The Scraper: A Cheater's Tool?

[Greg Taylor]

As a newbie I have been struck by how often comments are made in DVDs by the pros that using a particular gouge or skew technique eliminates the need for using a scraper. One definitely gets the impression that the scraper is a tool with a stigma attached to it. Is this because the pros have to work fast and efficiently and eliminating an additional tool is advantageous? Or is there a bigger thing going on here? Like "anyone can use a scraper but only people with developed technique can get a finish-quality cut with a gouge or a skew." This latter may well be true because I certainly have found a scraper can tidy up a lot of my poor technique. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to use all the tools to their full potential...and practicing to get there. Hope I'm not starting a war of a debate (actually that would be fun to read) but I'd love to hear opinions from the old hands about the status of the scraper.

[Aaron Wingert]

I'd say that people that classify the scraper as a cheater's tool are just being snobbish. Kind of like flyfishing purists that frown on guys that use bait to catch fish.

The skew may be a more elegant way of doing things and requires a certain talent that many do not posess, but scrapers certainly have their place and are one of the handiest tools in my turning tool arsenal.

[Sean Hughto]

I love my scrapers. Raffan and I think Conover both think they are great tools as well and that those who turn their nose up at them are misguided. I agree.

I've been turning less than a year, but have been a flat world woodworker for a very long time. The scraper thing kind of reminds me of the dovetail (or more broadly, handsawing) purist issue that comes up in cabinet making where some folks think that dovetails or mortise and tenons achieved with some judicious chisel paring are somehow "cheating" as one should hit perfection right off the saw. When you look at the finished product, no one can tell how you arrived there. While a production producer might need a process that saves time by getting to the desired end as directly and quickly as possible, but there is risk involved - make a mistake and the piece can be ruined. A hobbiest can afford to take what may in some cases be the slightly slower, but often more certain, route. In the end I think the idea that one way is "right" and the other is "cheating" is utter nonsense. Have fun, make something great - I don't care how you get to the end as long as the product is excellent and the process was fun for you!

[Tim Rinehart]

I wouldn't say a 'cheater's' tool, but it has it's place. I have only one scraper, a 1/4" thick, 1" wide rounded bottom that I got with set of BB tools when I first started. I have used that tool quite a bit, but am using it less and less as I find other ways of cleaning up bottom of bowls, what I used it for originally.
I think using scrapers on wood or grain directions that don't result in tear out of the wood fibers is absolutely a great application of it, and regardless, if it gives the results you want...who cares what anyone thinks. Be sure you are keeping it nice and sharp, with a burr (burnished edge) for softer hardwoods, and nearly clean burr free edge for hardest woods. (my approach, anyway)

If you find you are getting tear out on a bowl bottom where using the scraper, consider other options, including a different grind on bowl gouge that allows carrying cut all the way into the center of the piece, or use of a round carbide (Hunter style) cutter at the bottom.

I have a tool like this that I made from 1/2" round bar, and mounted a 8mm round insert from Carbide Depot, and I start it at the center and ride its bevel all the way to the sides with excellent control, good slicing and clean cut. Carbide takes practice, but is a great option for me in some places where I used to try and use a scraper, but often was reaching too far over the tool rest. I even considered a Heavy Duty (really thick) scraper at one point to do just that, but don't think I need it now.
In other words...there are more than one way to do almost any cut or turning section. Use whatever works for you.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I've also often wondered about scraper snobs... I use one. I "cheat" I guess. I like to make boxes, and I just can't get a gouge to work on the corners. I also sand a LOT, for you sanding snobs. LOL My favorite tool is my 80 grit gouge. One of these days, I'll get good enough to be a scraper and sandpaper snob too, I hope.

I also use bait to fish!

[Thom Sturgill]

I don't know if two years counts as 'an old-timer' but I'll stick my 2cents in anyway. I don't think any tool is a cheat. Well, let me take that back, I don't think any hand held tool is a cheat.

One thing I've noticed is that some of the people that complain about using a scraper just don't know how - how to sharpen or how to scrape. I sharpen my lathe scraper pretty much the same way that I sharpen a cabinet scraper. Of course its a little thicker... Speaking of which, the thicker the better since it often hangs quite a bit off the tool rest. I've seen people take off shear sheets of shaving pretty much the same as when cabinet scraping or using a finely fettled plane.

