burnisher

Re: burnisher

Vijay


>Screwdriver may or may not be hard enough. You are better off buying a burnisher, beacause it is highly polished and hard.

You could use an old valve stem if you have access to that type of stuff. But if you want to get to work right away, buy the burnisher.

I thought so ...

Mark in B'ham


>This always happens with things you get free.

Re: burnisher

George Makowski


>Mark, I have always used the shank of a screw driver and have no comparison to make. I do know that I get a hook and the scraper works. But, as mentioned, hardness of screw drivers likely varies and so would performance.

George in AL

Re: burnisher

Joe in a Cleveland suburb


>What about drill bits or router bit shanks (if it's long enough)? I think I've read you can use those.

Joe

Hmmm...

Mark in B'ham


>Sounds like time for an experiment. When I get some shop time, I'll give some different things a try and report back.

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions.

Re: Hmmm...

Mike Brady


>A junker chisel with the cutting edge blunted would be a decent burnisher. Personally, I like a flat area on a burnisher, as opposed to the typical round profile. The theory of the round shape is the higher force that can be brought to bear on scraper edge. I think the flat gives me a more consistent burr.

The Cadillac of burnishers...

jim reed @ tallahassee


>is one made from SOLID CARBIDE. I have made a few using chipped end mills. It all starts with a friend at a machine shop. Use your lathe to turn an appropriate handle, drill a hole in the end, insert the business end of the mill and glue it in place. The two or three inch stub of solid carbide makes a lifetime burnisher. (Old timer's tip: Since the carbide is quite brittle and heavy, this tool will go out of its way to roll off your workbench and shatter on the concrete floor. Use its strength to foil its foolish ways by drilling your hole slightly off axis. The weight of the carbide will make it instantly point and stay down when it begins its roll. This same weight will prevent it from rolling more than a half turn. Ha! Physics--it's not just a good idea, it's the LAW!)

Re: Hmmm...

Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI


>I used a solid carbide router bit for mine for a while, until someone gave me a bit from some sort of water jet cutting machine; can't think of the name for the life of me right now. A 3" or so burnisher is better than a really short bit. I wouldn't buy the Woodcraft burnisher unless I had no other options. In my experience, they are just good enough to work and not nearly as hard as they should be. I have seen some so soft that the scrapers were scratching them. Scrapers were a mystery to me for a long time, but now it seems like a no brainer to go put a nice edge on the scraper and scrape away. Makes me want to get off my butt and back out in the shop.

No, use carbide bit

bill tindall


>Use the shank of a carbide bit, eg a laminate trim bit. Polished and ultimate hard and very cheap.

If carbide's a Caddy, ruby's da Shizz'mobile *LINK*

David Barnett - SW Florida


>Carbide's easily good enough and can likely be scrounged for zero dollars, but I've long held that nothing's handier than a split boule of your favorite corundum flavor, be it Ceylon blue, Paparadscha, or just plain clear. Synthetic sapphire (ruby's corundum, too, but red, of course) are formed into boules that split when cooled into half rounds (in the linked pic you're seeing the shiny split side). The flatter side is glossy and jagged; the other half smooth and round with a light frosty covering for about two thirds the length. This frosty surface is an awesome ceramic hone for pocket knives (my smallest became a Sterling key chain) and works great for gouges if you get the right piece. The remaining rounded glossy part at the large end is what I use as a burnisher for a lifetime or two (you can polish the frosty part with patience and diamond paste). Yeah, they cost about ten dollars (some more, some less, esp. on eBay), but they're prettier than carbide. I always keep a few around until I decide to change colors, cut 'em, facet 'em, and give 'em to relatives and friends.


Lab-grown ruby split boules

Re: No, use carbide bit

Edward in Vancouver


>I've got an old piston wrist pin (from a Volvo, I might add...) that I use as a burnisher. Very hard, hard enough for a hack-saw to skate across, and hard enough to make a very loud "ping" when it drops to the floor, which upsets my garage companion--the cat. Problem is, even though I've studied books on sharpening, I still can't get a decent burr on my scraper. Guess it's one of those things that you have to watch someone do, and no amount of book learning will give me. Still, it doesn't stop me from trying....

