... I just cannot get any curls. Nothing but sawdust.
I tried, for the first time, putting my own burr on there.
Maybe I horked it up worse...
I have *zero* experience sharpening hand tools, but a scraper looked pretty
straight-forward:
1) removed old burr and flattened sides with 800 grit
2) Light Mill file on the top edge, perpendicular to the sides
3) Roll a 5-10 degree burr.
(Geez it seems like I really had to push down!)
Scrape - sawdust... Grrr...
I have a cheap Stanley scraper. I am lazy so the sharpen it I use a fine
belt with my belt sander, holding the scaper the long way, with the belt. I
don't even bother to "roll" an edge on it and usually can get curls from it!
You must be trying to hard!
Greg
"patrick conroy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> ... I just cannot get any curls. Nothing but sawdust.
> I tried, for the first time, putting my own burr on there.
>
>
I agree. The tip that taught me was to use a scale, 2-3 pounds of pressure
is all it takes.
--
Ross
www.myoldtools.com
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Last sentence tells me why you can't scrape a shaving. Your'e rolling
> the burr with too much pressure.You need about as much pressure as
> buttering a roll, when the butter is cold. Hard to explain, but when
> done correctly you can't see the burr. You can feel it though.Here is
> how I do it from scratch.Draw file first, make sure edge is filed
> square to the scraper face. Hone with diamond stone ( any decent stone
> ) square to the face. Lay card down flat on edge of bench.Put one or
> two drops of 3 in 1 oil on burnisher and smear it along burnisher.lay
> burnisher flat on top of card, pull burnisher towards you, do this four
> times.REMEMBER, lightly like described above.
> Turn over and repeat. Now ,hold burnisher at about 5 degree angle
> vertically. The handle will be under the bench edge , the steel will
> tilt slightly towards the card scraper. Pull four or five times,
> lightly.Turn card upside down and repeat. You are done, commence
> scraping.
> mike
>
I took my scraping to the next level with burnishing rod made from a
engine push rod. I bought 2 at Auto Zone for like $3. Get one and
buff it to a mirror polish. Have a chrome/metal shop do this if you
can't. To me a buffing the rod with white compound was the key to
success.
Prep scraper as usual and then with a lightly oiled rod roll a 10-15
deg burr 1st on the edge with the scraper on its side then 2nd burnish
the typical way with it standing up in a vise. I have to apply a lot
of pressure to get a decent edge. I wear gloves to ensure I will be
able to play guitar in the future.
Now enjoy yet another set razor sharp edges in your shop...
SS
I use the burnisher that lee valley tools sells. I put a little bit of
sharpening oil on the blade being burnished. Push hard and make several
strokes. It takes quite a bit of effort. When using a scraper the angle
of the scraper is very important as well as putting a little bow on the
scraper. The convex side of the bow moves in the direction of your
stroke whether you decide to pull or push the scraper. They do an
incredible job so don't give up. You won't be able to sand as well as a
scraper. Just remember scrapers don't work on soft woods and I haven't
had much luck with woods like oak. They do take a lot of work to use.
If your scraper isn't heating up, then your not working hard enough.
Don
patrick conroy wrote:
> ... I just cannot get any curls. Nothing but sawdust.
> I tried, for the first time, putting my own burr on there.
>
> Maybe I horked it up worse...
> I have *zero* experience sharpening hand tools, but a scraper looked
pretty
> straight-forward:
>
> 1) removed old burr and flattened sides with 800 grit
> 2) Light Mill file on the top edge, perpendicular to the sides
> 3) Roll a 5-10 degree burr.
> (Geez it seems like I really had to push down!)
>
> Scrape - sawdust... Grrr...
Last sentence tells me why you can't scrape a shaving. Your'e rolling
the burr with too much pressure.You need about as much pressure as
buttering a roll, when the butter is cold. Hard to explain, but when
done correctly you can't see the burr. You can feel it though.Here is
how I do it from scratch.Draw file first, make sure edge is filed
square to the scraper face. Hone with diamond stone ( any decent stone
) square to the face. Lay card down flat on edge of bench.Put one or
two drops of 3 in 1 oil on burnisher and smear it along burnisher.lay
burnisher flat on top of card, pull burnisher towards you, do this four
times.REMEMBER, lightly like described above.
Turn over and repeat. Now ,hold burnisher at about 5 degree angle
vertically. The handle will be under the bench edge , the steel will
tilt slightly towards the card scraper. Pull four or five times,
lightly.Turn card upside down and repeat. You are done, commence
scraping.
mike
You've gotten some good answers on this question, but one thing I
haven't seen mention of is consolidating the metal and drawing the hook
before turning it. To do this, place the scraper flat on your bench,
take your burnisher and roll it along the face of the scraper right
near the edge, while keeping the burnisher flat against the face. Make
a few strokes the length of the face, gradually moving just barely past
horizontal. Turn the scraper over and repeat on the other face.
