Quote Originally Posted by David M Peters View Post
John, by "hand scraper" are you referring to a card scraper? Thanks for the information!
David, sorry, I missed this message. I started using the scrapers years ago as a beginner, first to solve a problem with my second (or third) bowl. I was getting checking from too much sanding heat on Eastern Red Cedar. I cut off the tip of a curved card scraper so it would fit inside the bowl and it worked so well.

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Since then, I've accumulated a number of scrapers of different sizes. Here are some:

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The gentle curve of the big one on the left is perfect for both the center and the wings, inside and out, of things like this which tend to have ripples from the interrupted cuts:

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I use these on the inside and outside of both face and end grain work, handheld, lathe on, turning slowly, or off (mostly off).

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I found a small flat edge works wonders in taming the chatter in long, thin tapers.

To remove tool marks it is usually better to use these with the lathe off, scraping with the grain (or figure, depending). If the piece is large enough, I even take the chuck off the lathe and work on the surface in a comfortable chair. (Hey, I'm elderly and feeble and need lots of rest!) This has the advantage of letting me see the surface better and avoid unpleasant surprises. Once I felt like throwing one of the small squarish platters in the picture in the burn pile or putting it in my Box of Shame - when I took it off the chuck I saw it had a series of gentle ripples near the center - I did not see them on the lathe due to the curvature but they really showed up in different lighting. Just a few minutes with the large curved scraper mentioned above and it was perfect, made a great wedding present!

Safety: perfectly safe inside a bowl or large form with the lathe running (slowly) - if you drop a small scraper it just goes harmlessly to the outside. Just don't do what someone reported years ago when we were discussing this on another forum - he stuck his hand into a form with a large scraper and when he dropped it it turned into a food processing machine...

BTW, I sharpen these just like a cabinet scraper and raise the cutting edge with a burnishing rod, except for the thinner scrapers I skip the first burnishing step, rolling the edge almost parallel with the face. Some of the smaller ones are useful but too thin - I do like the thicker scrapers better and have cut some out of larger, quality shapers. A pain with a Dremel and I'm afraid a large grinder would get the metal too hot and ruin the hardness - might be a perfect job for a water jet machine! Or grind with a coarse CBN wheel which makes less heat for some reason.

JKJ