

[nelsone]

What Pete said. I usually hold mine by hand.

 

[NCPete]

oh, yeah, I hold my scrapers in my hand to, implying a slight curve in the card with my thumbs. The scraper will get hot when working it hard, which is probably why some people have fashioned holders for theirs.

 

[CarvedTones]

I have a Veritas in a holder that keeps it slightly curved. I have others I just hold and I use them more. It's feedback thing. The one in the holder is best for scraping off old finishes and other utility type uses, IMO.

 

[Bas]

I hold mine by hand. To get started creating a burr, see this video -> http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-14-barely-scraping-by/
It takes practice. Some days I get the perfect burr that lasts a long time, other times I over burnish or didn't file enough and it gets dull after 10 scrapes. But it's getting better

I also have a cabinet scraper, which is an awesome tool. It's great for flattening glued-up panels, removing finish etc. Slightly more expensive, but not as ridiculous as some tools. It operates on the same principle.

 

[willarda]

Something new for for me. What is the best type of holder for a scraper and what is the best way to put an edge on one?

As with any tool, adequate preparing of the edge is all-imporant. This holds true even for such a seemingly simple tool as a card scraper. Before you even think about drawing a burr, the scraper needs to be jointed straight (with a wecond cut mill smooth file), then honed flat and square on the two wide faces and along the narrow edge. Ideally you should polish this edge. This is where most people miss the boat. It is important that the edge be square to the flat faces and have sharp 90 degree edges. The metal should be smooth and without gouges left by the file. After the scraper edge is drawn, the strength and durability of that edge is directly related to the integrity of the burr. If the edge was not smooth and square, then you will have two problems: the burr will not roll over easily if the edge is not square, and the burr will be ragged if the edge is not smooth. The burr is a very fine cutting edge, basically at 90 degres to the scraper faces and so the cutting angle is very, very low. This is what makes the scraper so useful on wild or cross grains. So you want to do everything you can to make that burr strong and long lasting so that you can use the scraper effectively for a goodly amount of time.

I put my jointing file in a slot cut into a piece of ply. Make that slot about 1 inche closer to the edge of the board than the width of the scraper. Clamp the coard between dogs on your bench. Rest the scraper flat on the ply and draw it across the file. This will insure that the scraper edge is square. Do this a couple of times. Be sure to brush away metal filings each time because these filings can roll along the edge as you file and create largeer gouges. This type of jig works well for my curved and gooseheck scrapers as well.

To polish the edge, I usually use a couple of Spyderco ceramic stones. These are nice because I do not need to lubricate them and they will not gouge. I make the same type of jigs as for my file, but with large slots to fit the ceramic stones upright. Hone the edges just as you jointed the scraper. To hone the flat faces, rest the scraper on the opposite face of the stone (away from the outside edge of the bench), put a scrap block of wood on the scraper face to even out the pressure of your fingertips. Put all ten fingers on the block, lean back and hone the faces. Just a few strokes will do the job.

You can hone on waterstones as well, but they will gouge if you are not careful. To hone the edges on my waterstones, I hold the scraper against a thick block of wood (not quite as tall as the scraper). Skew the block just enough so that the scraper works across the width of the stone. No gouging will occur. Do both edges of the scraper. You will need to put a cloth on the honed edge or wear leather gloves to keep from getting cut. To hone the flat faces, you need to use a block of wood to distribute the pressure of your fingetips, or else you will just see polished zones where you pressed down on the steel. Make sure your watestones are good and flat before you do this. I usually hone to the 1200 grit stone (not my 4000 grit). Iusually inspect my edges with a monocular to keep myself humble.

for drawing a burr, I have used a number of burring devices. In my scraper class we usually do a set of scrapers with each edge drawn with a differnet tool. To tell the truth, we can never see a difference between the hand and the most sophisticated jig. For heavy srapers, you can hold the scrper in your hand and do the drawing, but for thin, flexible scrapers, put them between two beveled edge blocks of wood in a vise, with just a bit of the scraper edge showing. I usually begin my burr with the burnisher almost square to the edge and progressively tip the burnisher until my burr is being drawn out at around 10 degrees for horizontal. This only needs a few strokes. Don't put a lot of pressure on the burnisher. Sort of like buttering toast with cold butter. I do about3 strokes towards me and 3 strokes away from me on each edge so that the burr goes all the way to the corners. Test the burr with youir fingertips to judge if and how much you have drawn, then test it on a piece of wood.

I use scrapers with no flex in them at all to smooth out finishes between coats and to remove dust nibs and drips, etc. In this case, I hold the scraper between my thumb and forefinger for a light cut. For stock removal, the thumbs are placed on the side of the scraper you are looking at, the forefingers are hooked over the two opposite corners and the other fingers are arranged on the two back edges (away from you). Tilt the scraper away from you and take an experimental cut. Adjust your hand hold so that the fleshy part of your palm is resting on the stock. This gives you a good frame of reference. Continue to tilt the scraper until you get a cut. Depending on the curl of the burr, this angle will differ. If the scraper gets too hot, wear gloves. If you need an agressive cut, push out with your thumbs and pull back with your outer fingers. A holder will isolate you too much from the feel of the scraper action.

 

[JimmyC]

Here's a few sites:

http://lumberjocks.com/toddc/blog/series/1150

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2mO_ItlBXw

 

[Warren]

Great file jig. I plan to make one. Holding the scraper between wood in a vise to turn a burr is a good idea. Another way is use a saw vise. I got one from my father-in-law and bought one for a buck at a flea market because the guy didn't know what it was and wanted to get rid of it. He offered me a well bucket (the long skinny kind that fits a well casing) because, again, he had no idea what it was.

There are a couple of other scrapers that are worth considering: Kunz short bed scraper plane with side handles and a Stanley scraper plane copy by Kunz. Seems like a lot of extra scrapers but I use them all.
Warren

 

[Gofor]

Only thing I would add is that I have found it much easier to turn a smooth burr by adding lubrication to the burring tool, be it a commercial one or other hardened steel tool. A light oil (3 in 1, etc) or just a little skin oil gotten from along-side my nose or behind my ear, makes all the difference in the world (YRMV, depending on your nose or ear).

I hold the scraper in my hand, and both push and pull. (for pulling, the thumbs are on the outside and the fingers to the center). On some woods, gloves may be called for because the scraper can get fairly warm.

Not all scrapers are the same. For instance, my lie-nielson ones are harder to draw the burr, but the edge lasts longer. The inexpensive set available at Klingspor's and Woodcraft work fine and are easier to draw the burr, but dull very quickly on white oak or the like.

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