I won't attempt to do the ASCII art here, put this produces an edge
that is shaped somewhat like a flat-bottomed "U" turned on its side.
(I.e., the metal at the arris has been drawn out past the edge.)
At that point, you can turn the burr the usual way. By drawing it
first, it should only take a few firm strokes to turn the hook. (You
shouldn't have to strain and sweat to turn the hook.)
BTW, the biggest mistake I used to make when turning the hook was to
make a hook that was much too big. A big hook makes it too aggressive
(good for scraping paint, maybe), and also forces you to tilt the
scraper too far forward to get it to engage. If you get it right,
you'll just barely be able to feel the hook.
Chuck Vance
"patrick conroy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> ... I just cannot get any curls. Nothing but sawdust.
> I tried, for the first time, putting my own burr on there.
Thanks *all* for the suggestions...
I'll give it another go.
I'm convinced I need to master this thing.
Guess this is where it's nice to have someone else around.
I second the push rod burnisher. Got a bunch of 'em laying around from some
old chevy 350's, and they work great! Ford pushrods should work in a
pinch, but I have doubts about Mopar ;). Some other engine uses: The heads
also make a great weight if you need to flatten something. The pistons are
perfect 4" circles (chevy 350) . The 4" plastic hose that ran from the air
cleaner to the fire wall on my mud racin' truck now is mounted to my delta
planer dust attachment and directs all the dust into a trash can.
(poorman's dust collector) Now if i could only find a ww use for all those
busted rods, pistons and cranks laying around! --dave
"srwood" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I use the burnisher that lee valley tools sells. I put a little bit of
> sharpening oil on the blade being burnished. Push hard and make several
> strokes. It takes quite a bit of effort. When using a scraper the angle
> of the scraper is very important as well as putting a little bow on the
> scraper. The convex side of the bow moves in the direction of your
> stroke whether you decide to pull or push the scraper. They do an
> incredible job so don't give up. You won't be able to sand as well as a
> scraper. Just remember scrapers don't work on soft woods and I haven't
> had much luck with woods like oak. They do take a lot of work to use.
> If your scraper isn't heating up, then your not working hard enough.
>
> Don
> patrick conroy wrote:
>> ... I just cannot get any curls. Nothing but sawdust.
>> I tried, for the first time, putting my own burr on there.
>>
>> Maybe I horked it up worse...
>> I have *zero* experience sharpening hand tools, but a scraper looked
> pretty
>> straight-forward:
>>
>> 1) removed old burr and flattened sides with 800 grit
>> 2) Light Mill file on the top edge, perpendicular to the sides
>> 3) Roll a 5-10 degree burr.
>> (Geez it seems like I really had to push down!)
>>
>> Scrape - sawdust... Grrr...
>
Lots of hard metal in an engine. Some people use the valve stem. A
wrist pin works well. I have a little piece of carbide in an aluminum
handle called a Neivert Whittler. The back surface is rounded and makes
a good burnisher.
bob g.
[email protected] wrote:
> I took my scraping to the next level with burnishing rod made from a
> engine push rod. I bought 2 at Auto Zone for like $3. Get one and
> buff it to a mirror polish. Have a chrome/metal shop do this if you
> can't. To me a buffing the rod with white compound was the key to
> success.
>
> Prep scraper as usual and then with a lightly oiled rod roll a 10-15
> deg burr 1st on the edge with the scraper on its side then 2nd burnish
> the typical way with it standing up in a vise. I have to apply a lot
> of pressure to get a decent edge. I wear gloves to ensure I will be
> able to play guitar in the future.
> Now enjoy yet another set razor sharp edges in your shop...
>
> SS
>
"patrick conroy" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> ... I just cannot get any curls. Nothing but sawdust.
> I tried, for the first time, putting my own burr on there.
>
> Maybe I horked it up worse...
> I have *zero* experience sharpening hand tools, but a scraper looked
> pretty straight-forward:
>
> 1) removed old burr and flattened sides with 800 grit
> 2) Light Mill file on the top edge, perpendicular to the sides
> 3) Roll a 5-10 degree burr.
> (Geez it seems like I really had to push down!)
>
> Scrape - sawdust... Grrr...
Yeah, I did that for a long time, too. It took a long time to get it
right.
What I do (YMMV -- it's probably not perfect but it works for me)
1. Mount the scraper in a face vise between two scraps and file off the
old surface. By keeping the scraper edge just about flush with the
scraps, the edge is insured to be pretty close to perpindicular.
2. Repeat the same with a fine diamond Duostone.
3. Take the burnisher, and put a small amount of oil on it (even oil
from your skin is enough).
4. Lay the scraper flat on the workbench, and run the burnisher over
the side surface near the cutting edge, holding the burnisher nearly
flat to the scraper side. There's a lot of area being contacted here so
you want to bear down pretty hard. The purpose is to bend the first
part of the hook.
