Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | Nov 11, 2002 02:12am | #1

   Ease up a little on the burnisher to turn a smaller hook? The farther away the hook extends from the body of the scraper, the more likely it will be to chatter, and the lower the frequency will be, meaning a coarser chatter pattern.

1. 
   L | Nov 11, 2002 08:01am | #4

   I'll try that - I've been leaning pretty hard on the burnisher. Thanks.

2. 
   hmthomas | Nov 11, 2002 02:14am | #2

   Lou,  At the risk of sounding simple I have to ask, is it sharp? Its got to have a good burr on it to work. Many don't come sharp.

   If its sharp then I suggest that you try to put a little bow into the blade as you hold it. I hold the edges and press on the center with my thumbs. Mine work equally well, pulling or pushing. Try different angles until the burr digs in, when it works righ its really nice. On cherry you can get nice shavings, much thinner than what a plane can do.

   good luck, Hugh  

1. 
   L | Nov 11, 2002 08:03am | #5

   Good question - I've been going through the filing, honing, burnishing routine, but not sure if I'm doing it right. I thought that raising shavings instead of dust was an indication that it was sharp?

   I am putting some bow in it - as my aching thumbs will attest!

   Thanks,

   -Lou

   Edited 11/11/2002 12:11:20 AM ET by Lou

1. 
   AlanTurner | Nov 11, 2002 05:40pm | #9

   There are different thicknesses of scrapers.  Lie-Nielsen makes a pir at .020" and .035".  I far prefer the thinner one because the bending takes less force.  Just a thought.  I don't know if others make thinner ones as well, although my curved set seems thinner, possibly even thinner than .020".

1. 
   L | Nov 11, 2002 08:31pm | #12

   A thinner scraper sounds like a great idea. I think the one I have is a Sandvik - dunno for sure.

1. 
   AlanTurner | Nov 11, 2002 08:34pm | #13

   I have one of these also, and it is of the thicker persuassion. Y

3. 
   lwilliams | Nov 11, 2002 04:41am | #3

   Lou,

   A well tuned and sharpened hand plane will usually leave a better surface than a scraper. The plane will also require less sharpening and maintenance time than a scraper. If you can plane a surface then scraping won't improve it. Resort to scrapers only when your planes aren't up to the particular wood you're using but avoid scrapers on soft or low density woods.

   It could be that your scraping technique is just fine. What are you trying to accomplish here? A little more information would help.

1. 
   L | Nov 11, 2002 08:08am | #6

   Larry, that's good to know. I thought the scraper would improve the planed surface. I was primarily working at frame joints where grain was meeting at right angles and the plane wanted to tear out one or the other, so I tried scraping. I ssuspect I'm not preparing the scraper quite right, in spite of reading numerous descriptions of the process in FWW. Thanks for your help.

   -Lou

1. 
   GeeSeaWhy | Nov 11, 2002 10:15am | #7

   It sounds like your scraper is sharp enough. Try skewing around the corner so it doesn't ever go totally cross-grain? There was an article in FWW #150 about planing face frames flat.

   HTH

   Graeme

1. 
   L | Nov 11, 2002 08:27pm | #10

   Thanks, Graeme. I have been skewing, just was disappointed that the resulting surface was rougher than when I planed. Sounds like I need to work on my scraper preparation.

   -Lou

2. 
   LeeGrinding1 | Nov 11, 2002 05:39pm | #8

   This was written by Ellis Walentine.

   Hand scrapers are among the most used tools in most furnituremakers' arsenals.

   In the old days, they didn't have fancy jigs--just their skill and their need to get the dang

   thing sharpened in a hurry so they could get on with their work. I'm an advocate of

   sharpening scrapers quickly, relying on experience and touch to do a good job. I expect

   there are many schools of thought on this, so you can try 'em all and see which one works

   best for you.

   The first thing to do with a new scraper is to hone the sides smooth and flat on

   a fine stone. You will have basically four cutting edges--two on each long edge of the

   scraper--so you want to hone those four faces. Next, file the two long edges--never

   the faces--straight and smooth with a fine mill file. They used to make special scraper

   files for this. They were extremely fine so they wouldn't leave any galling on the edge of

   the scraper. I don't use any kinds of guides for this step--it takes too long to set them up.

   Just practice holding your file square to the sides and angle it slightly. Push deliberately

   in one smooth motion, and if you don't hit it just right, take another pass. Do this to both

   edges. Then hone the edges on a medium to fine-grit waterstone (or oilstone). The finer

   the grit, the slicker the edge you can get, but it's diminishing returns; I usually settle for

   medium grit (3000-4000) for most work. Use the edge of your bench stone so you don't

   put ruts in the face of the stone. If your stone sits in a wooden holder block, the block

   will act as a squaring reference for the edge of the scraper. The edge of a scraper dulls so

   quickly that it just isn't worth a whole lot of effort to sharpen it to the max every time.

   The exception is when you are doing super-delicate scraping, such as knocking the nibs

   off a lacquer finish. In that case, you want polished edges with no burnished hook at all.

