Sharpening a scraper

[Bizman62]

I've now become a YouTube influenza:

 

[henrim]

You got shavings so job well done

I prefer mounting the scraper to a vice and file it with the file in my hand. But there's not always a vice around so your method looks great for those situations. I tend to go freehand with the file, but if I need a very sharp and fine edge I support either the file or scraper with a block of wood so that I get an "absolute" square edge. Also for a fine edge it's good to hone the edge with stone after filing. Again supporting the scraper with a square block of wood yields more consistent results when honing.

There are different methods for burnishing the edge. Your's is simple and works. I learned to first straighten the burr after honing. So that the burr is perpendicular to the face of the scraper. After straightening, the burr is then burnished to a desired angle. This procedure makes the edge more even, or so I like to believe. For fine work the final burr is close to 90° to the edge. For more coarse work up to 15° over.

That said, for a quick and coarse edge I nowadays mostly use a Veritas card scraper burnisher. Because someone tricked me to buying one . And it's fast and convenient too. For finishing work the edge has to be done by hand though. Also other than rectangular shape scrapers has to be done by hand too.

[henrim]

4 hours ago, henrim said:

perpendicular

Brain fart. Parallel is what I meant.

[Bizman62]

5 hours ago, henrim said:

I prefer mounting the scraper to a vice and file it with the file in my hand.

The reason I like to run the scraper against a file on a table is that it's much easier to hold the card scraper upright than keep the file level. Same thing with other shapes. Plus the scraper is in continuous contact with the file which keeps the edge straight lengthwise. I guess that's similar thinking to using a long radiusing block rather than a short one.