5. Place the scraper flat on the workbench so that the edge of the
scraper just overhangs the edge of the workbench, by around maybe 1/8 of
an inch. Doing so helps you set a consistent and nearly perpindicular
angle for the next step.
6. Brace the burnisher against the front edge of the workbench, and
using only light pressure draw the burnisher across and down the scraper
edge. This rolls over the fine hook. It doesn't take much pressure
because the contact area between the burnisher and scraper is so small.
If you bear too hard or if your angle is too great, you run the chance
of bending off the hook (if yo do that, you'll see a very fine wire fall
off the edge of the scraper).
Good luck,
Nate
Same experience here. Already a while ago i gave a scraper a go. Read in L.
Lee`s book how to sharpen them. I was not really succesfull.
In the September/October issue of FWW there was an article on how to tune up
a card scraper. I decided to give it another go. This time it went rather
well.
There is an online VideoTip available at:
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/wvt088.asp
"patrick conroy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> ... I just cannot get any curls. Nothing but sawdust.
> I tried, for the first time, putting my own burr on there.
>
> Maybe I horked it up worse...
> I have *zero* experience sharpening hand tools, but a scraper looked
> pretty
> straight-forward:
>
> 1) removed old burr and flattened sides with 800 grit
> 2) Light Mill file on the top edge, perpendicular to the sides
> 3) Roll a 5-10 degree burr.
> (Geez it seems like I really had to push down!)
>
> Scrape - sawdust... Grrr...
>
>
On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 19:22:47 +0100, "Wouter Overmeire"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>In the September/October issue of FWW there was an article on how to tune up
>a card scraper. I decided to give it another go. This time it went rather
>well.
>There is an online VideoTip available at:
>http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/wvt088.asp
>
Great pointer, thanks.
TWS
"Dave Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I second the push rod burnisher. Got a bunch of 'em laying around from
some
> old chevy 350's, and they work great! Ford pushrods should work in a
> pinch,
Bbbbbbbbbbut.... wouldn't you want a straight burnishing tool?
> but I have doubts about Mopar ;).
I likes the way you think.
> Some other engine uses: The heads
> also make a great weight if you need to flatten something. The pistons
are
> perfect 4" circles (chevy 350) .
And placed upside down they make a rather nifty pen holder for the workbench
or the kitchen counter.
> Now if i could only find a ww use for all those
> busted rods, pistons and cranks laying around! --dave
>
Busted pistons will work as ashtrays. Rods make nice cradles for large
diameter dowels when the end caps are removed. Cranks make excellent
workshop workout devices when a set of foot straps is welded on two rod
journals.
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 19:22:47 +0100, "Wouter Overmeire"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Same experience here. Already a while ago i gave a scraper a go. Read in L.
>Lee`s book how to sharpen them. I was not really succesfull.
>In the September/October issue of FWW there was an article on how to tune up
>a card scraper. I decided to give it another go. This time it went rather
>well.
>There is an online VideoTip available at:
>http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/wvt088.asp
>
>"patrick conroy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> ... I just cannot get any curls. Nothing but sawdust.
>> I tried, for the first time, putting my own burr on there.
>>
>> Maybe I horked it up worse...
>> I have *zero* experience sharpening hand tools, but a scraper looked
>> pretty
>> straight-forward:
>>
>> 1) removed old burr and flattened sides with 800 grit
>> 2) Light Mill file on the top edge, perpendicular to the sides
>> 3) Roll a 5-10 degree burr.
>> (Geez it seems like I really had to push down!)
>>
>> Scrape - sawdust... Grrr...
>>
>>
>
Get a scraper sharpening jig from Lee Valley or another source. I use
a Woodsmith that cost me less than $30. Follow the directions. It's
easy and the results are worth it, trust me.
There is nothing like scraping with a properly sharpened scraper.
--RC
Projects expand to fill the clamps available -- plus 20 percent
hhhmmmm.. good ideas!
"Mike Marlow" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Dave Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> I second the push rod burnisher. Got a bunch of 'em laying around from
> some
>> old chevy 350's, and they work great! Ford pushrods should work in a
>> pinch,
>
> Bbbbbbbbbbut.... wouldn't you want a straight burnishing tool?
>
>
>> but I have doubts about Mopar ;).
>
> I likes the way you think.
>
>> Some other engine uses: The heads
>> also make a great weight if you need to flatten something. The pistons
> are
>> perfect 4" circles (chevy 350) .
>
> And placed upside down they make a rather nifty pen holder for the
> workbench
> or the kitchen counter.
>
>> Now if i could only find a ww use for all those
>> busted rods, pistons and cranks laying around! --dave
>>
>
> Busted pistons will work as ashtrays. Rods make nice cradles for large
> diameter dowels when the end caps are removed. Cranks make excellent
> workshop workout devices when a set of foot straps is welded on two rod
> journals.
> --
>
> -Mike-
> [email protected]
>
>