Thread: Design of cabinet scraper frame / holder wanted

Veritas sell one - Veritas® Scraper Holder - Lee Valley Tools
I think you can get them from Carbatec too.
Andy

Hi Dengy, I can understand your problem - I get severe cramping of finger & arm muscles nowadays, which can make scraping an unpleasant exercise.

I have owned an 80 for many years, and don't find the blade width is a big limitation. If you use a card scraper in the conventional manner, you are cutting mostly with the forward-flexed centre part of the blade on each stroke. The flexed blade in the 80 works similarly, and can give you a shaving just as wide as you'll usually get from a hand-held scraper. The two things I don't like about it are that instead of just flipping to a fresh edge as you do with a card scraper, you have to fiddle about removing & replacing & resetting the blade, & of course you only have one cutting edge (or two, if you sharpen both ends), so you have to re-sharpen twice as often. The 80 also has a bad habit of tipping over the end of a board, which can put a nasty scar on your work. You get used to it, but it can still catch you out, sometimes. Veritas claim their version of the 80 solves this by having a longer sole, which makes the tool more stable. Since I've not tried one, I can't confirm that, but it seems logical.

I have seen a couple of designs for home-made card-scraper holders - one was in a FWW, way, way back, & if you have access to their on-line index, you might be able to find it. Essentially, it was just a stiff board bandsawn into two pieces by a curved cut. The scraper blade was then clamped between these two bits with a 3/16" bolt & wing nut either side, securing & flexing the blade. There was a bit of rough shaping of the wood to make it more comfy to hold, but it was pretty basic, as I recall. I was doing a lot of hand scraping at the time, & getting fed up with cooked fingers, so I made something like it. It worked ok, but the extra time it took to switch cutting edges was a nuisance, & it was more awkward to hold at the right angle to get a good cut. The holder also got in the way on some jobs. Overall, it seemed like more bother that it was worth, so I didn't persist with it.

I now own the large Veritas scraping plane as well as the old 80, so I don't use card scrapers as much as I once did (though they are still unbeatable for some jobs). It depends what you mainly use scapers for, and either the Veritas holder or a home-made version might work well for you. If you regularly scrape large areas like table tops, I really recommend a scraping plane - does a good job & is much easier on the pinkies! Unfortunately, they ain't cheap, so if funds are tight, the Veritas version of the 80 is a more affordable solution. Good luck, it's a nuisance when your body parts start to mutiny, isn't it?.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by Dengue

Hello, due to arthritis in the thumb joints, I find using a straight scraper blade by hand painful to use.

I have looked at the Stanley #80, but the maximum card width for these is only 70mm

Would anyone have a design for a suitable frame or card holder that would work, please?

Dengy

I use the Cabinet Scraper a lot and have somewhere in the region of a couple of dozen, a lot of which I have made from suitable material such as disposable saw blades. The main reason for pushing on the the back of the blade with the thumbs, is to curve the blade slightly to prevent the corners of the blade from digging in as you are cutting, and also to stiffen it and reduce chattering. I have several scrapers with different curved edges, one of which has a very shallow curve, with only around 1mm or so over a chord length of 125mm or so. In some situations I use a scraper by pulling it towards me, only using the thumbs to provide support, not putting pressure on the scraper. If I have concerns about the corners digging in then I use the scraper with the shallow curved edge, either pulling, or pushing with very little pressure on the thumbs.

I have a #80 which I tend to use only for removing dried glue. I also have a Stanley 112 Scraper Plane which I use for larger surfaces and this does an excellent job. Unfortunately the 112 is difficult to find for a reasonable price in the marketplace, and you may have to buy the LV or LN equivalent.

I did try a friends LV card scraper holder but I did not find it good to work with, but it may suit you with your issues.

Another idea for a home made holder may be to plane a flat along a piece of dowelling, then attach a piece of this on each end of a small piece of ply, with the distance between them such that a scraper can be flexed into place, and held in the groove formed between the ply and dowels, I hope this makes sense.

I hope the above is helpful

Regards

I know I've seen several over time ... no idea specifically where at the moment ... here's one idea ...
Cheers,
Paul
Getting back to the basics. Working with hand tools #2: Card scraper holder - by Julian @ LumberJocks.com ~ woodworking community

Thanks for this link, Paul, this one looks very promising, quite solid to grip too, but I cannot quite make out the four threaded inserts ?? on one side, and no screw heads on the other side. It would have to be a tight connection to prevent the blade sliding up in the jig

Does anyone have any suggestions please?

Originally Posted by Dengue

...... but I cannot quite make out the four threaded inserts ?? on one side, and no screw heads on the other side. It would have to be a tight connection to prevent the blade sliding up in the jig

Does anyone have any suggestions please?

Dengy, I assume those are the heads of ordinary wood screws, countersunk into the end strips. It looks to me like he rebated the end strips so that they fit over the ends of the blade and end up neatly flush with the body on the outside when screwed in place. I would imagine he has made the rebate just loose enough that he can slide the blade in & out without having to undo the screws every time it needs a fresh edge, and the combination of pressure from the end strips and the cambering bolt hold the blade in place sufficiently to stop it sliding up. In heavy scraping mode on hard woods, I go through edges pretty quickly, so I would hope it's as quick & easy to change edges as I surmise.

That long cambering bolt looks awkward - I would chop it down, or just use a short 6mm bolt - you could probably tighten it enough to do the job with your fingers, but if not, epoxy a small wooden knob over the bolt head. I would try to keep it all as light as possible.

This is a much more refined design than the one I made aeons ago. Mine had a fixed camber, but presented two edges at onc because the blade stuck out each side of the wooden holder. This one looks like it might be more comfortable to use though. It would take very little time and virtually zero cost to make a prototype, to see it it works for you....

Cheers,

Addendum: I was reading the posts in the link, & the OP talks about a 'packing strip'. I couldn't work out what he meant, at first, but taking a proper look at the pic Paul posted, I can see the strip behind the blade. On my first look, I had assumed he'd cut the camber on the face of his holder, but I now see he made it square to begin with, & added the packing strip later. You could camber the face to begin with, but there is an advantage in adding it after, as you can experiment with different amounts of camber til you get it to suit you.

Originally Posted by groeneaj

Veritas sell one - Veritas® Scraper Holder - Lee Valley Tools
I think you can get them from Carbatec too.
Andy

Two days ago Sydney was out of stock. Now there's a surprise.