Scraper Video

[Reed Gray]

I guess the timing is appropriate for this one since it is being discussed now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM4ak8ygzS4

robo hippy

[Marc Tuunanen]

Reed,
Very good vid sir. Clears up a thing or two for me.

Regards,
Marc

[Wes Ramsey]

Thanks for that Reed. Since your last video I've used a scraper to hog out several bowls and I gotta say I like that method. It allows for quick stock removal. I need to beef up my arsenal of scrapers though. I really like the shear scraper finish and will be getting an inside grind scraper soon with a little more meat on it than what I have now.

[Tim Passmore]

Reed---another great video. I never fail to learn while watching your work---thanks so much.

[Mike Goetzke]

This video was fantastic! I too was wanting more - especially with the carbide tools you started using.

Mike

[Reed Gray]

After that one time of playing with the carbide tipped tools, well, they do work, but I prefer more heavy duty tools. Also, since they are on a square shaft, they are not good for doing shear cuts. I do have a set of the Eliminator tools, where the concave carbide disc is set into the shaft at 45 degrees, so I can do shear cuts with it. I use it mostly on boxes.

robo hippy

[Timothy Shouldice]

Great video - very informative, thanks for posting it.

[Wes Ramsey]

Since this topic is specifically about scrapers I will ask here - how do you go about getting a burr? I sharpen my scrapers upside down at about 15* with my 80 grit wheel. Is this standard practice for raising a cut burr vs burnishing with a tool? I've read that a burnished edge lasts longer and cuts better, but this is how I do it without the benefit of a burnishing tool. Is there a way to burnish without buying another tool? Any home remedies?

[Reed Gray]

When I update my sharpening video, I will make sure to include this part in it. I use the burr straight from the grinder. I have been using CBN wheels for maybe 10 or more years. The old style were a matrix bonded to an aluminum hub, similar to the diamond wheels that Woodcraft used to carry. The burr from the CBN wheel is far superior to the burr from the more standard white, pink, and blue wheels, but I am not really sure why. I have gone back and forth between my 80 and 180 grit wheels, and think I prefer the burr raised by the 80 grit wheel. I was chatting with Jimmy Clewes about his preference for the burr coming from the upside down grind. He felt that the stone going that way raised a sharper burr. He was using standard grinding wheels, and his preference was for the cheap 60 grit wheels. He had just gotten a CBN wheel, and hadn't tried it out yet. I commented to him that I hadn't tried his method, but that I figured sharpening it right side up gave a burr that was almost burnished because of how you push the bevel into the wheel and the burr forms from being pushed into it, as compared to being dragged down off the face. He said he would have to try that one out. I haven't had a chance to talk to him since, but will get to soon. I have tried hand burnished burrs on my scrapers. I use a triangle burnishing tool that is used on card scrapers, and can turn one up on my HSS tools, which one demonstrator told me could not be done. I did not have as much luck turning a good burr with the round burnishing tool. My scraper bevels are at 70 degrees, and when burnishing, I hold the burnishing tool at maybe 80 degrees to vertical, or just 10 degrees off the bevel face. If you turn it more to 45 degrees, you can roll the burr too far. Pretty much how you do the card scrapers. I didn't find that burr to be any better than the burr straight off the CBN grinding wheels. I did try the upside down grind a few times, and possibly it could have been a bit sharper, but if so, not an amount that could have been measured. It did not last as long as the burr from sharpening right side up. I have never tried the burnishing tool that Lee Valley/Veritas tools sells, which you screw down to your bench, so can't really compare that one. Maybe I should find one to borrow. When I have seen them used, the turner always seems to be applying a LOT of pressure. That could make for a very strong burr as long as you don't over burnish and cause the burr to roll too far over like a breaking wave.

robo hippy

[Thom Sturgill]

I saw Alan Lacer at the Florida Symposium last weekend. He has long been a proponent of honing and sure enough he honed and rolled a burr on his scraper when he was demonstrating cutting end-grain on dry wood for making boxes. The session was on hook tools, but he showed the effect of using a gouge and a scraper for comparison. He first raised a heavy burr for roughing then honed it of and raised a lighter burr for finish cuts. He used a hand held burnisher on HSS scrapers. I could not see the burnisher well enough to tell you what the shape was.

I made a walnut box this past weekend to test out gouges and scrapers (I had not made a hook tool yet) and was able to get a clean bottom with a scraper in shear scrape mode.

I have used the Lee-Valley jig and started with a LOT of pressure. I have learned to lighten up as I was rolling the burr to far over.

[Reed Gray]

I use a negative rake scraper for my boxes. I have heard that for standard scrapers, on box end grain work, if it is a hard wood and especially exotics, you hone the burr off. If it is a softer wood, you leave the burr on.

robo hippy

[David Cramer]

I use a negative rake scraper for my boxes. I have heard that for standard scrapers, on box end grain work, if it is a hard wood and especially exotics, you hone the burr off. If it is a softer wood, you leave the burr on.

robo hippy

I'm just a rookie, but nice video Reed and how cool of you to post it. I'm learning new stuff everyday. Waiting for a lathe to arrive in a couple weeks and hoping to have as few "catches" as possible


Thanks again, your videos are a great educational source.

David

[Bill White]

Reed, your practical approach to video teaching is a breath of fresh air. Far too many vids are including hyper-technical info that leaves the viewer wondering if he/she needs to go back to college before turning.
I condense your info as:
Here's the wood, here's the tool, hold it like this, turn, practice, turn, sharpen, turn, DONE.
I wish more were as informative.
Keep up the great work.
Bill

[David Delo]

Reed, your practical approach to video teaching is a breath of fresh air. Far too many vids are including hyper-technical info that leaves the viewer wondering if he/she needs to go back to college before turning.
I condense your info as:
Here's the wood, here's the tool, hold it like this, turn, practice, turn, sharpen, turn, DONE.
I wish more were as informative.
Keep up the great work.
Bill

+1 on that. Looking forward to thanking Reed in person in Pittsburgh later this year.