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http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=105

This looks to be a very effecient tutorial on preparing an edge or four edges on the scraper.

Life After Sanpaper is the name of the article.

The subtitle says it all:

Highland Hardware's Guide to Sharpening and Using a Woodworker's Best Friend - The Scraper

I'm not there yet, back to learning this apparently valuable woodworking technique.

This also makes me suspect that tuning a plane is a similar undertaking. The scraper and the plane have been great mysteries, partly because there are so few folk alive now who actually know how to use them properly. Plugging along.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Sandpaper .............correctly spelled. grin.

Now, my next attempt in pictures. Soft flamed Eastern Maple. Burnisher this time, a punch from my mechanic tool box. Mill file, new. piece of a stone to knock off the tiny burr on the side, wasn't much. Not perfect but I was getting shavings this time. I'll post some obserbations in the next part of the thread.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Good info Bruce, I started using a scaper about 6 months ago and I'll never go back, It works great with high figure wood like................leopard wood

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

Dave, I wonder how many folk have had a negative scraper experience in the past. It's easy to see now what I didn't know, did hurt my efforts.

Here is what one can learn on Highland: Scrapers come NOT READY for USE out of the package. So, mine, laying over on the shop shelf were worthless. This and the other articles helped me for the first time tune in a cutting edge. There are certain things you just have to experience from master woodworkers to GET IT!

That pile of shavings is a testament to learning how to sharpen the silly thing. All that said, it takes a bit of practice. That card scraper now has a great edge on four corners and I'm certain that it can be improved too. Here is the other BIGGIE, good scrapers can be purchased with prepared edges, but you are gonna pay for it.

Check out the two cherries at Highland:



Here is their blurb on this, very insightful:

Since the disappearance of the Sandvik 475 several years ago, no card scraper has come from the factory with its face edges polished and ready for burnishing. Robert Larson is now importing this German one, made by Two Cherries. Just like the old 475, it comes ready to work after just a touch of the burnisher, saving you the chore of polishing the edges until they'll make a burr smooth enough for fine work. 2-3/8 by 5-7/8 inches, approximately .030" thick, hardness of Rc 54. Includes two edge protectors. The cost is 12.50$USD

Then they offer another which they describe as their favorite:



This is the Bahco others have mentioned already in the other scraper threads:

Bahco's hard Swedish cold-rolled, hardened and tempered chrome-nickel steel takes a fine burr & holds it much longer than ordinary card scrapers. Machined surfaces & edges come ready for sharpening & burnishing. A well-sharpened scraper can cut your finishing time in half. Card scrapers are ideal for finishing, removing glue squeeze-out, leveling across joints, and eliminating tearout. The Bahco 474's .032" thickness is moderately stiff, the perfect scraper for finishing flat surfaces. Comes with a plastic protective sleeve, 2-7/16" x 5-7/8" x .032". This one is $5.99 USD

So, again in the article comes the mention of a little oil along the edge and a proper burnisher. Even the harder Lee Valley card scrapers mentioned by Todd were alluded to under the KUNZ burnisher, they are for very agressive cutting in very hard woods evidently. The little leather pouches seem silly at first, but after putting the effort into getting a great edge I can see their value. Scraper believer/ convert. Warning: they will get hot in use. They even make holders for those things.....

Some Links:
Bacho 474 Card Scraper
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=824

Two Cherries Card Scraper
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=5186

Burnisher Page
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=206

A little side note: The above tools are referred to as card scrapers. There is a different tool called a cabinet scraper and even others which are shaped and used for similar purposes on curved surfaces. Jargon varies across the world I suppose. Thanks for checking out the thread, Bruce

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Hey Bruce, thanks for finding these articles. They're definitely helpful.

