By
R. Adam Blake, Editor
Betterway
Woodworking Books
I learned the value of a well burnished scraper early on in my woodworking
education. After high school, I went to work as a part time
shop helper for a woodworking author and cabinetmaker. One
of the first things I learned was how to burnish (sharpen)
and properly use a scraper. As anyone who has used one knows,
there is nothing better for prepping a surface for finishing
by removing mill or plane marks.
For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, a scraper is
simply a piece of thin (around .025") tool steel. They can
be ground to any size or shape. I normally used two, a rectangular
one about 4" X 3" and a curved one for scraping such surfaces
and moldings. We used them for final prep work on projects
before finishing, for removing glue from panels, for getting
inside impossible to reach corners, and for removing tool
marks. These were the days before oscillating spindle sanders,
triangle sanders, and random orbit sanders. (I still believe
you can't achieve a smoother surface than with a scraper).
The only complaint I ever had with scrapers was using them,
not the smooth surfaces they produce. To get the best result
from a scraper you must curve it slightly as you draw it
along a board. This produces a thin shaving about the thickness
of cigarette paper. Curving a piece of tool steel with your
hands is hard enough but holding that position for a long
period of time can quickly become excruciating. And, believe
me, I got to know this feeling well. As the shop helper,
I prepped all of the pieces we built.
Then one day in the shop I was looking over a new mail order
woodworking tools catalogue we had received. To my astonishment,
there was an ad for a scraper holder. My first thought was,
"Why didn't I think of that?" My second thought was, "How
soon can we get one!"
I was able to talk my boss into springing for one. Scraping by
hand for the few days it took for the holder to arrive was
difficult, but was quickly replaced by the joy of the package
delivery drivers appearance at the shop. I couldn't wait
to try out our new tool.
I wasn't disappointed. It worked beautifully. And to this day I have
used a scraper holder whenever possible for scraping. If
it wasn't for the mail order catalog, my love of woodworking
might have been lost in the drudgery of hand scraping.
