Replies

1. 
   BG | Aug 05, 2003 11:20pm | #1

   Trusche,

   On the home page here there is a video clip on tuning a new block plane...perhaps that may have some relevance to your situation.  good luck

2. 
   HowardAcheson | Aug 05, 2003 11:59pm | #2

   Here is the way I was taught years ago to sharpen a hand scraper. After filing and being sure the edge is flat and 90 degrees to the sides, put the scraper flat down on, and slightly back from, the edge of your bench. Run your burnisher along the flat side of the scraper pressing at so the burnisher is tight at the edge. This starts causing the edge corner to extend. This is a step that burnisher jigs can not do.

   Now put the scraper in your vise extending up about an inch. With your burnisher, run it along the edge at 90 degrees from the sides. Take 2 or three not too heavy strokes. This causes the corner raised in the first step to be bent toward the sides of the scraper. Then tip your burnisher up slightly (10-15 degrees--really makes no difference) and take two continuous, firm strokes on each corner. That's it.

   You will have to try scraping at various angles to find the "sweet spot." As the scraper becomes dull, go through the same three burnishing steps as above. You can burnish 10-20 times before stoning or filing is again required. It takes less time than changing sandpaper in a sander.

   I greatly favor a real burnisher for two reasons. First, it is really hard metal. Second, it it highly polished. Both of these attributes mean that there is little chance of galling (or tearing metal from) the scraper edge. Galling makes for less than a smooth cut. The smoother the burnisher, the smoother the burr. Screwdriver shafts may or may not be hard enough and the chrome plating will eventually deteriorate. Using a valve stem from a car that has been highly polished is an alternative but why not just get a burnisher.

   Finally, you can control the aggressiveness of the scraper by the way you file/stone it and how you use the burnisher to make the burr. Stoneing with a fine stone after filing and then using ligher pressure on your burnisher will give you a less aggressive but finer cutting burr and a smoother finish. I have a thicker scraper that I sharpen to an agressive cutting burr that I use for initial work (ie: ripple removal after jointing/planing) and then a set of thinner scrapers that I put a finer edge on for finish smoothing and cutting down and smoothing varnish finishes.

   Finally, to prevent frustration, scrapers work best on hard woods. Using them on pine is generally unsuccessful.

   For an excellent description with pictures get Bob Flexner's "Understanding Wood Finishing."

3. 
   lostarrow | Aug 06, 2003 12:11am | #3

   TRUSCHE2-

   Just a thought, but are you sure that it's a scraper and not a spokeshave.

   Be not afraid of going slowly.  Be afraid only of standing still.   chinese proverb
1. 
   trusche2 | Aug 06, 2003 02:10am | #4

   It's neither a spokeshave nor a card scraper, but what I've seen advertised in catalogs as a "#80 Cabinet Scraper".  The blade is maybe two inches square.  It's beveled at 45 degrees, then burnished.  The holder contains a thumb screw that's used to adjust the curvature of the blade.

   Edited 8/5/2003 8:04:47 PM ET by TRUSCHE2

1. 
   lostarrow | Aug 06, 2003 03:50am | #5

   Sorry, didn't mean to offend. You mentioned that you got it some years ago. I thought that perhaps at the time you didn't realize what you had. I looked up the Kunz type #80 in an old catalog I have,Constantine's . It says that it has a reversible beveled edge blade. The narrow end is for fast scraping.  Have you tried flipping the blade end for end? Maybe that's what the problem is. Or perhaps you were taking to heavy of a cut and it was chattering on you. Recently I bought a Hock iron for my #80 thinking to improve the preformance of it . So far the results I'm getting with the Hock have been disappointing. It seems to chatter more than the standard iron. I guess the answer is practic,practice,practice.Be not afraid of going slowly.  Be afraid only of standing still.   chinese proverb

4. 
   AdamK | Aug 06, 2003 04:16am | #6

   I've got the Veritas #80 scraper that sounds very similar to yours.  I had difficulty with mine when I started using it but now it works like a charm.  Here is how I sharpen the blade.  First sharpen it at 45 degrees similar to a plane blade.  Once it is reasonably sharp, I take the blade and mount it in my vice.  With the burnisher (I place a drop or 2 of oil on the burnisher which seems to help) held along the bevel (the burnisher will be pointing up at 45 degrees and thus parallel to the bevel plane) I take successive passes each time bringing the burnisher to the level.  Your final pass will have the burnisher perpendicular to the scraper blade.  This give you a nice burr.  I then take the holder over to my jointer (or any hard surface) and slide the blade in and clamp it in.  The thumb screw adjusts the depth of cut and takes very (and I mean very) little adjustment to increase the cut depth.  With he screw loosened all the way off it shouldn't take any shavings off your material.  Hopefully I haven't confused you more.

   good luck,

   Adam

   My site: http://home.cogeco.ca/~akropinski

1. 
   DavidP52 | Aug 06, 2003 03:12pm | #8

   I just got the Veritas. Spent about an hour on the blade and WOW! I had no idea that this thing would take continuous shavings like a plane. But like a plane , it is tricky to use and takes a bit of experience. Now I use it for the final finish on virtually everything that is flat. A really super tool once you get the hang of it.

   Right about the thumb screw, takes about ten degrees of turn to make a huge difference in depth of cut. They should have used fine threads on that one. Much too sensitive.

   Edited 8/6/2003 8:15:29 AM ET by boatman

2. 
   ian | Aug 08, 2003 02:43am | #9

   Adam, one blade setting method that works is to place a piece of typing paper under the front of the scraper palne whilst you insert and set the blade - this technique gives just the right mount of blade projection.

5. 
   Telemike | Aug 06, 2003 07:15am | #7

   I bought one of those years ago and had no idea what to do with it.  It hung for years on the wall. 

   Recently my newly laminated hard maple bench top had been flattened with a sled (a' la Tage Freid) and a router.  It was flat and had no twist.  But, it had deep marks across it crossgrain from the router bit.  And, there was a little tearout.

   I was reluctant to use a random orbit sander and dish the top so I tried my block plane without success and a card scraper - works, but I'd be done in time for the Mars winter olympics!

   Intending to try every thing in the shop that might cleanup the mess, I tried the old Kuntz No. 80.  First I cleaned up the blade, then turned a burr like a cabinet scraper.  It worked really well predictably removing the roughness and leaving no tear out.  It was quick too (for a hand tool).  About an hour and both sides were clean and still flat and needed only the card scaper and (shudder) the random orbit sander to be ready for finish.

   Now I intend to flatten the sole and the blade bed on the #80 and treat it with new respect.  Follow the directions in Howie's note and your #80 will perform fine.  It's also put the idea of a scraper plane in my mind!

   
   

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   Edited 8/6/2003 12:20:11 AM ET by telemiketoo