Thread: Scrapers

Originally Posted by 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?

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.

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

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.

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.

Doesnt take much effort to make a scraper

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

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

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

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

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

Originally Posted by 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

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.

No worries Artme,

have a great trip!

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.

Stew Max Scraper.jpg

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