Scrapers. Finish faster in 5 steps (or less). Scraper Start-Up. By Joe Hurst-Wajszczuk

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Scrapers. Finish faster in 5 steps (or less). Scraper Start-Up. By Joe Hurst-Wajszczuk"

Margaret Pope
5 years ago
Views:

Scrapers Demystiﬁed Fiish faster i 5 steps (or less).

scraper as if it possesses magical properties.

wood, strip pait, or kock dow fiish ibs without makig oise

But i truth, there s o great mystery to haressig the magic

The oly trick is creatig the hook-shaped burr.

The search for the perfect scraper separates woodworkers ito

i a 2 4, you eed t waste time burishig a perfect Scraper

By tryig followig the sequece ad testig each, you re likely

1 Scrapers Demystiﬁed Fiish faster i 5 steps (or less). By Joe Hurst-Wajszczuk M ay woodworkers revere the card scraper as if it possesses magical properties. A dirt cheap tool that ca remove glue, smooth kots ad garly wood, strip pait, or kock dow fiish ibs without makig oise or dust may ideed soud like a woodworker s Holy Grail. But i truth, there s o great mystery to haressig the magic of this humble piece of steel. The oly trick is creatig the hook-shaped burr. Get it right ad your reward is a tool that makes shavigs without the risk of tearout. Get it wrog ad you ll get othig but dust. The search for the perfect scraper separates woodworkers ito three scraper camps: Coarse, Fie, ad -free. They re all right. Opeig Photo: Paul Athoy, Sidebar Photo: Jim Osbor The choice depeds o the task at had. Just as you would t use a freshly-hoed chisel to hack otches i a 2 4, you eed t waste time burishig a perfect Scraper Start-Up burr to scrape away hardeed glue. By tryig followig the sequece ad testig each, you re likely to fid the right to match your ext job. A good starter set cosists of a thi (0.6 mm) rectagular scraper ad a medium thick (0.8 mm) rectagular scraper. Thier scrapers are easier to ﬂ ex which provides more scrapig fi esse. Thicker scrapers are tougher to bow. This make them likely to dish the surface ad more suited for heavier scrapig. If you ca spare a few extra bucks, buy a gooseeck scraper. You wo t use it as oft e as the straight-rs, but for removig machie marks ad burs from curves, it will ear its keep.. Aug/Sept 2010 woodcraftmagazie.com 61

Well-Prepared Scraper Here s what the log s of your scraper should look like at the ed of this 5-step process. The burrs will slice the wood like a miiature plae, but without tear-out.

Burished Squarig the Use a fie mill file to establish a square, straight. The grooved board keeps the file perpedicular to the scraper s face.

Move the block across the stoe to prevet excessive wear. Wire Hoed Rough work: Fiish sadig required. Coarse Step 1: Squarig the Squarig, or joitig, the establishes a square, defect-free.

To make the jig, groove a board to fit your file.

2 Well-Prepared Scraper Here s what the log s of your scraper should look like at the ed of this 5-step process. The burrs will slice the wood like a miiature plae, but without tear-out. Better preparatio traslates ito a smoother fiished surface ad loger-lastig. A coarse burr breaks dow quickly, but is easy to refresh. Burished Squarig the Use a fie mill file to establish a square, straight. The grooved board keeps the file perpedicular to the scraper s face. Draw the scraper as show to avoid dullig the file s teeth. Filed Hoig the Ru the scraper agaist a guide block to keep it perpedicular to the sharpeig stoe. Move the block across the stoe to prevet excessive wear. Wire Hoed Rough work: Fiish sadig required. Coarse Step 1: Squarig the Squarig, or joitig, the establishes a square, defect-free. The most importat part of this step is filig the straight ad square. I ve tried various jigs ad setups to maitai the proper agle, but this joitig block remais my favorite. To make the jig, groove a board to fit your file. Draw the scraper agaist the teeth a few times util the filig actio is smooth, ad the scraper s appears Tip Alert Try out your ew scraper before filig or burishig. Most scrapers come hoed; a few come pre-hooked. uiformly shiy. (A easy way to check your progress is to ru a permaet marker alog the. Whe the ik s goe, you re doe.) Joit both log s. While it s the first step i the five-step prep process, the burr produced from filig is surprisigly suitable for rough scrapig. The scraped workpiece wo t be fiish-ready, but the resultig marks ca be quickly erased with a radom-orbital sader ad 220-grit sadpaper. Steps 2 ad 3: Hoig the ad face Hoig removes the serratios ad burr left from the file. Do t skip this step. Attemptig to draw ad tur the uhoed produces a ragged burr that s too weak to be used for more tha a few passes. I theory, scrapers are like chisels ad plae blades; the fiest s come from the highest grit stoes. However, i practice, I ca t detect a appreciable differece i quality beyod what I achieve with my 6000-grit waterstoe. I suspect the reaso for this "grit-ceilig" is due to the way that the burisher polishes the while drawig the hook. To hoe the s ad faces, I use a pair of homemade guide blocks. The -hoig block maitais the square filed ad makes it easier to move the scraper aroud the stoe. The face-hoig block provides more cosistet pressure tha 62 woodcraftmagazie.com Aug/Sept 2010