A 'negative rake' grind lets you keep the scraper flat on the tool rest and makes it easier to use. Stuart Batty is a big enthusiast for this design.

This does NOT mean that you should forgo trying to get clean finish cuts without using the scraper, just learn to use it correctly for when you do need it.

[Sean Hughto]

I'm no blade geometry whiz, so forgive me if I'm misunderstanding something, but aren't some of those shearing cuts with an irish grind gouge where the long inside bottom bevel is riding the wood surface rather "scraperish"?

[Jeremy Tomlinson]

If there is anything that can be classified a cheat, its sandpaper. If a tool can render a surface ready for finish its not a cheat and in most of those cases its not the tool but the user that makes it happen.

[Wayne Hendrix]

I dont think that scrapping is cheating at all. I think the idea from the videos that I have seen is that you can achieve the same finish either way and that the ability to control the gouge efficiently enough to achieve a smooth finish is more a goal of gouge use that will allow you to make more advanced cuts ie. super thin walls on the bowl. I will continue to use my scrapper, and for that matter my sandpaper, to give me the results I want as long as I need them. If I was to eschew those two tools I might as well stop trying to turn anything but pens, and even some of those.

[Reed Gray]

Sean,
That cut is referred to as a 'shear scrape', or I call it a shear cut. The definition for a 'shear scrape' is one where you are not rubbing the bevel. To me there are shear cuts, and scraping cuts, and whether or not you are rubbing the bevel makes little or no difference in the quality of the cut. The angle at which the cutting edge makes contact makes a lot of difference. At 90 degrees to the wood rotation, like when the scraper is flat on the tool rest, this is a scraping cut. You can do this with a scraper or a gouge, but to me, as the name implies, the scraper is a much more efficient tool. If you drop the handle on your gouge, you will get more of a shear cut, and perhaps because of the curvature of the nose of the gouge, you are getting more of a shear angle on the nose, and a scraping cut with the wings, no matter what the handle is doing.

I started playing with scrapers a few years back because I knew they used to be the main bowl turning tool, and the end product came out just fine. I wanted to see what the old school turners knew that I didn't. I can turn a bowl to finish completely with a scraper. It is the same steel as the gouges, so you can get them just as sharp. You can burnish a burr on a scraper, which does give the finest cutting edge you can get on one. Held at a 45 or sharper angle to the wood for a shear cut, you can get a finished surface that is good as any that you can get with a gouge. The only difference is that if you finish cut with a gouge while you are rubbing the bevel, you burnish the wood a bit and it looks more shiny. You can't burnish a burr on a gouge, or at least, I don't know of any one who has tried or done it. I have found that using a gouge for a shear cut, it works better if you hone off the grinder burr on the wings.

It kind of reminds me of the tenon vs recess debate. They both work if you know how to use them.

Proud scraper user!!!!!!!

robo hippy

[Paul Atkins]

Cheating implies that there is a passable result without working so hard. I suppose the electric motor is cheating too and maybe the lathe itself as you could carve the whole thing by hand. I produce all sorts of architectural turnings from porch posts to rosettes most of which include the use of scrapers for speed, consistency, and finish. I could not make a few dozen rosettes in an afternoon without scrapers and make any money. For consistent coves of small radius for ballusters or table legs a scraper is the way to go. I love a sharp gouge and the way it cuts, and a sharp scraper that works as it should is a pleasant experience too. They are each different tools for different uses as I see it. My flat fingernail tool is used as a cutting tool and a scraper too. (Yes, Joshua, I'm working on the video.)

[Frank Van Atta]

What's the "proper" tool to use? Whatever works for you. I use scrapers and "180 grit gouges" regularly. I don't know about other people, but my customers only care about the final result, not how I achieved it.

[William Bachtel]

Scrapers scrape and Gouges cut Thats the differents. Both take skill you can't cheat, I use scrapers on burls and find they do a good job, and leave a clean surface.

[Robert McGowen]

Anything more than a hand ax to cut your blanks and a human powered lathe is "cheating." It just depends on where you arbitrarily decide to become a snob. Scrape away!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

A scraper is just another weapon in you arsenal for turning. I use bowl gouges, scrapers and..... If Bill Grumbine can recommend the use of the "80 grit gouge" it's good enough for me! I'm no snob!