Cabinet Scrappers

[Lance Lafargue]

Michael,
This is one of those discussions that screams for a picture since it's hard
to put into words.  Maybe we've lost the art of communication?  
   Put the scraper in a vise and file the top edge with a file until it is
squared at all edges (90degrees).  Then take a hardened steel tool like a
screwdriver blade or an end of a drill bit and (starting with one
"edge/side") run the steel along the scraper at a slight angle with firm
down pressure.  Continue running the steel along the edge at slightly
increasing angles (up to approx. 25 degrees) until you feel a nice sharp
edge.  NOTE:  only about 3-5 passes of the steel should be required and you
MUST be consistent in down pressure and evenness as you go along the
scraper with the steel.  I struggled with this and just as I was getting
the hang of it I saw an article in FINE WOODWORKING on a guy in New Mexico
who was marketing a jig (6 inches x 1"x1") that holds the hardened steel in
a beautiful piece of rosewood at the exact angle with a slot to guide it so
that you are consistent.  I you MUST have the guy's name/info I can dig
further, but I couldn't find it this morning-it's so simple to use I don't
refer back to the literature.
   What happens when you form an edge(as I understand it ) is you take one
side of the 90 degree edge of the scraper and actually curl it down,
thinning it and curling it (like a slice of wood being planed from a board)
forming a sharp scooped metal edge. 
You can overdo the curling and it is not easy to get a consistent curl.
It's one of those beautiful things in woodworking when it happens
consistently! 
  I also use a scraper holder by VERITAS (Canada) that makes it easier to
hold the scraper and allows for varying degrees (and consistent) of bend as
you use it. (easy to find) Hope this helps.

Lance Lafargue, RPT
New Orleans Chapter
Covington, LA.
lafargue@iamerica.net

----------
> From: Michael J. Wathen <Michael.wathen@uc.edu>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Cabinet Scrappers
> Date: Friday, July 11, 1997 7:16 AM
> 
> A while ago there were some posts about how superior cabinet scrappers
were
> to things like sanding and planing.  
> 
> I have been messing around with a cabinet scrapper.  Sometimes I get it
> real sharp and other times I can't get what I am after.  It occurrs to me
> that my sharpening technique is flawed.  Can anyone describe the
sharpening
> method?
>