Thread: Hand scraper heat

Welcome to world of hand held Cabinet Scrapers burnt thumbs, it just takes practice to know when the scraper gets hot just pause for few seconds and let it cool down, place your thumbs above the cutting edge not right on it.

Haha so I’ve learnt , yup just above is where they are and yeah try to take small breaks. Happy with the result though the material is coming up nice.

That's why I usually have a couple of scrapers to hand. They don't take long to cool down so I just grab the spare and keep going. To be honest that's the main thing I use hand scrapers for - removing old finish. I find it faster and way less damaging than sanding, particularly when removing old yellowed finish from a veneered surface.

Good to know I’m on the right track, I didn’t want to even consider sanding I just thought it was either a scraper or some form of dissolve the depending on what the finish was

Now I know this I’ll pull out my
Other scrapers to have near by and rotate through them all

Thanks
Nathan

Delbs,

Try putting onto the face of the scraper one of those flat rectangular fridge magnet things that plumbers, electricians etc drop in your mailbox from time to time. Flexible but magnetic. Insulates your thumbs from the heat.

Regards,

Brian

If it is shellac, you could save yourself a lot of work with some alcohol. Apply it to the shellac, not to yourself, of course; if you apply it to yourself, you won't get any work done, although, on the other hand, after a while you won't care either.

Originally Posted by Bill Houghton

If it is shellac, you could save yourself a lot of work with some alcohol. Apply it to the shellac, not to yourself, of course; if you apply it to yourself, you won't get any work done, although, on the other hand, after a while you won't care either.

Haha thanks Bill

If I apply alcohol does it dissolve enough that I can wipe it off with a rag or still scrape it and will just come off a lot easier?

I’ll give that a go today

Cheers
Nathan

Originally Posted by delbs

.........If I apply alcohol does it dissolve enough that I can wipe it off with a rag or still scrape it and will just come off a lot easier? .....

Nathan, try it on a section, but it usually takes quite a deal of soaking to dissolve a thick layer of shellac, especially old stuff that's been there for years. If you make it gluggy & scrape, it will come easier, but sticks to the scraper and may make it harder work. You may find, as I do, that it's usually easier to scrape while it's hard, then use a metho-soaked rag to clean the surface. Done carefully, this will leave you with the surface & any grain-filler that was used intact (& they probably used plenty on white cedar, it's normally pretty porous). Just a rub-over with 0000 steel wool when it's dry and you should be good to go, if re-polishing is your intention.

Cooked fingers is a very common syndrome amongst heavy card scraper users! Apart from the solutions already suggested (fridge magnet or rotating throughscrapers) other 'solutions' people have found are to use those rubber finger-stalls on your thumbs (like bank tellers used to use for counting notes before there were machines to do it), or if you want to spend more money, Lee Valley make a card scraper holder. They aren't hard to cobble up, I made this one when helping a friend scrape the poly finish off a very large dining table: Scraper holder.jpg

You don't get the sensitivity of a hand-flexed scraper, and it's not something I'll use much, but it was a godsend on that job. It doesn't have to be fancy, a couple of 5mm bolts & wing-nuts & some hardwood scrap is all you need. Experiment with different amounts of curvature to find the right amount for your job (it doesn't need much)....

Cheers,
Ian

They are a very efficient way of removing an old finish like yours.
I bought the Veritas holder because I always got blisters.

But it was too slow for an impatient person like me. Taking it out to burnish or flip it over was a pain.

I usually have a few on the bench when I have a big job.
Once I got into the habit of flipping it over every few strokes then rotate it and use the other two edges, I was less likely to get blisters. And I think the burrs held up a bit longer.

When one stopped scraping I would use the other scraper.

When they were all blunt I'd reburnish them all and start again.
The finish is usually pretty good but don't worry if it is a bit patchy. A light sand usually cleans off the stubborn bits.

Thanks Ian for the suggestion of a holder, yeah I wasn’t too keen on the idea of spending $90 or so on the veritas holder as.I do have a pack of those wing but bolts getting around here somewhere to make something like that

The consideration I have is the additional time it takes to use it and then having to rotate or loosen the nuts in any holder before starting again. Small point but compared to multiple ready to go that I have nearby and simply rotate through will keep me going quicker

The dry shellac is just peeling right off so yeah if it’s not necessary To dissolve it I’ll just keep going as I am. It’s easier to sweep up than it would be to deal with wet sludge . it’s not a huge amount of effort, even if it was I’m in no rush so I keep working on over time

Included some pics, I just prefer the whiter look of it scrapped back than the existing finish. I’ll be adding a dust lip around the lid and making it recessed to handle my hand saws in the lid so I’m expecting to put in a fair bit of effort to this over time

I think i remember this conversation came up on the "woodtalk" podcast. Someone suggest using neomidium magnets on the scraper to act like a heatsink.

I've never tried it myself but i do understand the idea.

Regards,

Adam

Maybe just sand it dude? 80 grit and the ROS?

Another option for thumb protection......

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...Q3fX7MX0bODbZg

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Maybe just sand it dude? 80 grit and the ROS?

not a fan of sanding primarily due to not having dust extraction of any form, was planning on getting festool vac for my domino 500 but the old dyson with a funnel has worked good enough for those chips. Sanding on the other hand is worse than a card scraper. minus the hot thumbs of course ha.

I had another crack at it today alternating between two scrapers and works fine.