Official Luthiers Forum!

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=29750

While it's good to view the Highland Hardware .com tutorial, I just found this on Finewoodworking. Todd sent us over there to view Brians vids but you had to become a member for one of those. I found this and it's just really nice. Not many of us will have the diamond triple layout of hones though, but the teaching // learning is there for all. Check it out.

I'm still amazed that this is something that has been around luthier circles, just not talked about that much. C what U think.

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I'll be the first to admit that I have never, ever, sharpened a scraper correctly. I've always gone from the file to the burnisher. (I can hear you European guys laughing - at least those who apprenticed.) Now I know how it is supposed to be done.

Thanks, Bruce!

Dennis

_________________
Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Dennis, you and me both. I keep bringing these up because as long as I've been around OLF, I somehow never picked up on this.

I came at carpentry/ woodworking from the homebuilding aspect. I built cabinets with little more than a quick belt sanding and tablesawn birch plywood. One of my students had to tell me what a nail-spinner was.

Card Scrapers, heck, last week, I'd have called it a cabinet scraper, but it was there on my shelf useless since the day I purchased it, several years back. Great video though guys, eight minutes running....

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

From watching all the videos on sharpening scrapers the concept of forming the bur finally sunk in. Up until now I have been doing it wrong and often getting a bur that caused a gouge in the wood. They are working better than new since I just resharpened.
john

Bruce,

Bob is the director/founder of the school I teach at - and he's the one that cut that flamed maple that I rescued from the scrap bins and sent to you...

small world, no?

_________________
Mitch

Dennis,
Going from a file to a burnisher is fine if you file carefully. A draw file works very well held perpendicular to the card scraper. A typical mill bastard works well lengthwise. You have to clean the file and make one clean pass. If you don't get it you have to clean and try again. Caulk in the file sometimes helps. You can feel when it isn't right, the filings will roll up and get between the file and the edge of the blade. It will feel rough or bumpy. A well filed surface is as clean and smooth as a stoned surface.
We used to stone but found it to be unnecessary. I still stone the sides of the scraper with a fine water stone.
Link

_________________
Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

I just watched the the video and he could improve a couple of things. One thing is he should be more carefull when going from a coarse to fine stone. You should wipe the blade so you don't carry pieces of coarser grits to the finer stones. A piece of grit can really scratch up you nice polished edge. Another is after he did what was his final stoning on the edge he should have gone back to the fine stone and lightly hit the sides to remove the burr that was undoubtedly formed.
The final thing is that one should first burnish the top edge and form a hook, then burnish the sides (which will straighten out the hook ) and finally do the edge again reforming the hook. This extra step will, in therory work harden the edge, whether it does or not I can't say but it does make for a much longer lasting edge and most good scraper men I know do it.
Link

_________________
Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Hi Mitch, that is pretty cool. I did visit their website and look for your name on staff. Looks like a place someone could learn a lot.

I guess you noticed that maple is getting a little attention.... thanks again for that. I haven't forgotten the other half of the equation either. Tax Day is O_V_E_R!

I really do love the card scraper, and now can even show a local cabinet maker how to use it. He's an old belt-sander guy, and ROS-guy. Once I show him, he'll be amazed. This is what happens when a few generations fail to pass on the secrets... if they ever knew it themselves

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Thanks for sharing this. However the Diamond stones seems to be high$$$. Can you use smoething else bit cheaper to do that? What would you guys use to do the job of diamond stones here?

Thanks, David

The reason diamond stones are being used here is that they can take the beating of sharpening the thin scraper blade on edge without damaging them. That being said, you can use water stones, but you have to angle the scraper when you are sharpening the edge so that the edge uses the entire stone surface, otherwise, it will cut a groove right into the stone...

_________________
Mitch

David, I think the diamond stones in the videos are being used because they have them. I was able to get a quality edge using just a new mill file. That said, I'm convinced that a better edge is possible with better honing of the surface.

In one of the other threads I posted a vid of a Lapping machine that uses peel and stick adhesive sandpapers. That machine cost $599. The hands in the vid speak volumes, cracked, worn, the hands of a crafstman. So, the length folks go to is amazing to get these scrapers tuned up and working.

Comments from others getting suitable burrs using only a file and burnisher are scattered through the threads. It seems to me that wet sandpapers would be perfect here, honing that edge, much like we do using scary sharp techniques. It's possible too I suppose that unjigged smoothing could actually damage the edge of the scraper just created in the filing.

I did like the file holder and the way he clamped the card scraper into the wood vise. Those two parts of the equation assure squareness and lowers deflection of the thin scraper. Today, I'm headed for the hardware store to see what is avalable locally and plan to pick up the Red Devil Paint Scraper shown in one of the other vids. Of all the thousands of dollars of equipment in his shop, it's his favorite tool. I'd say he's a believer in a scraper's value, it looked perfect for working wood bindings. Won't know until I try it.

Happy Filing, Burnishing and Scraping everyone!

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Thanks Bruce!

Yeah I thought about Scary Sharp method as well as I tried is for the first time on my chisel with great result. I was just curious to see what others were diong to replace diamond stone...if they were using similar method on the clip.

David