Rediscovering the Stanley #80

I've had a number of #80 Cabinet Scrapers. When I was in rust hunt mode I'd find them all the time. I was up to four at one time but divested three during the great tool purge a few years ago, keeping one clean Sweetheart era specimen. I never used them anyway.

So fast forward to present day...

I'm working on a charcuterie board for a silent auction a local charity is holding. I have a particularly nice slice of Black Walnut with the kind of swirly grain that really pops when treated with Butcher Block Oil and Wax. It was giving me major fits during the smoothing process. No matter how careful I was or how tight I set my chipbreaker I'd get micro tearout in multiple areas. Card scrapers worked OK to clean these areas up but my arthritic thumbs were complaining in a big way. I pulled the #80 off the wall for the first time in a couple years and was really pleased with how well it worked to clean up the whole surface. It's as simple as a hammer but really yields nice results. In retrospect I don't know why I've not used it more often.

It's kind of nice to stumble over something so obvious.

Good for you. Photos of the finished board please.

I love them. I recently bought a scraper blade for my 80 made by Hock . Haven't really had a chance to use it yet, to cold in my shop. Personally I can't say enough good things about the Stanley #80. There are times for a hand plane, a Stanley #80 and a card scraper, so I have and use all three.

I got rid of mine. Not that it didn't work. It worked flawlessly. But I found that I either used my card scraper for small spots or my No. 12 (actually the Sargent equivalent) for larger spots. So the 80 just sat, unused, unless I made it a point to use it. It's a great tool, and a lot easier to setup than the No. 12 (which is a bear). But it doesn't do large areas as efficiently as the No. 12 and the bare card scraper is just so much more convenient, so long as you're not doing a lot with it.

Posts like this make me miss it and want to buy another. But then I remember that for my workflow, it's hard to justify the space (albeit small) that it takes up. It's rare that I do a "medium amount" of scraping. It's always either a spot or two, or the whole board.

Attachment 518168

have 2...one set coarse...one set fine..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jimmy Harris

I got rid of mine. Not that it didn't work. It worked flawlessly. But I found that I either used my card scraper for small spots or my No. 12 (actually the Sargent equivalent) for larger spots. So the 80 just sat, unused, unless I made it a point to use it. It's a great tool, and a lot easier to setup than the No. 12 (which is a bear). But it doesn't do large areas as efficiently as the No. 12 and the bare card scraper is just so much more convenient, so long as you're not doing a lot with it.

Posts like this make me miss it and want to buy another. But then I remember that for my workflow, it's hard to justify the space (albeit small) that it takes up. It's rare that I do a "medium amount" of scraping. It's always either a spot or two, or the whole board.

---

I used to have a Keen Kutter version of the Stanley #12. I found it in "as new" condition at a church bazaar. It worked really well, but I never used it. A KK collector was happy to get it. At the time I had four #80 plus the #12 and a #81. Downsizing was a good thing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mark Gibney

Good for you. Photos of the finished board please.

---

Will do, once I get some oil and wax on it.

I never though of having two. When I get two someone seems to talk me out of one. It is a good idea to have two, thanks.

Kind of a crappy photo but it's nice grain.

Attachment 518485