Thread: Which of these scrapers...?

The thicker the steel, the less susceptible it can be to chatter. The 1" is listed @ 3/8" thick, do you know what the 3/4" and round-nose are? 1/4"?

There's nothing wrong with re-profiling the shape, I've done it many a time.

To my mind it's best to select the width of tool you want for the size of bowls you'll be doing, then get the thickest affordable choice in that size. Finally, profile it to suit your needs for the job at hand.

Remember, the radius of the profile should always be smaller than the bowl radius... only a small section should ever be cutting at any one time, never the whole cutting edge at once.

Thank ya sir, that exactly answers my question. So the 3/8" big boy it is.

Guess I can go ahead and throw another question in. I've seen videos where guys use some kind of diamond card burnishing? tool to create a burr on their negative rake scrapers. Online I've seen them from 600-2000 grit. If I got the more expensive scraper above and sharpened it into a NRS, what's the proper grit card to get to raise a burr?

Sorry, I can't answer that as I don't use negative rake scrapers.

As I understand it, they're basically adding a secondary bevel on the top edge to increase the overall angle of the cutting edge to >90°. I'm also told that they originated from metalwork and carbide cutters.

I don't believe there's much advantage when translated to wood turning; with most Aussie hardwoods any raised burr is destroyed within seconds of first contact with the blank and otherwise it's a simple matter to change the angle one holds the tool to give basically the same effect.

Still, I know a few turners who absolutely love 'em, so who's to say?

Personally, I've always preferred to sharpen my scrapers with a single 5-10° bevel for hard, abrasive timbers or a single 10-15° bevel for finishing cuts. Much quicker to accomplish at the sharpening station (which I do freehand... I see no need for sharpening jigs with scrapers!) so I can get back to doing what I enjoy: wood turning.

If I enjoyed fiddling with the tools, I'd have taken up metalwork instead.

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Still, I know a few turners who absolutely love 'em, so who's to say?

That includes Richard R who uses some v. large scrapers. See him using one at the 2:30 mark in the following video. Note that he is using that scraper on the straight grain inside the bottom of the bowl, not up along the sidegrain that is more prone to tear out.

How to Turn a Basic Bowl-Part II - YouTube

If scraping up along the inside sidegrain a 'shear scraping' method works best to minimise tear out. Standard scrapers can't readily achieve a shear scrape in that area. I have found the Woodcut Pro-Forme scarper head, which can be rotated, to be ideal for shear scraping there. If you are handy with metal work you could make your own bent shafts to save the cost of those.

CWS Store - Woodcut Pro-Forme Scraper kit