Scrapers

[artme]

I have been making a couple of cupboards from floorboards picked up from a kerbside collection.

Some boards were unused and some used. All are coated with a hard shiny finish.

For the end panel I made floating panels and stripped the varrnish of with a rotary sander and a ROS.

Trouble is I have some harder to remove marks. What makes a good scraper? I do have an old saw I
could cut down or would it be easier to get something from Bunnies and if so what?

[Thumbthumper]

I have been making a couple of cupboards from floorboards picked up from a kerbside collection.

Some boards were unused and some used. All are coated with a hard shiny finish.

For the end panel I made floating panels and stripped the varrnish of with a rotary sander and a ROS.

Trouble is I have some harder to remove marks. What makes a good scraper? I do have an old saw I
could cut down or would it be easier to get something from Bunnies and if so what?

Hi artme,

I bought a Bacho scraper from Bunnies some years ago and it's fantastic. It's put in many hours and holds it's burr very well.
I've also cut up saw blades to make profiled scrapers and scratchstocks. They work well.
For the price, if you need a straight scraper, it's not worth the hassle of cutting up a saw.

[rustynail]

All my scrapers are made from old saw blades. They give good service.

[Robson Valley]

Dimension timber here is strapped with 18mm or 32mm steel banding. Really hard to cut with metal shears (hard metal, methinks.)
Made a dozen little 75mm scrapers from the 32mm stock. To remove shallow gouge marks in wood-carvings done in hardwoods, even on curved surfaces,
I am entirely satisfied. Chalk on a mill file, square one edge = done.

[AlexS]

RV's steel banding is probably made from spring steel or similar, which I've used to make good profiled scrapers. As Thumbthumper says, it's probably not worth the effort of making your own. Veritas make a good one, and there are others around.

[rustynail]

Doesnt take much effort to make a scraper

[soundman]

if you want a flat straight scraper, there is a handle arround that takes 50mm spindle moulder blades.....intended for painters....I have a couple and they cop a flogging.....I usually keep one with a sharp pristine edge.

While its not a traditional finishing scraper...when they are sharp they pull a realy fine scrape on flat surfaces...and they hold an edge very well

when they get chipped and ragged they are still good for ripping off paint and varnish

cheers

[Luke Maddux]

Never made one, but it sounds like you have some "heavy" scraping to do, so you should probably opt for something a bit stiff-ish. You want to be able to bend it slightly without fatiguing your hands, however.

The tricky part about scrapers for a lot of people (like me) is sharpening (which is kind of the wrong word) it correctly. There are some videos out there that sum it up nicely though.

Saw blade is a pretty common thing to make it out of if you have the tools to do it.

Hope that helps a little.

Cheers,
Luke

[Jeffen]

Hey Artme,

I've got a few scrapers not getting much use at the moment, if interested, I can lend you them with a burnisher.
No expertise to go with it though.

I'm in Urangan.

Cheers, Jeff

[wayneh07]

I bought a Bahco furniture scraper many years ago and it does a top job on pretty well all timbers.

[joe greiner]

Utility knife blades. Bulk pack. And/or used since only the tips usually get "used."

[artme]

Hey Artme,

I've got a few scrapers not getting much use at the moment, if interested, I can lend you them with a burnisher.
No expertise to go with it though.

I'm in Urangan.

Cheers, Jeff

Hi Jeff!! Thanks for the offer. We are going OS early next week but I will get in touch when we get back.
Likely not to contact you until July as we get home June30th.

I actually put one cupboard together so I could get it off the deck and put some gear in it. The top is not anchored on
and as I said the end panels are floating so I can remove them and get to work.

Second cupboard will be made later this year.

Cheers mate, and thanks again.

[Jeffen]

No worries Artme,

have a great trip!

[acowboy]

Hello.

Here in the States there is a fellow that came up with this, StewMac Ultimate Scraper.

New here so I did not post a link, but if you Google it you should be fine.

A new concept on such a old tool.
Kinda of pricey though, but it does beat any scraper I have or have used hands down.
Kinda of a micro hand plane.
Was having a little tear out on a piece of Bubinga no mater what I used...this was the bomb.

355143

[Robson Valley]

+1 for StewMac (aka Stewart-McDonald), probably one of the world's largest and best suppliers of all things luthier.

[auscab]

I now make my scrapers from the cheap hardened teeth disposable type saws.

I used to chop up old Distons or Spear and Jackson's . Then each apprentice I had, needed a few scrapers .

somewhere, about halfway between my first apprentice and my eighth I gave up chopping old saws.

The disposable type blade with the blued teeth cut off is good spring steel , there is no difference in quality that I can detect.

I like to have about 4 rectangle scrapers ,and two with curves.

And a tool I also make from the sawblades is a nail chopper , I have two , they are a good restoration tool , its a square section of sawblade sharpened on the grinder at one end just on one side , a bevel like a chisel, and mushroomed over at the other end from hitting with a hammer.
These tools come in handy for getting backs off cabinets or drawer bottoms out of old drawers when they need to be saved , and when the nails cant be pulled out or punched through because of rust . used the right way the blade slides between the two bits of wood and with a good hit with a hammer chops through the nails. then holding the blade between the two pieces where the nail is and hitting the top with a hammer you can flatten the jagged chopped nail so the drawer bottom slides out whithout the remains of the nail leaving a bad scratch in the drawer bottom .

They are good at chopping and levering off things as well, when there is no better way

Rob

[Enfield Guy]

Can you post a photo of this, sounds interesting, and useful.

Cheers
Bevan

[auscab]

Sure . Ill see if I can find them under the pile of tools on my workbench today . If I'm lucky I may have put them in the box where they belong.

[auscab]

Here is my main one .

To chop nails in drawer bottoms you attack from the side . otherwise the drawer back can break out where the nail is .

Rob

[Toymaker Len]

Scrapers are a great alternative to sandpaper. I have one I inherited. It's made from an old sawblade set into a wooden handle. They are brilliant for removing varnish and scratches. Just hold it square to a diamond stone to sharpen and then finish with a hone on a piece of hardened polished steel.

[Toymaker Len]

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Types_of_Tools/Scrapers/StewMac_Ultimate_Scraper.html
and here is the link to the stewmac video. This guy has taken the scraper much further than anything I have seen before. Think I'll order one. No hang on, piece of tool steel. 90 degrees. I might already have something like this.

[Bob38S]

Anyone have an idea of how thick his scrapers are?

[Kuffy]

1/8"

[Bob38S]

Thanks for that.

I'd like to give it a go as I think that this will give me a greater control over the bent scrapers.

[Fuzzie]

So how do people go about cutting the shapes out of saw blades for straight and curved scrapers?

I'm sure in the old days they didn't have angle grinders.