Thanks for the inspiration Bruce! All this talk of scrapers over the last week really helped me hone my skills. This weekend I looked around at all my scrap wood and decided to build 2 simples jigs for putting an edge on a scraper. First up is a scraper jointer. I had some really high powered magnets laying around and decided these would help keep the mill file tight against the rabbet slot to make a good 90 degree angle. There is also a small rabbeted ledge that lets the metal shavings fall into this trough. Very helpful. So first I ran the scraper through this jig to square up the edge.




Then I took my new burnisher that I made from some left over walnut and cut a screw driver in pieces to use as the metal rod. I screwed up on this design, but it still works okay. After you flatten the edge, you have to flip it over to bring out the burr. No biggie really. Next I honed that edge and the flat part of the scraper on a fine water stone. Then placed the scraper on the edge of the bench and burnished the flat side of the edge.


Then I added the burr. The pictures are just a demo of what I did. I didn't actually use the jointer jig to hone and burr. It was done on the edge of a bench like Bruce showed.


Thanks for all the great information Bruce. I now have a scraper that is much more useful!

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

In our Woodworking 1 classes here, we teach students about the value of the scraper and the hand plane. In all of our classes, we never use a sander for any finishing or wood prep. Its all done with the scraper, hand plane and a single piece of 400 grit sandpaper, hand sanded.

The trick with scrapers is that they should produce shavings, NOT sawdust. With a new scraper, I usually go through the sharpening and burnishing operations, twice to get the original burr, then I reburnish about every 10 -20 minutes of use. Keep the burnisher at a 90 degree angle, and you will find that the error in your angle will usually be just the right angle for the burr to make the tool comfortable to cut with.

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Mitch

Thanks Guys, I'm proficient in many areas, but still a student in others. Viewing the various tutorials and threads has been great. The one from Highland is the best I've found written down with some good small pics.

I see Tracy came up with a simple screwdriver shaft for a burnisher. I started out with a punch which is quite hard and smooth, then tried the steel for sharpening kitchen knives. That was a mistake and took me down the wrong road.

What we need in a burnisher is a hard smooth surface. Todd mentioned spent carbide bits which I think is a great idea, if I only had one. Last night, I came up with something that is a blast from my past. Hardened polished wrist pins from my VW mechanic days. I can't wait bolt a handle through one of these and give it a try. Plus the mention of oil is something I've not tried.

Generally, I don't want any oil around my woodworking, but this may prove to be the exception burnishing a scraper. Good luck guys trying this out. Tracy those are some nice looking jigs. I'm sure some folks would be willing to purchase. Cheers, Bruce

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I use a completely worn out knife sharpening tool I got at an attic sale for a buck. It is totally smooth, no grooves left, and it has a sterling silver inlaid handle.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Semi-related question - I've got a z-saw blade that needs to be replaced. Is the steel in that blade suitable for use as a scraper?

z-saw blade ? I dunno.

Todd said he cuts up old worn Disstons, so maybe any sharpenable, flexible flat metal will work?

Let us know and hey, why not give us some pics of your process?

You could call it the Z-Eckle-Scraper, ay?

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Great vid on scrapers! Very clear! I really appreciate this!

The problem with using saw blades is some of them are soft and flame hardened at the cutting edges. I don't know enough about he composition of scraper steel to really compare what would be useful or no.

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Local Ace Hardware Find:

Yesterday, I was looking for a Red DEVIL paint scraper to make one myself for the handled scraper from the other thread video. Didn't find one all over town. Shucks.

I did find a Robert Larson Quality Woodworking Tools shelf at ACE. I purchased the Two Cherries Brand German Scraper with the honed/prepared edges, $11.99 on sale for $8.00 my old contractors discount. What was puzzling was the Two Cherries Larson variety Burnisher for $21 bucks, it was oval and very rough, looked like a 150 grit piece of sandpaper, so I couldn't bring myself to buy it.

The burnishers we've seen in the videos are polished steel aren't they? Anyway, I was confused by the burnisher and especially the fact that there were just a few Larson offerings and they were together, so I'm guessing it was for the card scraper. Any thoughts?

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com