Problem With Scrapers

[mledbetter]

I'm having a hell of a time using the scrapers on ash.. Using the goosneck one to clean up the recurve of my carved top. It is pulling the softer material out of the grain leaving a "trough" wherever the grain is. In areas where it is tight grained, no problem.. butter smooth finish.. but in the flatsawn areas, it really mucks up the grain and the smoothness. Is that just the wood? or am I doing something wrong with the scrapers? I'd appreciate any words fo wisdom from you blade gurus Obviously scraping with the grain is the goal.. but as swirly as ash gets there are some places where I simply can't.. and it's when it goes cross-grain in a really flat area that this happens.

[Devon Headen]

I've had the same problem, so I'd love to know if there's a solution.

[jay5]

Are you scraping across the grain? If not, try less pressure. Scrapers need to be sharpened pretty often. I wouldnt hesitate truning the burr every so often while scraping the top.

[VanKirk]

Keeping them sharp has helped me and I played with different angles when sharpening to find the best results.

Some areas required a more steep bur on the scraper than others.

I've had to change the angle while scraping as well. Especially, on a figured top where the grain density changes many times.

[mledbetter]

well, like I said.. it's ash, so parts of it the grain does complete swirls.. so i can't always scrape with the grain.. and yes, it's scraping across that makes that happen.

Mostly I wanted to know if there was something stupid I was doing.. but since it sounds like is a common problem, i don't feel so bad

I have been burnishing them quite a bit.. making sure sharpness wasn't an issue. so far, so good. I think i'll just have to scrape as much as I can, sand the rest, and try to blend it as well as I can. The scrapers leave such a nice surface, i just hate to sand it..

Thanks for the replies folks.

[Doc]

When you sharpen your scraper how fine a stone do you use for your final dressing before you burnish the hook?

On straight grained cosistant hardness wood you can get away with more than on squiggly ash. Ashh is worse than some burls. I used a scraper for years and thought I was getting a good clean edge until I ran into someone who was unbelievably compulsive.

What do your shavings look like? Are you getting curls or dust or something in between?

Dig up some of the old Fine Woodworking articles on sharpening scrapers.

I've also got a $10 Radio Shack mini microscope I use to check my blades when working and when sharpening. It helps a bunch.

[thedoctor]

A lot of people over-burnish and end up with too aggeressive a hook. The other item of interest is that some wood scrapes better in one direction than another. Try end-for-ending the piece.

[Maiden69]

I didn't use a scraper on mine but I used a 5" blade from one of those machines used to flaten the wooden floors and I had to play with the direction that I run it thru the grain. You have to do your best to keep it at an angle. I has having a hard timeon the bottom carves because I wanted to go all the way following the carve , that was preety difficult until I started keeping it an an angle.

[mledbetter]

if I over burnish, my cuttings look like little shavings.. otherwise, it's dust. I'm new to hand tools and these are brand new. I haven't honed them yet on a stone.. just used them out of the package.. They put a great finish on maple and on the straight grained part of the ash, but on the really wide grained part, it's a little rough. Over burnishing has helped a lot on the concave parts.. I'll get a good file to true them up in the next day or so. Thanks for the advice..

[Devon Headen]

You really want to clean the filed edge with a fine stone. If you think that the scraper is leaving a good finish without cleaning it up from the package, you'll be amazed by it after proper sharpening. I like and 'over aggressive hook' personally. I like it to work fast, that's one reason I like it better than paper.

[mledbetter]

oh i'm totally sold on the scrapers.. i'm going to get some good stuff to sharpen them with this weekend. It's funny, i got into this itching to use powertools for everything but the blades and such have been the most fun to work with.. definitely more control as well.

[Doc]

You should be getting curly shavings not dust.

I sharpen my scrapers first with a fine mill file.

I use a Veritas jig so that I get an absolute 90 degree angle.

I then use diamond plates up to about a 1200 grit on the face and all of the edges.

I check it with a pocket microscope and then turn my hook with a burnisher.

It is as important to have the face dressed as it is the edges.

You can return a burr a couple of times before you need to redress all the way if you do it right the first time.

Its a lot like a chisel or plane. The first time you use a properly sharpened one is a real eye opening exprience.

[n8rofwyo]

Truer words were never spoken, I only recently learned how to properly dress my scrapers. Worlds of difference doesn't begin to describe the experience of using one that you have been patient and attentive too. Good luck getting yours set up, it's well worth the time.