5 1 to 2 Hoig the face Remove the burr left from filig ad the hoe the outermost 1/2 of the face. A block (with double-faced tape o the uderside) provides eve pressure across the face of the steel.

The resultig burr is udetectable, but this step makes the ext oe easier. Sharp 90 Turig the hook Hold the burisher perpedicular to the scraper s sides ad ru it alog the.

(To attach the block to the card, use a strip of double-faced tape.) Oce the s ad faces have bee hoed, the scraper is ready for delicate work such as smoothig ibs from a fiish.

Step 4: Drawig out the burr Drawig out the further polishes it ad work-hardes the metal to make a loger lastig burr.

like a paper clip that s bee bet oe time too may. To draw the, wipe away ay residual hoig grit ad the lay the scraper flat o the of your bech.

3 5 1 to 2 Hoig the face Remove the burr left from filig ad the hoe the outermost 1/2 of the face. A block (with double-faced tape o the uderside) provides eve pressure across the face of the steel. Hoed face Drawig out the burr Tilt the burisher ad glide it across scraper s face a few times to polish the ad draw the metal outward. The resultig burr is udetectable, but this step makes the ext oe easier. Sharp 90 Turig the hook Hold the burisher perpedicular to the scraper s sides ad ru it alog the. Repeat this step two or three times, gradually icreasig the burisher s agle to about 5. Burisher Draw Fie work: No sadig required. ca be achieved with figer pressure aloe. (To attach the block to the card, use a strip of double-faced tape.) Oce the s ad faces have bee hoed, the scraper is ready for delicate work such as smoothig ibs from a fiish. For more aggressive cuttig ad versatility, though, move o to the ext steps of drawig ad turig the burr. Step 4: Drawig out the burr Drawig out the further polishes it ad work-hardes the metal to make a loger lastig burr. Oe or two passes should be all it takes; too may strokes ca overharde the metal ad make a brittle hook, Photos: Paul Athoy; Illustratios: Chris Glowacki No Geeral Purpose: Sadig usually ot required. like a paper clip that s bee bet oe time too may. To draw the, wipe away ay residual hoig grit ad the lay the scraper flat o the of your bech. Apply a drop of oil to your burisher, ad ru it alog the legth of the scraper's usig a few light dowward pressure. Some woodworkers keep the burisher flat o the steel. I prefer tiltig it a degree or two to cocetrate dowward pressure o the cuttig. Step 5: Turig the hook Clamp the scraper i a vise so that the to be burished is parallel to the bechtop. Startig with oly a few pouds of pressure, hold the burisher perpedicular to the scraper s 5-step face ad scoot it alog the. Make two or three additioal passes, gradually icreasig the agle util the burisher is at about a 5 agle. (Less is more. Compared to 15 hooks, the smaller hooks works as well, but seems to last loger.) If you ve doe your work correctly, you should feel a tiy burr alog the etire. Tilt the burisher i the opposite directio to tur the opposig hook, the rotate the scraper i the vise ad hook the remaiig two s. Whe you re doe, make a few test cuts. If a is't makig shavigs, burish it agai usig a bit more pressure. Util you get the moves dow, oe or two s may eed reburishig. Aug/Sept 2010 woodcraftmagazie.com 63

60 Two ways to scrape A scraper ca be pushed or pulled. Pushig is more aggressive, but also more apt to dish the surface. Pullig is less aggressive but yieldss produces a flatter surface.

The exact agle is t importat, but I fid myself scrapig at about a 60 agle. A scraper ca be used i ay directio relative to the grai without producig tear-out.

Whe the card starts to skip across the wood or produce dust istead of shavigs, it s time to take it back to the burisher.

