Woodworker's Journal Summer-2008, страница 78

Finish by creating your scraper's hook

Lay the scraper on a flat surface and hold your burnisher at a slight angle (about 5') as you strop across the face of the scraper as shown in the photos above. Next, pull the burnisher along the edge to curl the steel back at an angle to the face of the blade (see photo sequence below). Tilt the burnisher about 85 degrees and hold it at an angle away from you. Start with the end of the burnisher touching the end of the scraper edge farthest from you. With a continuous motion, pull the burnisher toward you, drawing it up to its end as you finish the stroke. What you are attempting to do is curl the edge over. It becomes the cutting edge of the scraper. Repeat for the other three edges.

a fair amount of force and strop the burnisher back and forth (at about a 5° angle) on the flat side of the scraper about 15 or 20 times. What you're attempting to do is push that edge out from the flat plane. This step should make clear the importance of prepar

ing the four edges so they are perpendicular: you will not be able to force an edge out of an obtuse angle. In the final set of passes you'll angle your burnisher to about 85° and, even though you can't see it happening, curl the edge over to create the scraper's

cutting edge. After you've done one edge, flip the steel over; give all four edges the same treatment.

I use a burnisher with a triangular profile, and I personally like the way it feels. Other woodworkers I know get good results from a round profile. The key is that the tool needs to be made from a very hard steel to successfully push the scraper edge. It's also important for the burnisher to be smooth without any nicks or dings that would potentially catch on the scraper.

Using a Scraper

To use the scraper, hold the tool in your hands with your thumbs in the middle of the back. Bend the steel slightly so that only part of the scraper is in contact with the wood. Push forward, and you should see fine shavings coming off the tool. As parts of the edge get dull, you can shift your thumbs to the right or left to get more of the tool's sharp edge into play.

A scraper can also be used on shaped parts. It can be pulled or pushed. It can be used to clean up interior corners. And after you have mastered sharpening the straight scraper, try the same basic technique on a swan's neck scraper. Once you've got that sharpening technique down, a curved scraper will give you the added benefit of cleaning up nearly any non-flat surface that comes along.

What a simple tool a scraper is! You'll be impressed with the glass-smooth surfaces it leaves, and you'll probably find the process of peeling those shavings away to be quite enjoyable. Learn how to sharpen it properly, and you'll be well on your way to mastering this classic tool. 0

78 scraper sharpening basics