Burnisher recommendation

[bugbear]

Many guides online are guilty of judging success in sharpening or plane setting by the quality of the shavings produced and while they are some guide we have to remember this is waste.

Sometimes judging a proxy is quicker and easier than direct observation.

The purpose of a car engine (unless you're a teenager or Top Gear fan) is not to
produce noise. Despite this any car mechanic will listen carefully to an engine.

BugBear

 

[memzey]

the shavings I got left me scratching my head a bit. I was expecting shavings that were powdery and more like saw dust (based on YouTube vids) but in fact they looked more like they had come from a smoother. Is that normal?

When scraping there isn't a single type of shaving everyone goes for, but "powdery" and "like sawdust" wouldn't be commonly what you'd aim at. Normally that would be taken as a sign that you need to turn a fresh hook!

Like I said the finish on the wood was fine so I'm not complaining

That is the main thing, as when planing the resulting surface is what counts. Many guides online are guilty of judging success in sharpening or plane setting by the quality of the shavings produced and while they are some guide we have to remember this is waste. What matters most is the surface left behind and as long as you get something you're happy then you're doing okay.

As to the thickness of the shavings you did get, did you turn a hook on a 45° bevelled edge, as commonly done on a cabinet scraper, or just turn the corner of a flat edge as on a card scraper?

Hi Ed,

I did in fact sharpen to 45 degrees after removing the remnants of the existing hook and polishing the non-bevelled face. I sharpened on my stones until I got a decent burr across the width of the scraper and then attempted to roll the point over using my improvised burnisher. I don't think I was able to be consistent in turning the hook over the length of the scraper which I assume is why I couldn't take full width shavings with a very fine set.

 

[custard]

Well I've given it ago and can report some mixed results. I couldn't find the old strut (must have chucked it) so I used the smooth base of a rat's tail. The scraper iron did leave some marks though it may not have been 100% hard enough. I will end up getting a burnisher or something hard enough to act like one I think. Even with the dodgy rat's tail I was able to turn a hook so I thought I'd give it a go on some oak I had lying around. I got a really good finish on it but the shavings I got left me scratching my head a bit. I was expecting shavings that were powdery and more like saw dust (based on YouTube vids) but in fact they looked more like they had come from a smoother. Is that normal? Like I said the finish on the wood was fine so I'm not complaining:

You've nailed it, those shavings are perfect, so whatever you're doing just keep on with more of the same! Powdery shavings are what happens when the scraper gets blunt...or inept YouTube posters share their incompetence with the world!

=D>

 

[memzey]

Cheers Custard. Good to know I've done something right - seems a rarity these days! Do you have any tips on how to turn a consistent burr so my shavings are full width or is it just down to practice?

 

[Graham Orm]

I use one of these. It works well. http://www.workshopheaven.com/cgi-bin/s ... html#SID=8

 

[ED65]

Sometimes judging a proxy is quicker and easier than direct observation.

The purpose of a car engine (unless you're a teenager or Top Gear fan) is not to
produce noise. Despite this any car mechanic will listen carefully to an engine.

That's a nice analogy but not that apt here as there's no barrier to direct observation of the wood surface. It's right there

As I said the shavings are some guide, but the final decider is always the surface of the wood itself and I've often produced ugly shavings while the surface left behind was very nice, I'm sure everyone does on occasion.

 

[Wuffles]

On the strength of this post I bought a Carbur from WH, along with some Narex chisels but that's another story.

The long and the short of it is WOW. Turns out my scraper was ever really working correctly, I've only ever used it and managed to get dust, was blindly unaware of its true ability.

I have learned more about hand tools form this forum than anywhere else, so thank you.

 

[bugbear]

I have learned more about hand tools form this forum than anywhere else, so thank you.

The internet is (normally) not about teaching. It's about sharing.

Everybody has at least one thing they're good at, or know more about than most other people.

If everybody shares the thing they're good at, it works out just fine.

BugBear

 

[heimlaga]

I ground the ridges off a knife sharpening steel purchased at a flea market. It became a good burnisher as far as I can tell.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

My first burnisher was a 60mm masonry nail ('hard as nails', it was!) in a piece of scrap timber. W2S