To redraw the hook, lay the scraper o your bech ad ru the burisher diagoally across the face to flatte the old hook the tur a fresh oe.

com The push method Usig both hads, pich the short s ad positio your thumbs low o the back. Push with your thumbs to create a slight bow, tilt the card util the burr catches, ad start scrapig.

Alig your figertips low to apply uiform pressure alog the cuttig, bow the scraper just eough to keep the corers from diggig ito the wood, tilt, ad pull the scraper toward you.

4 60 Two ways to scrape A scraper ca be pushed or pulled. Pushig is more aggressive, but also more apt to dish the surface. Pullig is less aggressive but yieldss produces a flatter surface. Catchig the is the same regardless of had positioig. Start by holdig the tool perpedicular to the work ad tiltig it util the hook begis to make shavigs. The exact agle is t importat, but I fid myself scrapig at about a 60 agle. A scraper ca be used i ay directio relative to the grai without producig tear-out. Whe scrapig a machieplaed surface, work diagoally to level out mill marks. Restorig a It s hard to mistake a scraper i eed of sharpeig. Whe the card starts to skip across the wood or produce dust istead of shavigs, it s time to take it back to the burisher. If you re usig a carefully prepared, you ca redraw the burr several times before havig to re-file the s. To redraw the hook, lay the scraper o your bech ad ru the burisher diagoally across the face to flatte the old hook the tur a fresh oe. You ca expect to rehook a four to six times before the metal becomes brittle, requirig you to file a fresh. 64 woodcraftmagazie.com The push method Usig both hads, pich the short s ad positio your thumbs low o the back. Push with your thumbs to create a slight bow, tilt the card util the burr catches, ad start scrapig. The bigger the bow, the more aggressive the cut. The pull method Place your figers o the back ad your thumbs o the frot. Alig your figertips low to apply uiform pressure alog the cuttig, bow the scraper just eough to keep the corers from diggig ito the wood, tilt, ad pull the scraper toward you. Usig A Curved Scraper Oce you ve used straight scrapers, you ca try burishig a curved scraper. Ulike sadig, scrapig is faster ad less likely to roud over a sharp profile. Hoig ad hookig a curved requires some practice but ulike a rectagular card, you oly eed to work the portio of the that s eeded for the job at had. Usig a curved scraper is also differet tha usig a straightd oe. A curved scraper wo t match the exact profile. This meas that you ll eed to scrape a profile i overlappig passes, rotatig the scraper to fit the adjoiig sectio. I prefer usig Aug/Sept 2010 a curved scraper oe-haded, ad o the pull stroke. Rotate the scraper so the card fits the curve, tilt util the burr begis to grab, ad the pull it towards you.

FREE YEAR! 2 YEARS for $29.99! go to woodcraftmagazie.

addressed to: WOODCRAFT MAGAZINE PO BOX 7020 PARKERSBURG WV 26102-9916

ow to get 2 Years for $29.99! or go to woodcraftmagazie.

Products Build this classic SPICE BOX Ad lear how to Dovetail a case

Right Build Better with a CUT LIST By providig my e-mail address, I am

offers from Woodcraft Magazie via e-mail. Outside of the U.

5 FREE YEAR! 2 YEARS for $29.99! go to woodcraftmagazie.com ad click SUBSCRIBE -or- Complete the form below ad mail i a evelope addressed to: WOODCRAFT MAGAZINE PO BOX 7020 PARKERSBURG WV Paymet Eclosed Name Bill Me Address City State Zip Coutry Sed i ow to get 2 Years for $29.99! or go to woodcraftmagazie.com ad click SUBSCRIBE Best-ever LUMBER RACK Projects, Techiques ad Products Build this classic SPICE BOX Ad lear how to Dovetail a case Divide a cabiet ito compartmets Create a corice DECORATIVE FINISHES Doe Right Build Better with a CUT LIST By providig my address, I am idicatig I d like to receive iformatio about my subscriptio ad other offers from Woodcraft Magazie via . Outside of the U.S ad Caada add $30 for postage. Foreig orders must be prepaid. Paymet i U.S. Fuds oly. Plus 4 more projects Famous furiture

FOOTBALL. CUTTING BOARD Earn extra points on game day with this special server. Score Big with a X X

FOOTBALL. CUTTING BOARD Earn extra points on game day with this special server. Score Big with a X X Score Big with a FOOTBALL CUTTING BOARD Ear extra poits o game day with this special server. By Jim Harrold W ith a little bit of walut ad maple, you ca craft a cuttig board that s sure to be a big hit