cabinet scrapers worth the bother?

[Shay Vings]

Are cabinet scrapers any good for wood turning?

When tuning platters, bowls with a fairly flat internal base, I struggle to eliminate all the ridgelines even with largish scrapers. There are several scrapers in the Axi catalogue ranging from £4-£15 in various hardness and thickness (.4 or .6mm) .

I have seen someone using a rectangular scraper by bending it slightly whilst in contact with the workpiece.

Any advice?

 

[Jonzjob]

Just the thought of that frightens me?

The correct way to use a scraper is to bend it slightly. The last time I used one was last week, but the piece was stationary and that would be the only way that I would use it

 

[duncanh]

I haven't used one on a turning for a couple of years now and it was on the outside of a vase to remove a previous finish. As the piece had been off the lathe for a while it was slightly out of round so this was the best method I could come up with - sit with it resting on my legs and scrape with the grain.

Also in the past I have used a scraper on a piece with the lathe running - completely remove the toolrest and hold the scraper low down on the surface at quite a steep angle. It worked but I only needed to do it once. The scraper was held in the Veritas holder

What I tend to do these days is rely on power sanding. If it's a large, flat area I resort to the Hegner 5" pad

Duncan

 

[CHJ]

Shay, No way should you attempt to use a thin sheet cabinet scraper on a rotating turning.
Get a catch and you could be minus fingers.

The correct tools for Shear scraping a rotating surface are stiff (Thick) Flat or Curved edge scrapers prepared with a cutting edge Burr.

Held at an angle of 30-45 degrees to the direction of rotation so that you get a slicing cut across any end grain.

Typical patterns:




<<<<Links

 

[wizer]

I have used one on the outside of stuff to great effect. I'm not sure how it can be any more dangerous than most other tools? As long as you use it safely below centre with the lathe spinning away from you (normal rotation). As Duncan says, it's very useful when smoothing out problems on thin outside walls or rims. I'd use sanding speed and make sure you prep the scraper as you would for flat work.

It's not conventional, and obviously you should be learning to get a good finish straight from the standard tools, but if you're in a hole it can help.

 

[Doug B]

I`m fairly sure it was Mark Hancock who i saw demonstrating using a curved scraper.

He did point out the inherent dangers & i have to admit i`d think twice about doing it.

Having my fingers that close to the cutting edge, with a piece of wood spinning at a few 100 rpm is in MHO asking for trouble.

Cheers


Doug.

 

[CHJ]

There is a time and place for the use of all tools, seeing someone with the abilities of Mark using a cabinet scraper to refine the finish on a fine wet turned or reworked piece having had the long term experiences of spinning bits of wood is all very well, however the thought of someone relatively new to turning trying to remove torn endgrain on the internals of something like a rotating Elm or Oak Platter or shallow Bowl is not nice and I personally would not like to advise the practice without some serious words of caution.

 

[Bodrighy]

Several people at our club have heavy duty scrapers that they use. They aren't cabinet scrapers however but very heavy carbon steel blades sabot 8" long. They swear by them. Don't know where they get them from but can find out tomorrow if you are interested. These have no handles, just a blade about 8mm thick

pete

 

[Richard Findley]

Hi all,

Just to add my bit here:

I think the ones that Pete is refering to are the Ashley Isles scraper bars (can't seem to find any pictures on these )

As for using a cabinet scraper on turning, I must admit to not having tried it but they way Mark does it is quite safe and pretty simple. The first thing to point out is that he DOESN'T use the tool rest and uses only a small scraper held in a trailing motion in his fingers. You probably need to see it to understand properly.

The most important thing here though is if you are not confident or comfortable doing any operation then DON'T DO IT Better to be safe than sorry.

HTH

Richard

 

[Oakbear]

After i saw Mark Hancock use a curved cabinet scraper at a demo, i went out and bought a set. (It was about £7 for 3 i think)

I don't use them often, as if i want to sheer scrape, the bowl gouge i'm already holding is generally more convienient. No need to move the tool rest out of the way etc.

But where they do come into their own is on tricky bits of timber, such as stubborn torn end grain or wood with very soft and very hard alternating sections. It's got me out of a few situations where i can't get a good finish any other way.

For safety i can see the issues, (and Mark stressed how not to use a scraper), but i've never had the slightest problem myself.

As mentioned, clear the tool rest and work well below centre in a trailing manner. A damn sight easier than a gouge tbh.

 

[Bodrighy]

I suspect that Richard is right, the ones I have seen are double ended as in the description on the Ashley Isles site. I'll find out where they come from as Googling them produces nothing bar a small sketch on the AI site.

pete

 

[wizer]

Yes I've always done it how Richard describes. I first saw it in Woodturning Mag. It really came in handy on the back of a Wenge platter that I made. 'Cutting' was disastrous with that wood. I had to finish the piece entirely with shear scraping and the cabinet scrapers. The finish I ended up with was beautiful and hardly needed oil.

 

[robo hippy]

I have spent a lot of time learning to use bowl scrapers, and feel that there is nothing that you can do with a cabinet scraper that you can't do with a bowl scraper, and the bowl scrapers have a nice long handle on them. The best cutting burr on a bowl scraper comes from burnishing a burr, similar to how you do it on a cabinet scraper. I get a better burr if I use a triangle burnisher, after grinding a fresh bevel, then honing off the burr. Held at 45 degrees, it cuts wonderfully, and as clean as any other tool I have. Cabinet scrapers are fine on flat work. If you want to use them on bowls, use slow speeds, or with the lathe off to remove tear out. But again, I can do all that with the lathe spinning, and a bowl scraper.

robo hippy

 

[Mark Hancock]

As has been pointed out I do use cabinet scrapers a lot but I use them mainly to achieve a flowing curve and to refine forms rather than to achieve a finish.

The points to note have mostly been mentioned but I'll list them:
1. remove tool rest
2. use trailing in relation to rotation of the work
3. angle at about 30 to 45 degrees so you get a shearing cut - holding horizontal would achieve the same cut as a scraper used traditionally
4. angle the scraper towards the work in the direction the scraper is moving so there is a negative rake rather than holding the scraper perpendicual to the work

If used in this fashion I don't see any danger in their use but do be aware of where the rest of the scraper is in relation to the work ie the edges not in contact with the work.

Mark

PS Should have said that in the case cited in the original post I wouldn't usually use a cabinet scraper.

 

[Bodrighy]

Asking the guys at the club about the scraper it seems that they all got them from the Ashley Isles stand at a Yandles show. One said he thought it cost about £12 but that may have been a show price. The only reference on the Ashley Isles site I ca find is this one (drawing at the bottom. It is a fairly hefty bar and about 6" long, 2" wide. The finish I have seen it get is impressive. Like Richard I can't find any photographs of it. If interested might be worth giving AI a ring for price etc. Phone number is on their site in the 'order catalogue' page

Pete

 

[wizer]

I'd love to see a pic of it if anyone gets one. Can't picture it in my head.

 

[Bodrighy]

I'd love to see a pic of it if anyone gets one. Can't picture it in my head.

I'll try and remember to take the camera to the club with me. It looks like a simple bar of HSS steel. Pretty hefty. As far as I know it is mainly used on the outside of bowls etc but it gives a really good finish, sort of 600 grit finish

Pete