Robert Sorby Shear Scrapers

[tekno.mage]

Hi there,

I just bought a pair of Robert Sorby shear scrapers (external 827H & internal 826H) in Poolewood's ebay sale and tried the external one on a bowl I was making this evening - and didn't have much luck with it. The bowl is about 6" in diameter and made of very gnarly, very well seasoned oak.

An ordinary large, heavy, & freshly sharpened scraper produced nice little shavings and made some improvement to the finish, but all I could persuade the Sorby shear scraper to produce was dust and I really couldn't see much difference in the finish.

Am I doing it wrong, is the thing not sharp, or is this to be expected with old, hard oak and should I just persevere?

Advice would be appreciated.

tekno.mage

 

[Blister]

What angle are you using to come in contact with the wood ?

normal way is handle up cutting edge trailing

hope this helps :wink:

 

[cornucopia]

some woods wont take kindly to beng scraped!!

i'm not familar with these sorby scrapers.
i dont use normal scrapers now i only use negatiove rake scrapers and get on brillantly with them
have alook at this thread here

 

[TEP]

Mornin' tekno.mage. Ignore me if you have already done this, but in my experience no chisel/scraper ever comes ready to use. All must be sharpened/shaped first before use.

Just a thought as it hasn't been mentioned yet.

 

[Blister]

also worth mentioning is , they are not always sharp out of the packet ?

Allen

 

[tekno.mage]

What angle are you using to come in contact with the wood ?

normal way is handle up cutting edge trailing

hope this helps :wink:

The Sorby instructions that came with the shear scrapers advised to have the tool rest below centre so the edge of the cutter mets the wood on centre. I tried this and the usual handle up cutting edge trailing method I use with an ordinary scraper - to be honest didn't make much difference either way.

tekno.mage

 

[tekno.mage]

Mornin' tekno.mage. Ignore me if you have already done this, but in my experience no chisel/scraper ever comes ready to use. All must be sharpened/shaped first before use.
.

I wondered about that - although other Robert Sorby tools I have bought in the past (spindlemaster & some carving tools) were supplied sharp and ready to go. The shear scrapers use small interchangeable cutters which look rather fiddly to sharpen, but that was going to be my next line of attack unless someone on the forum advise my technique was totally wrong!

tekno.mage

 

[robo hippy]

I use scrapers a lot on my bowls, both for heavy stock removal, and for shear scraping as a finish cut, although some times I get lucky with the gouge and get a cut that doesn't need touch up. I have one of the Sorby shear scrapers, and don't like it much. It looks more like an oversizes hollowing cutter, and not some thing that I would use on bowls. I am big is size, and have always liked big heavy tools, even when I am turning some thing dainty, so that could be part of the problem. They just feel better in my hands. I like a 3/8 thick by 1 1/4 inch wide scraper with a fresh burr for the shear cuts. I only keep the scraper flat when removing stock. For shear cuts, I like it at about 45 degrees.
robo hippy

 

[duncanh]

If the tips do need sharpening don't do it on the grinder as you normally would and they'll quickly disappear - lap them on a diamond stone or similar.

When I use shear scrapers I don't have the handle up as a normal scraper - keep the handle down below the centre and pull the scraper. The tip should be at about 45 to horizontal