   Next, I "swage" the edges in a vise. Hold your burnisher perpendicular to the sides

   of the scraper and stroke them once or twice with a fair amount of pressure. This

   compacts the steel slightly and pushes it out to the sides. If you don't have a hardened

   oval burnisher, use a piece of drill rod as John says, or a valve stem from an old car or

   lawnmower engine. Whenever you use your burnisher, put a little spit or a drop of honing

   oil on it to make it glide over the steel. Once you've stoned and swaged the edges, lay the

   scraper flat on a bench and "draw" the edges with your burnisher. To do this, lay the

   burnisher on the face of the scraper and take a couple flat swats on each edge. This shifts

   the swaged steel outward toward and off the edge, creating a very slight hollow on the

   thin edge. Now you're ready to burnish the hook. For the sake of expediency, I do this

   with the scraper flat on the bench, but you can hold it in a vise if you prefer. A lot of

   people go overboard on this step and burnish a big hook on the edge. You don't need or

   want that. A big hook is more prone to break off and it forces you to lean the scraper over

   too far when scraping. That's when you burnish your knuckles. Start with your burnisher

   perpendicular to the edge and take a couple light strokes, pulling the burnisher toward

   you. Then take another, slightly angled, stroke on the upper edge. Check it with your

   thumb to see if you're starting to feel the hook. One or two more strokes, at slightly teeper

   angles each time, should do it. Remember, you don't want a big curl, just a shallow

   J-shaped edge. The reason I don't like to apply too much pressure with the burnisher is

   that it tends to bulldoze the metal ahead of the curvature of the burnisher, which breaks

   up the edge and results in a rough cutting edge.

   Lee

   Lee Grindinger

   Furniture Carver

1. 
   L | Nov 11, 2002 08:28pm | #11

   Lee, thanks for taking the time to send along that great Walentine piece. I'll try it his way.

   -Lou

1. 
   GregB126 | Nov 12, 2002 01:07am | #14

   Lou,

   I was somewhat inconsistent with sharpening/burnishing until I finally stumbled on the kind of technique contained in Lee's post.  There are a few aspects I've learned to pay particular attention to.  First, I do get more consistent results by using a sharpening jig of sorts.  It is nothing more than a foot long  by 2 inch square piece of wood planed nice and square.  I use sandpaper and glass, and just rest the "jig" on the paper and run the side of the scraper against it while pushing the edge gently across the paper on glass.  This helps me joint square edges, which I find helps in making each face of that edge even.  I go pretty far into the fine grits, keeping a mindset that  the edge I'm working on is delicate and shouldn't be worked too hard.  The whole process takes no more than a couple of minutes, really, including a few quick swipes each grit to have the face keep up with the edges.  Next, do actually focus on some technique which allows you to press down with your burnisher when it's held perpendicularly to the edge, as explained in Lee's.  I think of compacting the steel there before it is rolled over with the burnisher on an angle to create the hook.  Experiment a little with the amount of pressure you apply.  I'm always somewhat mindful of not pushing hard enough to fracture or weaken the carefully won consistent cutting edge I've achieved so far.  Same idea when bringing it to your timber.  Start gently.  You can increase pressure as you go, but try and picture the edge you've made and the action it has on the timber.  For a little illustration, go to the current FWW and the article about steel wool vs. synthetic pads by Jeff Jewitt.  Included is a micrograph showing the surface left behind by each material, with the steel wool winning out on smoothness due to the synthetic's less uniform abrasive qualities.  Just an illustration, but I kind of think of getting closer (with the scraper) to the uniform surface in the steel wool micrograph.  Not to imply the scraper is superior to a good plane.  Listen to Larry on that.  I just find a scraper very useful when dealing with difficult grain (as with some tropicals) or when I've mixed grains or species (recently inlaided some Macassar Ebony in Walnut, and trueing the surface was more effective and less terrifying with a scraper).  Being a chicken sometimes, I will reach for the scraper if in doubt and wish to be extra cautious.  Hope this adds/helps.

   Cheers,

   Greg

2. 
   L | Nov 12, 2002 02:06am | #15

   Greg, your jig idea sounds great. I already have a piece of glass (I've been trying Mike Dunbar's "scary sharp" routine, but it never occurred to me to use a wood block to keep the scraper perpendicular. Do you use a file befor going to the sandpaper? And would you mind specifying which grits you go through?

   Thanks a lot,

   -Lou

3. 
   GregB126 | Nov 12, 2002 05:00am | #16

   Lou,

   My little jig has a rebate on one side.  It's the depth of a file thickness and half as wide.  The file can be placed there with a portion sticking out.  Just run the scraper with the edge on the file and the flat side against the adjoining wooden face.  It will joint nicely that way if you need it to.  Not my invention.  It came from Graham Blackburn's book on woodworking handtools, which is very good.  I don't use the file unless on the first time or I've done something pretty bad to the edge.  You can usually just go to the paper.  Actually, you can reburnish several times before even that is necessary.  Just hold the workpiece up to glancing light and see if it reflects smoothly across.  I'm a little extreme, and so go all the way to .5 micron, just as with plane irons.  Every professional here will probably say that is unnecessary.  But each step is so quick anyway...

   Cheers,

   Greg

4. 
   L | Nov 12, 2002 08:26am | #17

   Sounds like an elegant little jig. I'll try it. Thanks for the help,

   -Lou