Re: burnisher

paul womack


>Here's a design for a burnisher that doesn't need a long piece of material.

Might be just the place to put that pretty piece of corundum...

Bob Smalser on scraper sharpening

"Luthier's burnisher"

Alice's version

BugBear

And another short and simple burnisher *LINK*

David Barnett - SW Florida


>Gee, and only twenty-four dollars, too.


Harris Tools skewed burnisher

Now THIS is a burnisher!

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)


>I have heard that you can use a screwdriver for a burnisher on scrapers. Does this work or is it worth it to run down to Woodcraft and buy one? What do y'all think?

Mark

There are two requirements for a burnisher:

(1) It must be made of HARD, bloody hard .. hard enough to cause terror in lesser steel surfaces, such as scraper blades. Screw driver shafts are NOT such a beast.

(2) It must be smooth ... s-m-o-o-t-h like a baby's bottom (I can say that here, can't I?). What ever shape one burnishes the scrapers' surface will transfer to the surface of the wood. Screw drivers shafts are not smooth enough.

I have used a vaste array of substitutes in my search for the perfect burnisher.

Even this:

Guess the year and model number of this pinion shaft and you can have it FREE. It does work well, but suffers a from being a little overkill.

It finally dawned on me to stop mucking about and get The Real Thing.

So what do I use now?

I hear great things about the Veritas Triburnisher. In fact I was on my way to buy one a few years ago, but my local woodstore were out of stock. So I bought the Crown instead. It works very well and I have been a happy camper ever since.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Now THIS is a burnisher!

Mike Brady


>Derek, I thought the Veritas Burnisher would be the answer too...the kind of oval cross-section one... but found it did not hold up well at all to scraper edges. Thus it does not have the hardness that you speak of. I am happy with the new one from the people that make Tite-Mark marking gauges. It is a file on one side and a burnisher on the other. I have used the shaft of my carbide 1/2" spiral router bit, too. It is bullet proof.

cool...

Dave Thompson


>Ha David! I appreciate the diversity you bring to this forum, with these thinking out of the box solutions....

Cool product. I like the novelty aspect of it. Approximately how long are those pieces in the link you forwarded? I can't gauge by picture, or carat reference. Also, I wonder how many hours of patience it would take to smooth out the frosty side? I suspect Alan and I should be in good shape. I suppose there is a brittleness factor to be concerned with?

I don't think I need another burnisher at the moment, but a ruby one is a tempting side project.

Re: burnisher

Jack Guzman from Maine


>In his dovetailing video,Tage Frid used the side of a chisel as a burnisher. I bought a carbide injector of some sort from Andy Lincoln(a WC poster)and it makes a great burnisher. He may still have these for sale.They're cheap and they work well.Drop him an email.---Jack

Re: carbide burnisher blanks

George in Lowell, Mich.


>Look in Mc Master Carr for "carbide blanks". I bought one that was 1/4"dia. x 3" for about $9.00 a few years ago.

George in "Showboat City" Lowell, Mich.

Andy Lincoln

Mike Fitterling


>I also have a couple Andy Lincoln burnishers and they are the best that I have found so far.

I feel your pain (or used to anyway)!

Derek


>I used to have the same problem a few years back. Finally I read a post which advised me to burnish more lightly. I started experimenting with how hard I burnish and wala - I could get a good edge.

Asuming you know the process, try using it for a bit with no bur(r?). Then try making a bur with a gentle pressure at a slight angle (e.g. 5 degrees). Then try alternately more angle (up to about 15 degrees) and more pressure. Keep track of where you are. After a while, I think you will get something which works for you.

Use only 1 scraper for these experiemnts at first. Keep in mind that some steel is harder than other. I have 6-7 scrapers. They are all different.

Good luck.