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Cannot for the life of me figure out where it is. I used it after I joined the top to scrape away squeeze out at the seam. Should be on the bench or in a drawer, but I've tore the place apart and can't find it.
It was given me by a friend several years ago, and the only one I had. And that makes it more than just a card scraper to me.
I have been looking on Lee Valley's site.
Been looking at the Bahco, and their Super Hard milled scraper, both of which are Rockwell 48-52.
Anyone have a preference, or another option (around the same price) ?
Thanks.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Never tried Bahco, but I do know Lee Valley's super hard type is great.

I have a few Bahco's, they used to be Sandvik.

They're very good IMO.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Thanks, Dennis. l think I'll go with that, then. Same hardness, $4 difference in price.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Thanks, Kevin.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Just hurry up and order something so that you will stumble across the one you have (as soon as you send the order. . .).

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Yes, hahaha! I would consider that a win.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Some people make card scrapers out of old handsaws. If you have one beyond fixing it might be a good candidate,

Yes, I tried that. The only thing I had to cut it was an angle grinder. Can't get straight cut, so only the one straight edge from the spine side. Will use that if I must, but it looks like crap.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Tried Wiss snips, but my hands cannot deal with trying to cut it with those.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

You need a DMT Dia-sharp extra-extra-coarse stone, then I find endless uses for mine. Straightening up a rough angle grinder cut would be a piece of cake. Lee Valley used to have the best price on them, but looks like Amazon is by far the best now at $75.

I have a coarse Aluminum Oxide stone. Might try that. Can't hurt.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

If I were to get a new scraper, I'd be getting one of these...

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/T ... raper.html

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

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We have the old Sandvik, newer Bahco version, the Lee Valley superhards, the Lie-Nielsen set (thin and thick), and dozens of purpose-made scrapers made out of old Disston saw plate. The Lie-Neilsen thick sees the most use, with the old Sandviks a close second. I don't really care for the superhards or the new Bahco, although both are well milled and don't seem to require all that much work to put into service.

Old, damaged saws work well for smaller specialty scrapers- we hacksaw and disk-sand to shape, and they hold a decent edge. Cut close to the final shape with hacksaw and work to the line with a fresh 10" mill bastard, then stone and sharpen.

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A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

+1 Of all the scrapers I have, the StewMac versions are the only ones I use anymore.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I have cut scrapers from old saw plates by filing a line with a 3-corner file, then snapping it off, then filing the edge smooth. Just takes a minute.

Ed

Well, I persevered, and went with the ones cut from an old saw plate.



They are not pretty(which seems to be a theme for my shop made tools), and they aren't square on the ends, but the long ends are dead flat. I don't generally use the smaller ends.
And they are sharp enough, I think. Here's a bit of a test in some Indian Rosewood.



Works for me.
Thanks for all the replies and advice.
Much appreciated.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

As long as you are making scrapers, and seeing as you have a good supply of old planes, I will suggest making yourself a Carruth style scraper.
StewMac sells them. But I made one myself (before buying the real thing) by grinding the edge off an old block plane blade, turning it on it's side and sharpening it as I sharpen the Carruth scraper on the grinding wheel.
For the ten bucks or less I get block planes at swap meets and antique shops, it is well worth it. The old USA steel is pretty hard stuff and makes for an awesome tool.
When leveling rosettes and binding and purfling, I find I can never have too many tools handy. Whether a card scraper, plane blade scraper or Carruth scraper, they all have their uses.

dl

Dave, thanks. I have a couple blades laying around.
When I get to the point of owning a bench grinder, I will most definitely do that. It looks like a great tool to have.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Dave

Is that Carruth blade sharpened to be hollow in the center of the edge and pointy along the cutting edges? Is there a hook on it?

Ed

Hollow, yes. Hooked, no.

Here is a link to the productat Stewmac. At the bottom of the page is a video of Al Carruth demontrating it. Below that is sharpening instructions.
https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Scrapers/StewMac_Ultimate_Scraper.html#product-instructions

Hope that helps

Dave

+1 on recommending the Carruth scraper from StewMac. I haven't used any of my card scrapers (and I have a few) since I got one of those.

But nice job on the saw recycling Mike. I love seeing an ugly but effective tool made from scrap.......

We have two of the Carruth scrapers in the shop plus a few shopmade thick scrapers used with the edge off the grinder, and they see use on archtop body and binding repair. That said, standard card scrapers are the more flexible tool for us - properly sharpened, the cut may be adjusted from micro-fine to coarse, and the flex in the thinner scraper blades can be useful when working some surfaces.

Card scrapers are much faster to sharpen for coarse work than the Carruth scraper, but are harder to learn to sharpen and set well for fine work...my learning curve on card scraper sharpening and use was much, much steeper than with any other hand tool routinely used. Coarse work - such as scraping down binding and purfling - can be done with a card scraper filed and burnished (a 30 second job...maybe a minute in total to knock the old edge off, roll the hook, and back to work). Fine work really begs that the edges be stoned before a careful burnish is done and hook rolled onto the edge, and it takes time to do that job.

When we have a job that calls for one of Mr. Carruth's scrapers or our shopmade versions fabricated from the old straight jointer blades - rebinding a 1960's Gretsch Country Gentlemen comes to mind - we leave the CBN wheel on the grinder set up with the guide square and touch up as needed. If we could fit in a 3rd low speed grinder, I think we'd likely leave one set up with a 220 grit CBN wheel/squared support just for touching up thicker scrapers.

_________________
A constellation only takes shape when one maps the whole.
- Beth Brower

Thanks. That pretty much describes any tool I make, lol.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Dve

Thanks for the Carruth video - explains his idea very well. I have a couple of old floor scraping blades that are a full 1/16" I might try this with

Also, my floor finisher friend sold me a bunch of his tools when he retired. One item is 14" long burnisher. In the 50's he ordered a couple of Nicholson files fully hardened with no teeth. Ha had an unused one he sold me - pretty cool item.

Ed